What Does Tho Mean in the Bible?
The question of what does thou mean in the Bible has many different answers. The RSV (Revised Standard Version) renders it as THOU. This article aims to give a basic understanding of the meaning of THOU in the Bible. Once you have a basic understanding of the word, you can move on to interpreting other passages.
AV (KJV)
The AV (KJV) is the standard version of the Bible. It was originally a Greek manuscript edited by Gnostic heretics. These edits replaced Hebrew words with Aramaic words. These Gnostic edits are common in Greek Bibles. The AV KJV translation committee has corrected these edits.
The 1611 version had numerous errors. Some words were inverted, other words were miswritten, and some were even omitted altogether. But these mistakes were relatively inconsequential and did not alter the meaning of the text. Therefore, the text corrections were not comparable to those of modern translations.
The Authorized Version is more Latinate than other English versions. This is primarily due to the academic stylistic preferences of the translators and the royal proscription of explanatory notes. As a result, the language is often more technical.
RSV (RSV)
In the Bible, the words thou and thee are used to indicate the singular and plural forms of the nouns you and me. While the two words have become less common in modern English, their use in the Bible is reminiscent of the language of the Middle Ages. The word thou was used to convey familiarity, formality, and contempt. The other two words were used to indicate singularity, confusion, and awe.
The pronoun thou appears in the Bible several times. In the Old Testament, it is the possessive form of third-person masculine or neuter. It is also used in the King James Bible (1611). Leviticus 25:5 uses thou in its third-person singular form: groweth of itself. In the Bible, the verb forms following thou generally end in -est or -st in the indicative mood.
The word thou in the Bible is used as a greeting in Genesis 3:11-15, but it’s also used to address God, Adam, Eve, and the serpent. The word thou has many etymological and religious connotations, and many people believe it is used in special prayer language to God. However, the Bible is a collection of words, and there is a difference between thou.
NKJV (New American Standard Bible)
Many traditionalists prefer the NKJV (New American Standard Bible), which is a literal translation. It maintains the same verses as the KJV, though many of them have been changed or deleted. This is because the Textus Receptus, which is more than 1200 years old, has lost much of its integrity. As a result, the NKJV contains archaic words and awkward sentence structure.
There are several reasons why a person would prefer the NKJV. One is that it is more accurate and readable than the King James Version, which is difficult to read and sometimes even impossible to understand. Another is that it is more modern and contains more modern vocabulary. The KJV was translated by more than 100 scholars.
Another significant difference between the KJV and the NKJV is the translation style. In the KJV, the translation follows the King James Version style. In the NKJV, words are pronounced in modern English, and pronouns are capitalized.
NASB (New King James Version)
The NASB is one of two modern versions of the Bible. This version has a lower reading level than the King James Version, but still meets the standards of a modern Bible. The NASB’s translation is the closest to a word-for-word translation of the original text. It is a very useful choice for personal Bible study.
The KJV is more literal than the NASB. It follows the Hebrew and Greek texts, unlike the NLT and the Message, which are not linked to Hebrew. While the NKJV preserves the literary style of the KJV, it avoids monotonous repetitions of the same word. If you’re reading a passage that uses the word “faith,” for example, “obey your faith” would be a better rendering in the NASB.
The NASB also eliminates numerical symbolism. For example, in Matthew 18:11, “furlongs” are capitalized in the NASB. This is because the NASB translators wanted to translate the text in a way that was readable and understandable by modern readers.