inclusive vs. exclusive pronoun (Josh 9:12)

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 Joshua.

Translation commentary on Joshua 9:12 - 9:13

Look at our bread translates “Here is our bread” (Revised Standard Version), a Hebraism for calling attention to the bread.

The second sentence of verse 12 (When we left home … it was still warm) may be inverted and made shorter, since and started out to meet you was mentioned in the previous verse: “It was still warm when we left home with it.”

But look translates a Hebraism (Revised Standard Version “behold”) used as an attention getter. It is possible to translate accurately without using a word to express it in the text. In fact, for some languages But look! Now … may result in overemphasis, which would have negative effects.

Similarly, verse 13 may be translated, “The same is true of these wineskins. When we filled them they were new, but now they are torn….”

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Newman, Barclay M. A Handbook on Joshua. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1983. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .