One of the most frequently heard complaints about the KJV is that people don’t like reading the words thee, thou, and thy. They would much rather read a version that only uses the words you and your instead. No one has any difficulty understanding that thee, thou, and thy are second-person pronouns, but they don’t like these words because they are different from the way we normally communicate in modern society. When God communicated His Word to men, He chose to do so in languages that had a clear distinction between the singular second-person pronouns and the plural second-person pronouns. The Bible incorporates that distinction, and it is necessary for communicating the Word of God correctly. Unfortunately, modern English does not have a distinction between the singular and plural second-person pronouns. Our language uses the same word (you) for both singular and plural. This presented a problem to the KJV translators, and they chose to solve it by reviving the words thee, thou, and thy to be used as the singular second-person pronouns while retaining you and your as the plurals.
Critics of the KJV often claim that the KJV’s use of thee, thou, and thy is an archaism from the seventeenth century, but a recent exhaustive study of English documents across multiple genres found that the primary difference between the words thee, thou, and thy and the words ye, you, and your during the period from 1560 to 1760 was that the former were used derogatorily when one was speaking to his social inferior.[1] The KJV translators did not use these words in their common usage. They used words that were already fading out of use to create a new grammatical standard solely to preserve the distinction between singular and plural second-person pronouns in the Bible. Modern translations, on the other hand, capitulate to the discomfort of the masses by removing thee, thou, and thy from their text and replacing them with you and your, but this change causes confusion by removing an important feature of the Word of God. When the second-person pronouns are all translated as you and your, it can be difficult for readers to realize who is being spoken to in the text. This leads to erroneous understandings and flawed applications of God’s Word, and it often leads the translators themselves to add to or change the Word of God out of a desire to undo the confusion caused by their removal of the distinction between singular and plural second-person pronouns. Here is a small sample of passages where the distinction between the pronouns is an important factor in understanding what God said. I’ve included the KJV translation for each passage, followed by examples of readers misinterpreting the passages because they either did not notice the distinction between the pronouns or they used a translation that did not have that distinction. Luke 22:31-32 “And the Lord said, Simon, Simon, behold, Satan hath desired to have you, that he may sift you as wheat: But I have prayed for thee, that thy faith fail not: and when thou art converted, strengthen thy brethren.” Notice that the Lord changed pronouns in the middle of this statement. He began by using the plural second-person pronoun you but then changed to the singular pronouns thee, thy, and thou. This change in pronouns is the only indicator that Christ was speaking of the disciples as a group at the beginning of His statement and then speaking of Peter as an individual for the last part. This helps us understand what Jesus meant when He mentioned sifting. To sift something is to shake it through a sieve so that the group is broken up into its individual elements. This makes no sense when applied to Peter as a single individual, and many who apply it that way interpret “sift” as a synonym for “destroy.” This is how Chuck Smith incorrectly interpreted this word in his commentary. He wrote, “It seems that Satan is always seeking to destroy the leadership of the church. He knows that by destroying one of great influence, he can destroy many. Satan desired that he might sift Peter like wheat.” If Smith had properly understood the Lord’s change in pronoun use, he would have realized that Satan’s desire was to break up the fellowship of the disciples, destroy their unity, and make them ineffective. Jesus instructed Peter to strengthen the others so they would be able to resist Satan’s attempts and maintain a unified front in the face of persecution. This is the same thing that Jesus requested of the Father in the Garden of Gethsemane when He prayed that His disciples would “be one, even as we are one” (John 17:22). Exodus 29:42 “This shall be a continual burnt offering throughout your generations at the door of the tabernacle of the congregation before the LORD: where I will meet you, to speak there unto thee.” Here is another example of God changing His pronoun use in the middle of a statement. In this case, God was giving Moses instructions for the daily sacrifices in the tabernacle, and He promised to meet with the nation of Israel at the tabernacle and speak to Moses. If the distinction between the singular and plural pronouns is lost, we might interpret this incorrectly and conclude that God promised to speak to the entire nation when they met at the tabernacle. This is how Southern Baptist Pastor Shawn Thomas interpreted this verse, and it led him to an incorrect application. Thomas wrote: “Look at :42, God says ‘where I will meet with you, to speak to you there.’ We’ve seen that our main purpose is meeting with God. But when we do meet with Him, God says He will also SPEAK to us: ‘I will . . . speak to you there.’” Thomas failed to note the change in pronouns and concluded that since God spoke directly with the nation of Israel when they assembled at the tabernacle, He must also speak directly to us when we assemble at the church. What actually happened, however, is that God came to the tabernacle and spoke with Moses, and Moses then communicated the message of God to the people. God only spoke directly to the nation one time, and the people were so afraid of the voice of God that they begged Moses to be their representative so they would not have to hear God’s voice themselves. God praised them for their wisdom, and He spoke only to Moses from that point forward (Deut. 5:23-31). Matthew 26:64 “Jesus saith unto him, Thou hast said: nevertheless I say unto you, Hereafter shall ye see the Son of man sitting on the right hand of power, and coming in the clouds of heaven.” This is a verse that is often used by skeptics to cause people to doubt the validity of the Bible. For example, the Skeptics Annotated Bible says of this verse, “In both gospels he falsely prophesies that the high priest would see his second coming.” Failure to distinguish between the singular and plural pronouns here has caused many to doubt and possibly even leave the faith. When the pronouns are translated properly, we can see that Jesus only addressed the priest at the beginning of his answer. Most of His answer was directed to the nation as a whole as a general prophecy of His return. Isaiah 7:11-16 “Ask thee a sign of the LORD thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above. But Ahaz said, I will not ask, neither will I tempt the LORD. And he said, Hear ye now, O house of David; Is it a small thing for you to weary men, but will ye weary my God also? Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. Butter and honey shall he eat, that he may know to refuse the evil, and choose the good. For before the child shall know to refuse the evil, and choose the good, the land that thou abhorrest shall be forsaken of both her kings.” Here is another passage that is often used to lead people away from the faith. Skeptics claim that this could not have been a prophecy of Christ’s virgin birth because the prophecy was given as a sign to Ahaz who lived several hundred years before Christ was born. Even Christian apologists like Robby Lashua at Stand to Reason fall into this trap when they use modern translations. Robby said that “the Isaiah 7:14 sign given to Ahaz wasn’t about a miraculous virgin birth. It was about the name of a child soon to be born, which signified the war would be over.” When we read this passage in a translation like the KJV that keeps the distinction between the singular and plural second-person pronouns, we can see instantly that Isaiah’s prophecy was not given to King Ahaz. Isaiah started out speaking to the king, but when Ahaz refused to ask God for a sign, God refused to give him one. Isaiah then turned to the body of the people, and God gave a sign to the entire line of David. This sign was fulfilled in the birth of Christ as is explicitly stated in the gospel of Matthew (Matt. 1:22-23). Acts 13:33-34 “God hath fulfilled the same unto us their children, in that he hath raised up Jesus again; as it is also written in the second psalm, Thou art my Son, this day have I begotten thee. And as concerning that he raised him up from the dead, now no more to return to corruption, he said on this wise, I will give you the sure mercies of David.” Even the venerable R.C. Sproul misapplied this passage when he failed to notice the distinction between the singular and plural pronouns. Sproul claimed that “the promise to give the right descendant ‘the holy and sure blessings of David’ in today’s passage is really a promise to raise this descendant from the dead.” But Sproul’s use of the modern translations led him into error. If Sproul had read this passage in the KJV, he would have noted that the second-person pronouns changed from singular in verse thirty-three to plural in verse thirty-four. The plural second-person pronouns could not have been a reference to Jesus who was a single descendent of David. To understand who the plural pronouns refer to, we need to turn to the book of Isaiah and read the source that Paul was quoting. Isaiah wrote, “Ho, every one that thirsteth, come ye to the waters, and he that hath no money; come ye, buy, and eat; yea, come, buy wine and milk without money and without price . . . Incline your ear, and come unto me: hear, and your soul shall live; and I will make an everlasting covenant with you, even the sure mercies of David” (Isa. 55:1-3). This is the prophecy that Paul quoted, and we can see that the second-person pronouns refer to those who come to God for His blessings. When we apply this back to Paul’s statement in Acts, Paul’s message becomes clear. He was not talking about God raising Jesus from the dead as Sproul claimed. What Paul actually said was that we who believe on Christ would receive the sure mercies of David because Christ had risen from the dead. I Samuel 17:46-47 “This day will the LORD deliver thee into mine hand; and I will smite thee, and take thine head from thee; and I will give the carcases of the host of the Philistines this day unto the fowls of the air, and to the wild beasts of the earth; that all the earth may know that there is a God in Israel. And all this assembly shall know that the LORD saveth not with sword and spear: for the battle is the LORD’S, and he will give you into our hands.” At the beginning of this passage, David addressed Goliath with singular pronouns, but the final second-person pronoun is plural. David Guzik missed this change in a recent sermon on his YouTube channel. Guzik said, “Notice David’s humility. He didn’t say He’ll give you into my hands. David knew that this was a battle and that he fought on behalf of all Israel. If they weren’t trusting in the Lord, David would trust for them. David fought the battle but not only for himself but for all of God’s people. His victory became their victory.” If Guzik had noticed the change in the second-person pronouns, he would have realized that David was saying the Lord would deliver the Philistines into the hands of the Israelites. He wasn’t saying that all of Israel would have a share in his victory of Goliath. He was telling Goliath that his death would only be first of many as Israel vanquished their enemy. Job 13 “But ye are forgers of lies, ye are all physicians of no value . . . Only do not two things unto me: then will I not hide myself from thee. Withdraw thine hand far from me: and let not thy dread make me afraid . . . Wherefore hidest thou thy face, and holdest me for thine enemy?” There are many places in the book of Job where the change in second-person pronouns is the only indication that Job has switched from speaking to his friends to speaking to God or vice versa. At the beginning of chapter thirteen, Job is speaking to his friends, but in verse twenty he turns from his friends and begins speaking to God. Chuck Smith provided another example of misinterpreting this passage when he wrote in his commentary, “And so when Job gets to this point, he says, ‘Just show me.’ And they go, ‘Ohh, noo.’ And so Job says, ‘Why are you hiding your face?’” Smith did not notice the pronoun change, and he misapplied Job’s statement to the friends instead of to God. Job didn’t think his friends were hiding their faces. He thought that God was hiding His face, and he cried out for an explanation. Job 16:7-8 “But now he hath made me weary: thou hast made desolate all my company. And thou hast filled me with wrinkles, which is a witness against me: and my leanness rising up in me beareth witness to my face.” Most of the modern versions recognize the difficulty of understanding the Bible properly without the distinction between the singular and plural second-person pronouns. Many of them tried to overcome this problem by rewriting parts of the Bible. The ESV provides a good example of this in Job chapter sixteen. The KJV correctly translates a change in the second-person pronouns between verse seven and verse eight, but the ESV translators removed all distinction between the singular and plural second-person pronouns. Job chapter sixteen begins with Job speaking to his friends, but it changes in the middle of verse seven to record Job speaking to God. Here is the same passage in the ESV: “Surely now God has worn me out; he has made desolate all my company. And he has shriveled me up, which is a witness against me, and my leanness has risen up against me; it testifies to my face.” The ESV translators changed Job’s address to God into a description about God addressed to Job’s friends. This clears up the confusion that would have resulted from the ESV just using plural second-person pronouns in place of singular, but it does so at the cost of changing the Word of God. Job 30:20 “I cry unto thee, and thou dost not hear me: I stand up, and thou regardest me not.” The NIV treats this passage similarly to the way the ESV changed the previous one. In this case, the NIV adds to God’s Word by inserting a phrase to show that Job was addressing God instead of continuing to speak to his friends. The added phrase conveys the proper understanding of the recipient of Job’s words, but it does so at the cost of adding to the Word of God. The NIV translates this verse as, “I cry out to you, God, but you do not answer; I stand up, but you merely look at me.” Conclusion These nine verses are just a small sample of the places where God relied on the distinction between singular and plural second-person pronouns to communicate His Word to us. There are many more found all throughout Scripture. This distinction is so crucial to a proper understanding of the Bible that the KJV translators essentially crafted a new system for conveying that distinction in English. The translators did not simply translate into the common style of their day. They changed the common vernacular to fit the needs of the translation in order to maintain accuracy. This stands in stark contrast against the capitulations of modern translators. [1] Terry Walker, Thou and You in Early Modern English Dialogues: Trials, Depositions, and Drama Comedy (Amsterdam: John Benjamins Publishing Company, 2007), 292.
0 Comments
Your comment will be posted after it is approved.
Leave a Reply. |
Bill Fortenberry is a Christian philosopher and historian in Birmingham, AL. Bill's work has been cited in several legal journals, and he has appeared as a guest on shows including The Dr. Gina Show, The Michael Hart Show, and Real Science Radio.
Contact Us if you would like to schedule Bill to speak to your church, group, or club. "Give instruction to a wise man, and he will be yet wiser: teach a just man, and he will increase in learning." (Proverbs 9:9)
Search
Topics
All
Archives
November 2024
|