The English Oracle

Why did the KJV use "thou" toward God?

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Music by Eric Matyas
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Track title: Hypnotic Puzzle4

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Chapters
00:00 Why Did The Kjv Use &Quot;Thou&Quot; Toward God?
00:28 Accepted Answer Score 12
00:47 Answer 2 Score 7
01:27 Answer 3 Score 0
01:55 Answer 4 Score 1
02:23 Thank you

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Full question
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Tags
#wordusage #pronouns #earlymodernenglish

#avk47



ACCEPTED ANSWER

Score 12


In most languages an informal pronoun is used to address God. In German they use the informal 'du', for example. It's meant to signify a personal relationship with God, as in the way you would talk to your father.




ANSWER 2

Score 7


To sum up what I was suspecting and what is suggested in one of the comments and (I believe) in one of the answers, God is referred to as thou (and its related case forms) because that is the only 2nd person singular pronoun used in KJV. The only possible case where a single person is referred to in the second person is Titus 2:7–8. The other epistle addressed to a single person (Philemon) uses only thou. All the dialogue involving Jesus or the apostles appears to use thou regardless of who is being addressed.

I don't know if we have any actual bible scholars on the site, but it'd be nice to have their opinion.




ANSWER 3

Score 1


The KJV is an English translation from Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic languages.

As it emphasised 'formal equivalence' - translating the text word-for-word - the grammar is important.

So when the original text used singular or plural pronouns, so did the KJV.

In the early 17th century, English used 'thou' for second person singular and 'you' for second person plural.

Although these terms also carried connotations of respect, the translators used them for their grammatical accuracy.




ANSWER 4

Score 0


I would like to know when the invention to address one person as several persons for reasons of respect came up. The poster assumes that this polite form of address was common in earliest times. But that may be an erroneous view and the polite forms of address may be a relatively late invention. I have never had reason to study this problem in detail but I think in the connection with the posted question this problem should be studied first.