Why We Call God ‘Thee’
And He calls us ‘thee’ also
“I hate the songs with thee’s and thou’s in them.”
A simple statement and no doubt containing some truth, but coming from the head elder, carried some weight.
However, the pianist’s slightly too-loud retort also held merit: “Then what on earth are you doing in a church?”
The elder had no words. In fact, he was a man of few words. But he needed to learn a few more, because his grumbling statement was beginning to create ire in several places.
But he’s not alone. I’ve heard a very learned Bible scholar aghast at people skipping “thee” or “thou” when referring to God, switching to the more modern “you” because he thought it showed deep disrespect for the Almighty. Makes sense, if only it were truth.
However, he didn’t know something and was causing many to squirm. Sad.
English is hard to learn
Sometimes “you” and sometimes “thou” — What! — It can be so confusing! Do we ever learn what made ol’ “Shakespeare” tick? Probably not.
However, if you have studied even a smattering of French or Spanish, you know the code that both Jesus and Paul used when they spoke/wrote, and the English translators were faithfully, long ago, revealing to us. It’s not…
