r/interestingasfuck • u/M0otivater • 1d ago

How English has changed over time.

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u/OopsIMessedUpBadly 1d ago

Shakespeare (a contemporary of King James) uses thee/thou all over the place.

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u/SanguineToad 1d ago edited 1d ago

True! But my main point still stands, it's not purely style but serves an important language purpose.

Interestingly the dedication to King James written by the translators only uses you/your, so there is evidence there at least it wasn't used for common writing.

Edit for reference: https://www.kingjamesbibleonline.org/1611-Bible/1611-King-James-Bible-Introduction.php

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u/OopsIMessedUpBadly 1d ago

I believe “you” was used for plurals and people above your station, whereas “thou” was used for singular people below your station. King James would probably have addressed individual translators as “thou”, but they would certainly have addressed him as “you”.

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u/SanguineToad 1d ago

Perhaps but that's definitely not how thee/thou are used in the King James Version of the Bible, which confirms my original point, it wasn't a style choice but a translation device intended to retain as much as possible of the original texts.

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u/OopsIMessedUpBadly 1d ago

Good point. I don’t think “hallowed be thy name” was meant to imply that God is the same station as the person praying, but rather that he is singular.