Why do some men, in their public prayer, use King James English? In their minds do they think it shows reverence or holiness?<\/p>\n\t
The King James Version was a popular translation for almost 400 years, so its language has stuck in people’s minds as religious or biblical language. But at the time it was translated thee, thou, thy, and thine were merely various forms of “you.” Those forms have fallen out of use.<\/p>\n
In 1611 these words were used to address people you were familiar with. \u00a0“Used in middle English and in early modern English into the 17th century as the appropriate form of address to an intimate friend or a person of lower social status than the speaker” [Webster’s Third New International Dictionary]. That is why Quakers used “thee” and “thou,” to show that they considered everyone to be brethren. As these words fell out of favor, they became the formal way of addressing people and then eventually the form of addressing royalty and God. So while its use is continued today by some to address God, the meaning attached to the words has vastly changed from its original meaning.<\/p>\n
There is nothing wrong with using archaic English words in a prayer, but it is wrong to claim that it is required.<\/p>\n\t
Thanks, Jeff.<\/p>\n
The use of “thee and thou” is fine with me (not that it matters what I think!), it’s when they use other old English terms. In my younger days, I remember hearing prayers that sounded like Shakespeare and wondered how anyone understood it!<\/p>\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Question: Why do some men, in their public prayer, use King James English? In their minds do they think it shows reverence or holiness? Answer: The King James Version was a popular translation for almost 400 years, so its language has stuck in people’s minds as religious or biblical language. But at the time it…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"advanced_seo_description":"","jetpack_seo_html_title":"","jetpack_seo_noindex":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[1510],"class_list":["post-35765","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-answer","tag-prayers"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3627,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/which-version-of-the-bible-is-most-accurate\/","url_meta":{"origin":35765,"position":0},"title":"Which version of the Bible is most accurate?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"November 28, 2005","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I have a question about which version of the Bible is most accurate. Some believe that the King James Version 1611 is the only one that is the true Word of God. Then I hear otherwise. Also, the church I attend uses the New King James Version and the\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16472,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/is-the-heavy-use-of-the-phrase-and-it-came-to-pass-a-point-against-the-book-of-mormon\/","url_meta":{"origin":35765,"position":1},"title":"Is the heavy use of the phrase “and it came to pass” a point against the Book of Mormon?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 21, 2008","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: I read the claim recently that all of the \"And it came to pass\" phrases in the Book of Mormon are a non-issue because the Greek rendering of that phrase appears with as much frequency in the original Biblical record, and the editors of the King James version chose\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":29671,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/was-matthew-only-clarifying-what-jesus-said-on-the-cross\/","url_meta":{"origin":35765,"position":2},"title":"Was Matthew only clarifying what Jesus said on the Cross?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"October 21, 2011","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In\u00a0Was Matthew originally written in Hebrew or Aramaic?\u00a0you stated: This verse is one of several in Matthew which shows that Matthew was originally written in Greek. You see, if it was written in Hebrew or Aramaic as has been recently popular to claim, there would be no need to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":54237,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/what-is-the-meaning-of-pipes-prepared-in-thee\/","url_meta":{"origin":35765,"position":3},"title":"What is the meaning of “pipes prepared in thee”?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"September 16, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: In the book of Ezekiel 28:13, what is the meaning of \"pipes prepared in thee\"? Did Satan have musical instruments as part of him? Did he have a harp as part of his body? Answer: \"Thou hast been in Eden the garden of God; every precious stone was thy\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":8402,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/why-dont-you-use-the-king-james-version\/","url_meta":{"origin":35765,"position":4},"title":"Why don’t you use the King James Version?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"February 9, 2007","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Why don't you use the King James Version? Answer: The problem is that the English language has changed in the last 400 years. Here are some examples: \"Against\" used to merely mean opposite or confronting. Thus in\u00a0I Samuel 25:20 \"And it was so, as she rode on the ass,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":1303,"url":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/which-bible-translations-are-the-best\/","url_meta":{"origin":35765,"position":5},"title":"Which Bible translations are the best?","author":"Jeffrey Hamilton","date":"April 6, 2004","format":false,"excerpt":"Question: Which Bible translations have the highest accuracy? Answer: At one time, Bible translations were an arduous task that took years, if not decades, to complete. Now translations are appearing in rapid succession, and it is becoming difficult to keep up with the many that are available. I'll restrict my\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Answer"","block_context":{"text":"Answer","link":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/category\/answer\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35765","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=35765"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/35765\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35765"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=35765"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.lavistachurchofchrist.org\/cms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=35765"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}