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According to https://biblehub.com/strongs/2_thessalonians/2-14.htm

In the phrase, "He called you...", the "you" is ὑμᾶς, which is "Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Accusative 2nd Person Plural".

So if it is plural, why does Strong define it as "You. The person pronoun of the second person singular; thou"?

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  • Suggest you abandon the use of Strong. Commented May 26 at 21:39
  • In King James English, "You" is the plural of "Thee"; "Ye" is the plural of "Thou". As in John 8:32: "And ye shall know the truth, and the truth shall make you free.". In modern English they are all "You". Commented Sep 3 at 2:42

3 Answers 3

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Let us begin with a literal translation of 2 Thessalonians 2:14 -

to this also He called you through our gospel for obtaining of glory of our Lord Jesus Christ.

As the OP has already pointed out, "you" is is translated from ὑμᾶς (humas) which is Personal Possessive Pronoun - Accusative 2nd Person Plural

Strong's defines this word as:

The person pronoun of the second person singular; "thou".

Strong's does this because this is the "lexical form". That is, "thou" is nominative second person singular, and the second person plural is "you" (in English this is both nominative and accusative). The possessive or genitive is "your".

We see the same "lexical language" just two words further on with ἡμῶν (hēmōn) which is correctly listed by Strong's as "Personal / Possessive Pronoun - Genitive 1st Person Plural" [i.e. "our"] of "the first-person pronoun, I".

That is, Strong's is a lexicon and uses lexical language.

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  • Yes, of course. Strong's CONCORDANCE can function as a Lexicon. However we have a wide selection of actual lexicons for that purpose. So there is really no justification to rely on GLOSSES from KJV to resolve lexical questions. Commented May 26 at 22:49
  • @C.StirlingBartholomew - I strongly agree.
    – Dottard
    Commented May 26 at 22:50
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BibleHub has indexed it wrongly. It should be 5209. The Greek word ςύ is the personal pronoun and can be either singular or plural. Though, if you're not aware, the singulars and plurals look nothing alike.

However, historically, Strong's is a concordance and really shouldn't be thought of as a lexicon. It certainly does not provide definitions. I would encourage you to pursue more robust tools that give definitions. The newer lexicons have moved that direction. What glosses are doing is nothing more than giving hints to meaning by listing how the word has been translated. This is misleading because words only have meaning in context. So, definitions provide a lexical semantic basis where glosses require context. Strong's effectively rips the word out of its context.

An example of the difference is this (from Danker's Concise Lexicon):

ἐπιτριπή: 'right to act officially'

versus

ἐπιτριπή: empowerment, full power, commission.

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    +1 Thank you, Mike. I didn't know that and assumed the Strong's gloss to simply indicate a wider semantic range when compared to other sources. Now I know what I don't know instead of remaining in blissful ignorance. <sigh>
    – Dieter
    Commented May 27 at 5:11
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Readers of the Bible in English will find it useful to refer to THE ENGLISHMAN'S GREEK CONCORDANCE by George V. Wigram which has been Numerically Coded to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance. The first edition was published by Samuel Bagster & Sons in eight volumes in 1839. To the Ninth Edition of 1903 was Added "A Vocabulary of New Testament Greek". Baker Book House added "Index of Greek Roots Not Used in the New Testament", and Numerically Coded this book to Strong's Exhaustive Concordance. Copyright 1979 by Baker Book House Company. A companion Volume is THE ENGLISHMAN'S HEBREW AND CHALDEE CONCORDANCE OF THE OLD TESTAMENT originally published in 1843 by Samuel Bagster & Sons, London. The fifth edition, used in the preparation of the Edition by Baker Book House Company, copyright 1980, was coded with Strong's Exhaustive Concordance and published in 1890 by Samuel Bagster & Sons, London. When you read the text of the Holy Bible please read the full verse, and also read the preceding verse and the following verse. The context of the sentence you are referring to will usually clearly answer and explain your query in clear English. Wigram links 2 Thessalonians 2:14 "Whereunto he called YOU by our gospel" to the Greek word humas, numbered 5209.

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    2 Thessalonians 2:13 "But we are bound to give thanks alway to God for YOU, brethren, beloved of the Lord, because God hath from the beginning chosen YOU to salvation through sanctification of the Spirit and belief of the truth: 14 Whereunto he called YOU by our gospel, to the obraining of the glory of our Lord Jesus Christ. 15 Therefore, brethren, stand fast, and hold the traditions which YE have been taught, whether by word, or our epistle." The KJV (1611, 1769) used these differences in words to accurately convey the Greek and Hebrew meanings of singular and plural words. "YOU" is PLURAL.
    – Olaf Bacon
    Commented Aug 31 at 19:12
  • While this link may answer the question, it is better to include the essential parts of the answer here and provide the link for reference. Link-only answers can become invalid if the linked page changes. - From Review Commented Sep 5 at 3:01
  • Welcome to the Biblical Hermeneutics SE Olaf. We are glad you are here. Please take a moment to take the site tour and check out what we are looking for in answers and the FAQs. We're passionate about high quality answers. Also consider going through the Help Center's sections on asking and answering questions.
    – Jason_
    Commented Sep 5 at 19:22

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