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It's, for lack of a better term, "High English." It is meant to sound grand, and thus the grander old style was used. Which is entirely appropriate; IIRC the
by drummojg 3y ago
It's, for lack of a better term, "High English." It is meant to sound grand, and thus the grander old style was used. Which is entirely appropriate; IIRC the original Hebrew uses grander language for poetic passages & the words of the LORD.
- hajile 3y agoThou = singular second person You = plural second person It uses them because there is an actual difference. In modern English, you cannot tell if "you" is referring to one individual or a group without examining the surrounding context and adding your own judgement (a translator looking at the original text will have much better judgement).
- shaftoe444 3y agoEven in Shakespeare the use of them is pretty inconsistent grammatically but makes perfect sense as a stylistic choice.