In his book Authorized: the Use and Misuse of the King James Bible;, Mark Ward wrote a good deal about “false friends.” In this context, a “false friend,” loosely, is a word that you expect to mean something that it doesn’t.
I have never noticed any supporters of modern Bibles
or detractors of the King James Version call out their own very false friend –
the English second person pronoun “you.” Unlike some of the so-called false
friends that appear randomly in the King James Bible, the false friend “you,”
is repeatedly strewn throughout modern translations from front to back, from Genesis to
Revelation.
As our English language “progressed,” where it once
distinguished between second person singulars and plurals,[i] it devolved into a morass
of “yous” which are indistinguishable. On the one hand some dismiss this as an
irrelevant concern. As one man recently told me, “You can tell by the context.”
While that may be true on occasion, in fact very often we cannot tell by
context. Perhaps we can tell better in face-to-face conversations than when
reading – but even then our own practices belie that claim. We modern English
speakers, despite what they may teach us in school, have created numerous ways
to let our hearers know we mean “you plural” – y’all, you’uns, youse, and you lot, for examples. We know instinctively that we need to make the distinction,
even though our modern language has betrayed us.
So, when modern translations are made, they extend that betrayal to us once again. You, you, you, you, and we don’t know which you! Unlike my friend who brushed it off nonchalantly, Greek scholar Bill Mounce admits the problem. Writing about “You” and “You” - Singular or Plural he says, “I wish modern English had a different form for ‘you’ plural. It would solve some sticky translation problems.”[ii] In portraying this problem, Mounce provides an example from John 1:50-51 in the New International Version:
Jesus said, “You believe because I told you I saw you under the fig tree. You will see greater things than that.” He then added, “Very truly I tell you, you will see ‘heaven open, and the angels of God ascending and descending on’ the Son of Man.”
Speaking of
a shift from second person singular to second person plural, he explains “There
is no way you would pick that up from the English.”[iii]
Examples of verses
Below are some examples of verses where we lose the
singular-plural second person distinction in modern language, but are noticeable
in the King James translation. Take a look at these and see whether you have
caught the distinctions before.[iv]
Exodus 3:12 And he said, Certainly I will be with thee; and this shall be a token unto thee, that I have sent thee: When thou hast brought forth the people out of Egypt, ye shall serve God upon this mountain.
Exodus 4:15 And thou shalt speak unto
him, and put words in his mouth: and I will be with thy mouth, and with his
mouth, and will teach you what ye shall do.
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.
2 Samuel 7:23 And what one nation in the earth is
like thy people, even like Israel, whom God went to redeem for
a people to himself, and to make him a name, and to do for you great
things and terrible, for thy land, before thy people,
which thou redeemedst to thee from Egypt, from the nations and their gods?
Deuteronomy 6:14-15 Ye shall not go
after other gods, of the gods of the people which are round about you;
(for the Lord thy God is a jealous God among you)
lest the anger of the Lord thy God be kindled against thee, and
destroy thee from off the face of the earth.
Job 42:7 And it was so, that after the Lord had spoken
these words unto Job, the Lord said to Eliphaz the Temanite, My wrath is
kindled against thee, and against
thy two friends: for ye have not
spoken of me the thing that is right, as my servant Job hath.
Psalm 27:8 When thou saidst, Seek ye my face; my heart said unto thee, Thy face, Lord, will I seek.
Isaiah 7:11,14 Ask thee a sign of the
Lord thy God; ask it either in the depth, or in the height above…Therefore the
Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall
conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.
Malachi 1:8 And if ye offer the blind for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not
evil? offer it now unto thy
governor; will he be pleased with thee,
or accept thy person? saith the Lord
of hosts.
Matthew 26:40 And he cometh unto the disciples,
and findeth them asleep, and saith unto Peter, What, could ye not
watch with me one hour?
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.
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.
John 1:50-51 Jesus answered and said unto him,
Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest
thou? thou shalt see greater things than these. And he saith unto him, Verily,
verily, I say unto you, Hereafter ye shall see heaven open, and the
angels of God ascending and descending upon the Son of man.
John 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must
be born again.
1 Corinthians 3:16 Know ye not that ye are the temple of God, and that the
Spirit of God dwelleth in you?
1 Corinthians 6:19 What? know ye not
that your body is the temple of the Holy Ghost which is in you, which ye have
of God, and ye are not your own?
1 Corinthians 8:9-12 But take heed lest by any
means this liberty of yours become a stumblingblock to them
that are weak. For if any man see thee which hast knowledge
sit at meat in the idol’s temple, shall not the conscience of him which is weak
be emboldened to eat those things which are offered to idols; and through thy knowledge
shall the weak brother perish, for whom Christ died? But when ye sin
so against the brethren, and wound their weak conscience, ye sin
against Christ.
2 Timothy 4:22 The Lord Jesus Christ be
with thy spirit. Grace be with you. Amen.
Titus 3:15 All that are with me salute thee.
Greet them that love us in the faith. Grace be with you all.
Amen.
Philemon 1:21-25 Having confidence in thy obedience
I wrote unto thee, knowing that thou wilt also do
more than I say. But withal prepare me also a lodging: for I trust that through
your prayers I shall be given
unto you. There salute thee Epaphras, my
fellowprisoner in Christ Jesus; Marcus, Aristarchus, Demas, Lucas, my
fellowlabourers. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with your spirit.
Amen.
A quick explanation of the “ye’s” and “thee’s”
There are ten second person pronouns used in the Early Modern English of the King James Version of the Bible.
The words beginning with “T” are second person singular:
- Thou = Nominative case (as in “Thou art”)
- Thee = Objective case (as in “to thee,” “of thee”)
- Thy = Possessive (usually used before a noun that begins with a consonant, as in “thy brother”)
- Thine = Possessive (usually used before a noun that begins with a vowel or vowel sound, as in “thine eyes”; or in place of a noun, as in “this is thine”)
- Thyself = Reflexive singular pronoun (used as the direct or indirect object of a verb or the object of a preposition)[v]
The words beginning with “Y” are second person plural:
- Ye = Nominative case (as in “Ye are”)
- You = Objective case (as in “to you,” “of you”)
- Your = Possessive determiner (used in front of a noun, as in “your generations”)
- Yours = Possessive pronoun (used in place of nouns, as in “all things are yours”)
- Yourselves = Reflexive plural pronoun (used as the direct or indirect object of a verb or the object of a preposition; or as an emphatic appositive, see Luke 13:28)[v]
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