Bible Study Conundrum: You Plural vs. You Singular
There is a great benefit in having studied foreign languages for a good bit of my life. I am fairly proficient in Spanish and studied French and German in my youth. I even took a semester of Greek. I'm a grammar nerd, although there are some fine points I have to look up.
From this study I learned that English is wonderful in some ways (breadth of vocabulary) and not in others (grammatical precision). Case in point, you plural vs. you singular, which we have lost. Of course, the joke is that in the South we get it right, "you'll" or "y'all," or the Yankee version I'm more likely to use, "you guys," which is really too informal for professional use. But in most other languages it's very clear when you to a group and you to a single person is being used.
I recommend this article for a clear explanation: https://network.crcna.org/pastors/you-%E2%80%93-and-you-%E2%80%93-and-you
I also recommend an online Greek interlinear https://biblehub.com/interlinear/john/1.htm This source might be extremely interesting to novices. You can hover over every use of "you" and find out whether it's plural or singular (also more specific points of grammar, such as whether it is the nominative (like a subject), dative (like an object), possessive, or accusative (like a command, sort of) case; Greek has more cases than English does, among other more specific grammar points.
Why does this matter? Because we Americans are in love with our selves and our individuality, a concept that would have mystified the original readers and hearers. It's not that the original recipients of these messages had no concept of individual responsibility, only that it wasn't the first thing they also thought of when it came to spiritual messages and teaching. They lived in community, not in atomized little bubbles. I'll let this source explain:
"A few weeks ago, I decided to see how many times this happens. It turns out there are at least 4,720 verses (2,698 in the Hebrew Bible and 2,022 in the Greek) with you plural translated as English “you” which could lead a reader to think it is directed at him or her personally rather than the Church as a community."
However, let me add this source: http://www.academia.edu/3793158/Plural_You_The_Use_and_Abuse_of_the_Second_Person_Plural_in_NT_Greek. I haven't read it yet, but I think it will add nuance. We have to be careful that every use of you plural is not seen as only true of the group (church) and the individual bears no responsibility. That is not the meaning of Jesus' words, to alleviate burden of the obedience from the one because the whole is supposed to be doing it. My main point is that we are guilty of taking communal promises and truths and making them "all about us" only.
From this study I learned that English is wonderful in some ways (breadth of vocabulary) and not in others (grammatical precision). Case in point, you plural vs. you singular, which we have lost. Of course, the joke is that in the South we get it right, "you'll" or "y'all," or the Yankee version I'm more likely to use, "you guys," which is really too informal for professional use. But in most other languages it's very clear when you to a group and you to a single person is being used.
I recommend this article for a clear explanation: https://network.crcna.org/pastors/you-%E2%80%93-and-you-%E2%80%93-and-you
I also recommend an online Greek interlinear https://biblehub.com/interlinear/john/1.htm This source might be extremely interesting to novices. You can hover over every use of "you" and find out whether it's plural or singular (also more specific points of grammar, such as whether it is the nominative (like a subject), dative (like an object), possessive, or accusative (like a command, sort of) case; Greek has more cases than English does, among other more specific grammar points.
Why does this matter? Because we Americans are in love with our selves and our individuality, a concept that would have mystified the original readers and hearers. It's not that the original recipients of these messages had no concept of individual responsibility, only that it wasn't the first thing they also thought of when it came to spiritual messages and teaching. They lived in community, not in atomized little bubbles. I'll let this source explain:
"A few weeks ago, I decided to see how many times this happens. It turns out there are at least 4,720 verses (2,698 in the Hebrew Bible and 2,022 in the Greek) with you plural translated as English “you” which could lead a reader to think it is directed at him or her personally rather than the Church as a community."
However, let me add this source: http://www.academia.edu/3793158/Plural_You_The_Use_and_Abuse_of_the_Second_Person_Plural_in_NT_Greek. I haven't read it yet, but I think it will add nuance. We have to be careful that every use of you plural is not seen as only true of the group (church) and the individual bears no responsibility. That is not the meaning of Jesus' words, to alleviate burden of the obedience from the one because the whole is supposed to be doing it. My main point is that we are guilty of taking communal promises and truths and making them "all about us" only.
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