“Marvel not that I said unto thee, Ye must be born again.” John 3:7
The American English language is probable the only one on the planet where we do not have distinctive words to separate when we are speaking to a single person or to a million. The word American’s use is the word “you,” but this particular word has no set number of people to which it refers. It can be used to speak to a multitude as well as to one individual.
True English, however (not American English), does have such words. Namely the “thee’s” and “ye’s” found in the King James Version of God’s Holy Word. The verse above is a terrific example of the of the importance of such terms. It is necessary to note here that anything beginning with “t” (such as thee or thou) is addressing one person only, and words beginning with “y” (ye’s, yours, and you) all apply to more then one.
Here in the third chapter of John we read of Jesus Christ explaining to Nicodemus what must occur in the life of every believer before they may “see the kingdom of God.” Christ begins by addressing Nicodemus personally, “Marvel not that I said unto thee [Nicodemus],” ( then Christ explains how all people who has ever lived or ever will, must be born again.) “Ye [all people] must be born again.” Beautiful isn’t it!?
All modern versions, such as the NIV, NASB, etc., lose this very important part of the English language by replacing the “thee” and “ye” found in the KJV with the more uncertain “you.” By doing this they lesson the impact of this most crucial verse. Instead of Christ telling all that they must be born again, it could be argued that He was speaking only to Nicodemus.
There are many religions and cults that believe that only a certain number of people will be “born again.” In attempting to witness to people that have been beguiled by Satan into believing a lie, we must remember that the final authority in almost any organization, and for any true Christian, is the Holy Word of the Living God. When discussing the subject of being born again, we find it necessary to quote John 3:7, but if you or I were using a new version of the Bible it would be hard to convince them that Christ was specking to all people and not just to “a ruler of the Jews.” |
