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NASB | Revelation 11:17 saying, ¶ "We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty, who are and who were, because You have taken Your great power and have begun to reign. |
AMPLIFIED 2015 | Revelation 11:17 saying, "To You we give thanks, O Lord God Almighty [the Omnipotent, the Ruler of all], Who are and Who were, because You have taken Your great power and the sovereignty [which is rightly Yours] and have [now] begun to reign. |
Bible Question: Why is Revelations 11:17 translated with the plural form of "to be"? I can't find another Bible translation rendered that way, or rendered that way in any other verse with the phrase "who were and who are" instead of "who was and who is" |
Bible Answer: Joyfulmom: An interesting question. I can give you a plausible reason for using the plural verbs in Revelation 11:17 which is grammatically accurate in the English. The way in which the NASB translators constructed the English rendition, it would seem fairly obvious that they understood the clause to be in the form of a direct address to God; hence, we could read it thusly: "We give You thanks, O Lord God, the Almighty [you] who are and who were..." The antecedent of who therefore becomes 'you' which is understood, although not written, and, according to standard English usage, would take the plural form of the verb. We use the unvoiced but understood 'you' all the time; e.g., we say, "Behave yourself." We don't usually say "You behave yourself." Another example, is "Naughty boy!" when what is clearly meant is "[You are a] naughty boy." The other translations that I have consulted generally have recast the sentence to read, "The One who is and who was." In this construction the antecedent is 'One' and thus takes a singular verb form. In no rendition are we to interpret the clause to mean that the subject itself (God) is plural. ...... According to my analysis, then, both renditions of the verb forms, whether singular or plural, are grammatically correct and deliver the same message. ..... Someone else on the Forum may be able to shed more light on your question than I have. I'd also comment that the Lockman Foundation, translators of the NASB, have been very kind and helpful in answering technical questions concerning their translation, and you may wish to query them on this passage. And, by the way, the book in question is called "The Revelation of Jesus Christ" or simply, "The Revelation." Note that it is always referred to in the singular without an 's' -- but never in the plural. --Hank |