inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Jeremiah 18:12)

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, the Jarai and the Adamawa Fulfulde translation both use the exclusive pronoun, excluding Jeremiah.

Translation commentary on Jeremiah 18:12

But they say may be better as a future tense in some languages: “They will answer” (Good News Translation).

That is in vain translates one word in Hebrew. Revised English Bible translates “Things are past hope” and New Jerusalem Bible has “It is no use!” Good News Translation has “No, why should we?” and Die Bibel im heutigen Deutsch “Nothing will come of it!” One commentator suggests “We don’t care!”

Plans is the same word used in verse 11.

Stubbornness of his evil heart means “a stubborn and evil heart”; in Hebrew stubbornness is emphatic. See “stubbornly follow their own evil heart” in 3.17. For the last sentence Good News Translation translates “We will all be just as stubborn and evil as we want to be.” We should remember that heart in Hebrew is equivalent to “mind” in modern thought.

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on Jeremiah. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2003. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .