In the centuries following its translation, the KJV remained one of the most widely read and studied books in the English language. Others point to the intimacy of our relationship with God, seeing “thou” as a display of the affection and trust we feel towards our heavenly Father. Some argue it’s an attempt to stay close to the Latin “tu” or to emphasize the one-ness of God. Scholars differ on why the KJV uses “thou” for God. “Thou” was singular, but it was only used with close friends, family, or subordinates. “You” was plural, but it was also used to show respect or formality.
In early modern English, there were two forms of you, as there still are in many other languages, such as Spanish, French, and German. Today, “thou” sounds strange and formal to us, but it was once a sign of closeness. The KJV reflects this with a majestic rhythm that is almost musical at times. As a result, people were more likely to hear the Bible than to read it. When the KJV was translated, fewer people were literate, church was structured a little differently, and it was the norm to read out loud rather than silently. This helps to keep the translation understandable today, as well as contributing to its stately cadence. This reflects the translators’ original goals, which were written down in the preface to the first edition: “We desire that the Scripture may speak like itself, as in the language of Canaan, that it may be understood even of the very vulgar.”įor clarity, translators favored simple words, especially one-syllable words. That said, the KJV is remarkably readable for a four-hundred-year-old book. They were also intent on creating a translation that would last for generations, so they avoided recent changes to the language, often using words and phrases that sounded formal even then to ensure the dignity and longevity of the translation. The scholars translating it were among the top scholars of their day, and most were deeply familiar with literature and poetry as well as with theology and ancient languages. The KJV was translated in the beginning of the 1600s.
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