inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Jas. 3:1)

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 inclusive form (including the writer and the readers of this letter).

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

complete verse (James 3:1)

Following are a number of back-translations of James 3:1:

  • Uma: “All my relatives! Don’t many of you want to be/become Kristen religion teachers. For we know, relatives, God’s inspection of us who are teachers will be heavier that his inspection of other people.” (Source: Uma Back Translation)
  • Yakan: “My brothers, few of you should aspire to being religious-teachers (guru). For you know that we (incl.) the religious-teachers, if we (dual) happen-to-be-at-fault/make-a-mistake our (incl.) judgment will be greater than that of those who are not religious-teachers.” (Source: Yakan Back Translation)
  • Western Bukidnon Manobo: “Brothers, it is good if not many of you want to teach, for as for us who teach, God’s investigation of us in the future will be tighter than of those whom we teach.” (Source: Western Bukidnon Manobo Back Translation)
  • Kankanaey: “Brothers, it would be good if few of you planned to teach the word of God, because you know that the punishment of us (excl.) who teach is heavier if we (excl.) make-a-mistake than those who-are-being-taught.” (Source: Kankanaey Back Translation)
  • Tagbanwa: “My siblings in believing, it’s good if the crowd/total of you don’t too-lightly/without-sufficient-forethought want the responsibility/job of teacher of the word of God. Because you know that as for us (excl.) teachers, we (excl.) will be all the more judged/sentenced if we (excl.) aren’t following/obeying this which we (excl.) are teaching.” (Source: Tagbanwa Back Translation)
  • Tenango Otomi: “Listen, my dear brethren, not just anyone among you can decide to teach the word of God. Because you know that we who teach the word of God will be judged strictly, and those who don’t teach, less strictly.” (Source: Tenango Otomi Back Translation)

Translation commentary on James 3:1

Let not … my brethren: it is perhaps best to begin the sentence with “My brothers,” rather than keeping more or less the order of the original Greek (as in Revised Standard Version). For one thing, this is the structure demanded by many languages. For another, this will immediately serve to indicate that a new subject is being introduced. Here again my brethren is inclusive and therefore may be rendered as “My friends” (Good News Translation, Revised English Bible), “my brothers and sisters,” (New Revised Standard Version), or “my fellow Christians.” (See 1.2 for a further comment.)

Let not many of you become teachers: James warns about aspiring to the teaching office. In Greek the negative not is placed at the beginning of the sentence for emphasis. Instead of saying Let not many …, we may say more directly “not many of you should…” (Good News Translation) or “we should not all try to…” (Contemporary English Version). Moffatt has brought out the sense graphically, thus “do not crowd in….” In some languages it is best to say this in a positive way; for example, “Only a few of you should…” (New International Version, New Jerusalem Bible).

Teachers, along with apostles and prophets, are people engaged in one of the three most important ministries in the New Testament (1 Cor 12.28; they are also given importance in Acts 13.1; Rom 12.7; Eph 4.11). To be a teacher was to occupy a position with prestige and authority within the Christian community in the early church. Because of this many people aspired to be teachers, obviously crowding into this ministry for wrong reasons. And it is for this reason that James warns about the serious responsibilities as well as the consequences of being a teacher.

For you know that we who teach shall be judged with greater strictness: James hastens to add the reason why the office of teacher is not something that many people should be seeking. The teaching office brings with it honor, responsibility, and accountability. Consequently he warns that those who teach come under closer and greater scrutiny and therefore are liable to receive greater and more severe judgment from God. For you know that in Greek is a participle “knowing that,” often used to introduce something already known. It means something like “knowing as you already do” (Hort) and may be rendered as “you may be certain that” (Revised English Bible), “Remember that” (Phillips), “for you are well aware that” (Barclay), or “In fact” (Contemporary English Version).

Notice the shift from the second person plural you to the first person plural we. The we here is an exclusive term, referring only to the teachers, but it includes James himself. The severe warning applies to himself! For languages where there is a difference between the inclusive and exclusive “we,” the exclusive one should be used here. The statement we … shall be judged with greater strictness in Greek is literally closer to the King James Version rendering, “we shall receive the greater condemnation.” These two renderings reflect two ways of understanding the meaning in Greek, the one with a focus on the standard or criterion of judgment, and the other with a focus on the extent of judgment or penalty. The majority of translations appear to favor the first: those who teach are liable to receive greater judgment if they mislead others or do not practice what they teach. For the person who has more responsibility, the demand on her or him will naturally be greater, thus “teachers will be judged more strictly than others” (Contemporary English Version). Most likely the judgment here refers to the Last Judgment, and the one who pronounces the judgment is God. In some languages it is best to restructure the sentence into an active form; for example, “God will judge us [or, us (exclusive) teachers] with greater strictness” or “God will judge us strongly more than [he will] other people” (Kituba common language). The comparison of the severity of judgment is between what happens to “us” and what happens to others, and so some translations have included “others”; for example, “with greater strictness than others” (Good News Translation).

An alternative way to express this verse may be:
• My dear fellow Christians, we [inclusive] should not all try to become teachers. In fact God will judge us [exclusive] teachers more strictly than other people.

Quoted with permission from Loh, I-Jin and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on The Letter from James. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1997. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .