Understanding the Bible: �KJV Pronouns

… Ye, you, your, thee, thou, thy, thine ...

���Pastor Bob Hammond�Long Hill Baptist Church�Trumbull, CT��

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2. How Important Is This Distinction?

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(KJV) John 3:7 Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.

(NASB) John 3:7 "Do not be amazed that I said to you, 'You must be born again.'

3. What We’ll Learn In This Workshop

• What exactly is a pronoun?�
• Why pronouns are so important�
• The precise meaning of each KJV pronoun

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Why? To understand the word of God more precisely. �

4. What’s a Pronoun, Anyway?

• Personal pronouns (such as I, you, or they) refer to a person or a group of people. �
• Personal pronouns may refer to:
• the person or people speaking or writing (first person),
• the person or people being spoken to (second person),
• or other people or things (third person). �
• In a sentence, personal pronouns can either refer to the �subject (doing action) or the object (receiving action)

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Source: https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/personal%20pronoun

5. All Pronouns Reflect A Point of View

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“Me”

First-person

“You”

Second-person

“Them”

Third-person

Thou, thee, thy, thine, ye and you are all second-person pronouns.

6. Why The KJV Pronouns Matter

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Matthew 4:3 And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. �4 But he answered and said, It is written, Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God.

Deuteronomy 8:3 And he humbled thee, and suffered thee to hunger, and fed thee with manna, which thou knewest not, neither did thy fathers know; that he might make thee know that man doth not live by bread only, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of the LORD doth man live.

7. Why The KJV Pronouns Matter

• The English of our King James Bible is translated from Hebrew and Greek – which use a more precise system of personal pronouns than we use in today’s modern English;�
• The KJV translators used the so-called Elizabethan pronoun system to reflect the same pronoun distinctions that are used in the Greek;�
• Modern English Bibles that do not use the Elizabethan pronoun system fail to achieve the precision of our King James Bible.

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8. All KJV Pronouns Are Either Singular or Plural

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All the “Y” pronouns �are plural.

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You, Ye, Your, Yours

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All the “T” pronouns�are singular.��thou, thee, thy, thine

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always refer to one �person or thing.

always refer to more than one �person or thing.

9. An Exercise: God’s instruction to Moses

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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.

10. An Exercise: Christ’s teaching about faith.

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Luke 17:56 And the Lord said, If ye had faith as �a grain of mustard seed, ye might say unto this sycamine tree, Be thou plucked up by the root, and be thou planted in the sea; and it should obey you.

11. Pronouns Have Subject and Object Forms

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He is teaching him.

Subjects perform�action.

Objects receive action.

12. Pronouns have subject and object forms

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She feeds her.

Subject

Object

13. Pronouns have subject and object forms

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Subject form.

We are called to act holy.

Object form. �We have received �the call of God.

1 Peter 1:15 But as he which hath called you is holy, so be ye holy in all manner of conversation;

14. Pronouns have subject and object forms

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Jeremiah 2:7 And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination.

The Lord’s statement regarding backslidden Israel:

15. Pronouns May Also Show Ownership (Possession) – My & Mine

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Psalm 32:5 I acknowledged my sin unto thee, and mine iniquity have I not hid. I said, I will confess my transgressions unto the LORD; and thou forgavest the iniquity of my sin. Selah.

“My” and “mine” are both used to show ownership (in the first person point of view). The difference between these words is similar to the difference between how we use “a” and “an.” We write “an” before a word that begins with vowel (a, e, i, o, u). Similarly, “mine” is generally used before a word that begins with a vowel. Otherwise, “my” is used. For example:

16. Pronouns May Also Show Ownership (Possession) – Thy & Thine

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Psalm 21:13 Be thou exalted, LORD, in thine own strength: so will we sing and praise thy power.

“Thy” and “thine” are both used to show ownership (in the second person point of view). The difference between these words is similar to the difference between how we use “a” and “an.” We write “an” before a word that begins with vowel (a, e, i, o, u). Similarly, “thine” is used before a word that begins with a vowel. Otherwise, “thy” is used. For example:

17. Elizabethan Personal Pronoun Chart

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Singular Forms:

Plural Forms:

Thank you!��Php 1:3 I thank my God upon every remembrance of you,

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