READING THE KJV By Peter A.

Lindstrom, 2011 The King James Version uses some words which might seem to some to be quaint and out-dated. The language found in the King James Version is often referred to as Elizabethan English, which is also to be found in William Shakespeares famous plays and sonnets. This should not come as a surprise to us, since both the King James Version and Shakespeares plays were published four hundred years ago in merry old England. (Shakespeares sonnets were first published in 1609, and plays were first published in 1623). However, rather than dismiss the King James Version of the Bible as old and archaic, I suggest that you take it up and start reading it, because the language of the King James Bible has a certain vitality and cadence which makes it a joy to read. Though it might take a bit of effort in the beginning to become familiar with some archaic words, it will pay off as you will soon be able to enjoy this beautiful translation of the Bible. First, to understand the King James English, it will be useful to get a brief refresher on some standard English grammar. I will first address those thees and thous that are often only seen as old, quaint, and formal. However, they add meaning to the Bible which is not present in modern day translations. Next, I will address those famous verbs ending with est or with eth, which also have a particular grammar usage which aid in your understanding of a bible passage. Last, I will list some archaic words and their modern equivalents, which are commonly found in the King James Bible. Once these few grammar rules and archaic words become understood, it will gradually become easier for you to read the King James Bible and other edifying Christian writings using similar language. A perhaps unintended consequence is that you might become more able to understand the language of Shakespeares plays! 1. Understanding the Thees and Thous

In modern versions of the Bible, thees and thous are rendered you and you, respectively. Though they have not been used in ordinary conversation, those thees and thous have been considered a part of standard English grammar at least up to the end of the 19th century. In standard, formal, English, thees and thous are classified as simple personal pronouns (as opposed to complex personal pronouns). According to The Standard English Grammar by Fewsmith and Singer (pub. 1905), the simple personal pronouns are I, thou, he, she, and it and their variations in the singular and the plural. To continue in The Standard English Grammar at page 32: I is in the first person (i.e. the speaker or writer), and of the masculine or feminine gender. Thou is in the second person (i.e. the person or thing addressed), masculine or feminine gender. He is in the third person (i.e. the person or thing mentioned), masculine gender; she is in the third person, feminine gender; it is in the third person, neuter gender. You can see that the word thou is used in formal English when a single individual, male or female, is being addressed by someone else. What follows in the Standard English Grammar is a table showing The Declension of Simple Personal Pronouns, classified as singular or plural. The thees and thous are in bold italics.

SINGULAR First Person. Masc. or Fem. Nom. Poss. Obj. I my, or mine me Second Person. Masc. or Fem. thou thy, or thine thee Third Person. Masc. he his him Third Person. Fem. she her, or hers her Third Person. Neuter it its it

PLURAL First Person. Masc. or Fem. Nom. Poss. Obj. we our, or ours us Second Person. Masc. or Fem. you, or ye your, or yours you Third Person. Masc. they their, or theirs them Third Person. Fem. they their, or theirs them Third Person. Neuter they their, or theirs them

Key to Tables -- The left column refers to the Case of the pronouns: Nom.: Nominative, or that which usually denotes the subject of a verb. Poss.: Possessive, or that which usually denotes possession or origin. Obj.: Objective, or that which usually denotes the object of a verb, or of a preposition. (For more information, the properties of nouns and pronouns are discussed in pp. 17-28, and p. 31, respectively, of The Standard English Grammar) . The next section in the Standard English Grammar is on Compound Personal Pronouns, which is also helpful to review. According to the Standard English Grammar, page 34, Compound Personal Pronouns are formed by subjoining, in the singular, self to the simple personal pronouns . . .; in the plural, the noun selves to our, your, and them. The Compound Personal Pronouns are myself, thyself, himself, herself, and itself. Here the table showing The Declension of Compound Personal Pronouns with archaic usages marked in bold italics: SINGULAR First Person. Masc. or Fem. Nom. Poss. Obj. Myself -myself Second Person. Masc. or Fam. Thyself -thyself Third Person. Masc. Himself -himself Third Person. Fem. Herself -herself Third Person. Neut. Itself -itself

PLURAL First Person. Masc. or Fem. Nom. Poss. Obj. ourselves -ourselves Second Person. Masc. or Fem. yourselves -yourselves Third Person. Masc. themselves -themselves Third Person. Fem. themselves -themselves Third Person. Neut. themselves -themselves

So, to summarize thees and thous, as they have been used in standard, formal, English grammar: Thou is the second person (i.e. YOU) singular personal pronoun in the nominative case, used to denote the person addressed. Its modern equivalent is you, singular. Thee is the objective case of THOU, (with this ring, I thee wed). Its modern equivalent is you, singular. Thine is the possessive case of THOU, used as a predicate adjective, after a noun or without a noun, or the possessive case of thou used as an attributive adjective before a noun beginning with a vowel or vowel sound. Its modern equivalent is your, singular (or yours, singular), particularly when occurring at the end of a phrase or sentence). Thy is the possessive case of THOU, used as an attributive adjective before a noun beginning with a consonant sound. Its modern equivalent is your, singular. Thyself is yourself as the second person singular as a reflexive and intensive form of THOU. Its modern equivalent is yourself, singular. Ye is used nominatively as the plural of THOU. Its modern equivalent is you, plural (such as all of you). 2. Understanding the Verbs Ending with eth and est

According to The Standard English Grammar, at page 56, verbs have changes of form to correspond with the number and the person of their subjects. To continue: Verbs, therefore, are said to have two numbers the singular and the plural; and three persons the First, the Second, and the Third: thus -- The Standard English Grammar now introduces a table which includes some of those archaic words we find in the King James Bible, marked with bold italics, to show their particular meaning: 1st Pers. 2nd Pers. 3rd Pers. Singular I am thou art he is Plural We are you are they are Singular I learn thou learnest he learns Plural We learn you learn they learn

Note: There is a lot more explanation, and examples, provided in The Standard English Grammar. This is a book well worth perusing at books.google.com. Now, to give an explanation of verbs ending with eth, here is a quote from a helpful article: There are a lot of words that end with eth in KJV English. Do you remember learning verb tenses in grade school? This is the same stuff. Take the word answer. There are three tenses: past, present and future and three persons: first (I, me or we), second (you) and third (he, she or they). Here is how the word answer works with each tense and each person:

Past First person Second person I answered

Present I answer

Future I shall answer thou shalt answer he shall answer

thou thou answerest answeredst or (or answerest thou answered thou) he answered he answereth

Third person

Notice how thou seems to always add a t or st somewhere. But notice that whether you know what the correct tense form of the verb is, the text is still understandable. (How to Read Your King James Bible, http://www.baptistpillar.com/bd0448.htm). To summarize: est is an ending of the second person singular indicative of verbs. Its modern equivalent is to change the verb to end with an s instead. So in this case, we do not have an indication of plural. eth is an ending of the third person singular present indicative of verbs. Its modern equivalent is to change the verb to end with an s instead. So in this case as well, we do not have an indication of plural.

3.

Modern Equivalents of Commonly Used Words in Archaic Form

Archaic Word art

Explanation second person singular present indicative of BE

Modern Equivalent are

asswage/asswaged astonied betwixt brake brazen builded digged divers dost second person singular present indicative of DO third person singular present indicative of DO

assuage / assuaged astonished between broke brazen built dug diverse do

doth

does

drave ensamples gat graffed hast second person singular present indicative of HAVE third person singular present indicative of HAVE past tense of GET

drove examples got grafted have

hath

has

hereunto hither minish morter lothe nay shalt second person singular of SHALL; shall used in conjunction with THOU

hereto here diminish mortar loathe no

shew/shewed spake stablish stedfast subtil sware thither thitherward thereunto to morrow to us-ward to you-ward wast second person singular past of BE past tense of SPEAK

show/showed spoke establish steadfast subtle swore there toward it thereto tomorrow toward us toward you were

wert

second person singular past indicative and subjunctive of BE

were

whatsoever wheresoever whereunto whither whithersoever whomsoever whoso/whosoever wilt second person singular present indicative of WILL in past participle form (can function as adjective) and past tense of WIT in the first person singular present form, meaning TO KNOW second person singular present of WIT

whatever wherever whereto where wherever whomever whoever will

wist

knew

wit

know

wot

know

unto yea

to yes

FOR DEFINITIONS OF UNCOMMON WORDS USED IN THE KING JAMES BIBLE, you are advised to get A Bible Word List And Daily Reading Scheme from the Trinitarian Bible Society, which is available as a free download in .pdf format. Here is the link so that you can get you own copy: http://www.trinitarianbiblesociety.org/site/articles/bwl.pdf Also, the Trinitarian Bible Society includes this Word List and Daily Reading Scheme is many of the bibles available in its online store.