Ye, Thee, and the Rest!

Now, the most well-known characteristics of the Authorized King James Version, are those "archaic" words like "Ye" and "Thee" and "Thou." Let's not forget those strange little word endings "est" and "eth." Who talks like that? Well, to tell you the Truth, no one, unless they wanted to be so precise in their words, so loyal to the meaning they are trying to convey. But you definitely won't find someone talking like that today.

And neither were they talking like that when they put together the King James Bible in 1611! The most widely known misconception about the King James Bible, was that they wrote that way, because that was the way things were written and said back then! But actually, it wasn't! Look into the etymology of the word "ye" and you will find that its use ended about the Thirteenth (13th) Century, or the 1200s! Definitely not still in use in the Seventeenth (17th) Century when the King James Bible was written in 1611!

So then, why is it there? Why use the words? Because, the King James Translators weren't trying to write a Bible that was "easy reading," (They had an Easy Reading Bible in the Bishops Bible which was before the King James Bible) but rather they were more set on making sure the King James Bible, was the most accurate and was True to the Word of God. They were more careful about keeping to the Word of God, rather than lessening its Truth, or watering it down. They knew they were handling the Word of God, so they made sure to produce the Word of God, not just another Bible.

So, what do these words have to do with any of this? Simple: Accuracy and Precision. First let's look at the Words "ye," "you," "your," "thee," "thou," and "thine." This makes things easier: If it begins with a "y" then it shows plural "you." If it begins with a "t" it shows singular "you."

Ye--Plural Form of "you" Meaning "you all" (Nominative case)
You--Plural Form of "you" Meaning "you all" (Objective case)
Your--Possessive form of "you all"
Thee--Singular Form of "you" (Objective case)
Thou--Singular Form of "you" (Nominative case)
Thine--Possessive form of singular "you"

See the importance of it now? The English language as it is used today, is the only language that does not specify singular or plural forms of "you." All we have is "you." "You over there!" could mean you are calling out a group, or just a single person. Normally we might say "you all" when denoting more than one person though. However, it remains, the English language as we use it today, has lost its precision by dropping the use of "ye," "thou," "thee," and "thine." It lost the usage of those words even before the King James Bible came to be. However, the King James Translators, used them because of their "exactness" of meaning. See it in use in the verse below.

Ye and Thee in John 3:7

Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

Marvel not that I said unto thee [singular-Nicodemus], Ye [plural-everyone in the world] must be born again.

Now we see the words "ye" and "thee" in use. We can understand the meanings better. Jesus here was talking to Nicodemus. And properly used, is the Word "thee" when Jesus said "Marvel not that I said unto thee." Jesus didn't just tell everyone that we must be born again. He told Nicodemus in the verses before, that a man must be born again in order to even see the Kingdom of Heaven. Then Jesus goes on to say "Ye must be born again." Jesus didn't tell Nicodemus that he alone needed to be born again, but that EVERYONE needed to be born again to see the Kingdom of Heaven!

Now that we understand the meaning of the words "thee" and "ye" and the rest of them, let's look at those strange "Shakespearian" word endings such as "eth" and "est." This one will really surprise you. When I realized this, it definitely surprised me!

-est-- Second Person Point of View (You, I)
-eth-- Third Person Point of View (He, She, It, They, Them)

That's right, even the endings are put there for precision! By doing all this, God shows us that He really wants us to properly understand and know exactly what He is saying! A word ends with "est" or just "st" when it is referring to a person in the "second person" point of view. "You 'didst' understand." And a word ending with "eth" is referring to a person or thing in the "third person" point of view. "He understandeth it." In case you might forget, look at the endings, "est" is for Second Person point of view, and "eth" is for Third Person point of view. Let's look at this in use in the Word of God.

Est and Eth in John 3:8

The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

(Words "color-coded" to see the link between them) The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

Wind-->Bloweth
It------>Listeth
Thou-->Hearest
Thou-->Canst
It------>Cometh
It------>Goeth

Did you see and understand how and why it was used the way it was? These weren't set ways of spelling things. "Go" isn't always "goeth" just like "do" isn't always "doest" or "doth." It depends on the word it is speaking about. In the Second Person point of view, the person being spoken to, "est" is used. In the Third Person point of view, the person being spoken about, "eth" is used.

Knowing all this about the words we covered, and why it was used even though it wasn't used in the common language of the day in 1611 (but rather passed away nearly 400 years earlier), we clearly see why we should not mess with the language of the King James Version, and why even a slight change, even a letter or two, can change the meaning, and corrupt it with contradiction (est, change the "s" to an "h" and put it at the end, and now you have even made a contradiction. Second-person point of view has become Third-person point of view, when it needed to remain Second-person.) We also see that there is a much needed reason such words are used in the KJV, and shouldn't be taken out or changed!