inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Heb. 6:9)

Many languages distinguish between inclusive and exclusive first-person plural pronouns (“we”). (Click or tap here to see more details)

The inclusive “we” specifically includes the addressee (“you and I and possibly others”), while the exclusive “we” specifically excludes the addressee (“he/she/they and I, but not you”). This grammatical distinction is called “clusivity.” While Semitic languages such as Hebrew or most Indo-European languages such as Greek or English do not make that distinction, translators of languages with that distinction have to make a choice every time they encounter “we” or a form thereof (in English: “we,” “our,” or “us”).

For this verse, translators typically select the exclusive form (excluding the readers of this letter).

Source: Velma Pickett and Florence Cowan in Notes on Translation January 1962, p. 1ff.

complete verse (Hebrews 6:9)

Following are a number of back-translations of Hebrews 6:9:

  • Uma: “But you relatives whom we (excl.) love, even though our (excl.) words are like that, we (excl.) trust/hope you are not like that land cursed by God earlier. We(excl.) know that you have better fruit, that is your faith and your behavior that is fitting for those who have obtained goodness [salvation] from God.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “My friends whom I love, even though I am speaking like this I am sure that you are different. I know that you are trusting already and that your doings are good and that is a sign that you are saved already.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “So, my dear brothers, even though my words to you are like this, I know that the place where your voyage will end is, by contrast, better than that because I know that God’s setting you free was of great value.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “But even though things like that are what I have told you my esteemed brothers, I know nevertheless that your status/standing is better and it will lead to your salvation.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “My brethren whom I hold dear, even though I am speaking like this I am sure that like that will not happen to you(emph) but rather what you will receive is, the best things with which he will reward all whom he will save.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Listen, my dear brothers, I have said these words, but I do not say that also you have separated from Christ. Because I know your souls are saved, and therefore you do what is good.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on Hebrews 6:9

Until now, this section has been mainly a warning. Good News Translation is right to mark the change of mood by putting But even if we speak like this at the beginning of the sentence (contrast with King James Version, which follows the Greek order). Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch achieves the same result in a different way: “But for you, dear friends, we are confident, even when we speak so severely.” But even if we speak like this may have to be rendered as “But even if we write to you like this” or “… write to you with words like these.”

On the whole, Hebrews does not seem to be a very personal letter, but these verses contain several signs that the writer cares deeply for his readers: dear friends here, and great desire and each one of you in verse 11. These expressions have all the greater impact because they are unusual in the Greek. Translations should reflect this by using emphatic language. Great desire is even stronger in Greek than in English.

Dear friends may be rendered as “friends whom I truly love,” or even “you who are indeed my friends.”

The passage makes it clear that the writer is distinguishing himself from his readers: we means “I” (so Moffatt, Le Nouveau Testament. Version Synodale).

We feel sure about you may be expressed as “I have confidence in you,” but it is also possible to render this as a negative statement, namely, “I do not worry about you.”

What are the better blessings, literally “the better things”? The text does not say explicitly, and translations vary widely. The possibilities are as follows:
(a) “You are in a better state or situation” than that of the infertile land just mentioned; so perhaps Barclay “you still possess the necessities of salvation”; Translator’s New Testament “You know what is good” (but “You know” is not in the text); and Traduction œcuménique de la Bible, rather vaguely, “you are on the good side”; see also New English Bible.
(b) “You will take the better course” (Moffatt; similarly Bible en français courant); Phillips “you … are capable of better things”; Fulfulde “you are on the good way, the way of salvation.”
(c) You have the better blessings (compare blesses in verse 7); similarly Biblia Dios Habla Hoy.
(d) “We have better confidence,” Knox and Luther 1984.
(e) “We are sure that you will be saved,” Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch.
(f) “The best is stored away for you: salvation,” Bijbel in Gewone Taal.

Possibilities (a) and (b) are similar, but (b) is more idiomatic, and makes a better link with “your salvation”; (c) introduces a comparison between different blessings which is not found elsewhere in the letter; (d) is not the most natural meaning of the Greek; (e) oversimplifies an admittedly difficult sentence; (f) identifies the “better things” with salvation, which leads to interpreting “better” as “best.” On the whole, (b) seems the best solution; it fits in well with the general movement of the writer’s thought as summarized in the diagram at the beginning of Chapter 6 of this Handbook.

If one adopts the rendering suggested by Good News Translation, the better blessings may be represented by “that better way in which God has blessed you” or “the more important ways in which God has blessed you.”

The final clause that belong to your salvation may be expressed as “this has to do with your being saved” or “this is involved in God saving you.” The clause that belong to your salvation is in apposition with the better blessings. If, on the other hand, one adopts rendering (b), one may translate the second sentence of verse 9 as “we know that you will go that better way which leads to your salvation” or “… which involves God saving you.”

Quoted with permission from Ellingworth, Paul and Nida, Eugene A. A Handbook on The Letter of the Hebrews. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .