top of page
  • David Sutton

The Thee's and the Thou's

Many people get up in arms about the thee’s and thou’s in the King James Bible (KJV). They make comments such as this: “I can’t understand the Old English of the King James.” To them their argument justifies using a modern version. What about their reasoning?

First, the KJV was not written in Old English. The English language divides up into three periods: Old English (AD 450-1066), Middle English (AD 1066-1500), and Modern English (AD 1500-present). Old English is unrecognizable (e.g., Beowulf), Middle English is moderately recognizable (e.g., Canterbury Tales), and Modern English is recognizable (e.g., Shakespeare and Dickens). The KJV came in 1611—Modern English.

Second, the pronoun use helps the reader more accurately understand the text. Thee and thou are singular for “you,” and ye is plural for “you.” Thee is used for direct objects (“I say unto thee”), and thou for subjects (“Thou art the man”). Modern translations are more ambiguous because “you” is used for both singular and plural (cf. I Cor. 3:17).

What do we conclude? The KJV is an accurate translation for the modern reader. The Bible you read is the Bible you understand.

8 views0 comments

Recent Posts

See All

Solomon wrote divinely-given advice to his son in the book Proverbs, advice that well serves anyone, of any age. Here is some of his counsel: “Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto

It is not uncommon for children or teenagers to wake up in the morning and say that their legs hurt or their muscles ache. If they didn’t do anything particularly strenuous the preceding days, we migh

The Bible tells us that Satan is the accuser of the brethren and that he accuses us day and night before our God (Rev. 12:10). What kinds of things might he accuse us of? That we don’t love God, that

Post: Blog2_Post
bottom of page