Go Thou and Do Likewise: Commandments in the Second Person Singular

In modern English the second person singular pronoun (thou, thee, thine) has been relegated to archaic status. In other modern European languages, as well as ancient languages like Hebrew, Greek, and Latin, the second person singular is used as a familiar address or to emphasize the individual being spoken to as opposed to a group. We must now depend on context to know whether the you or yours we read or hear is meant as singular or plural. In conversation we often add colloquialisms to “you” to make sure it communicates as plural when that’s what we mean, for example, the southern Y’all.

In the church, we still use these singular pronouns, as found in the original Greek, in the Lord’s Prayer to address God, “thy kingdom come, thy will be done.” But we rarely use a translation of the Bible, like the Authorized Version, even in Bible study, which translates the Hebrew and Greek second person singular pronouns as thee, thou, thy, and thine. They are retained in Rite I in the Book of Common Prayer but in Rite II and elsewhere, the Greek, Hebrew or Latin is translated as “you/yours” whether the pronoun is singular or plural. Unfortunately, we who speak and read English are left to wonder whether a commandment, admonition, or teaching is meant to be for the individual or for the collective group of Israel or the Church.

Understanding to whom the commandment is addressed is essential to understanding its meaning. All the Ten Commandments, as well as the “Greatest Commandments” are directed to the singular thou, to the individual, although they are given to the whole community. The community standards thus come from the faith and practice of the individual people that form it, not vice-versa. Read More