Plural Markers

Overview

In earlier forms of English, Bibles such as the King James Version used words like ye, thee, thou, and you to distinguish singular and plural address. Modern English has lost this distinction — "you" can mean one person or a thousand. The UPDV restores it with a simple superscript convention, because in many passages the difference between singular and plural changes the meaning of the text.

The Convention

A superscript plus sign (⁺) marks words like "you," "your," "yours," and "yourselves" when they refer to two or more people. No mark means the word is singular.

Don't you⁺ know that you⁺ are a temple of God, and [that] the Spirit of God dwells in you⁺? (1 Corinthians 3:16)

Here Paul addresses the whole Corinthian church: you collectively are God's temple. Without the marker, a reader might take this as a statement about individual bodies — a different theological claim.

Where It Matters

Luke 22:31–32 is one of the clearest examples. In English, "you" appears five times, and without markers every instance looks the same:

Simon, Simon, look, Satan asked to have you⁺, that he might sift you⁺ as wheat: but I made supplication for you, that your faith does not fail; and you, when once you have turned again, establish your brothers.

The shift is invisible in traditional English Bibles: Satan demanded all the disciples (you⁺, plural), but Jesus prayed for Peter specifically (you, singular). The plural marker reveals a drama hidden inside the pronouns — Satan targeted the group, Jesus interceded for the one.

John 3:7 is another case. Jesus is speaking to Nicodemus alone, yet says:

Do not marvel that I said to you, You⁺ must be born anew.

The singular "you" shifts to plural "you⁺" — Jesus is no longer addressing Nicodemus personally but declaring a universal requirement. Everyone must be born anew, not just the Pharisee sitting in front of him.

Verbs and Implied Subjects

In some cases, the word "you" is not present for smoother English style, most often in imperative (command) sentences. If the implied subject was plural and the context does not make this clear, the plus sign moves to the verb:

Seek⁺ first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things will be added to you⁺. (Matthew 6:33)

Other plural verbs in the same verse may also be marked to avoid ambiguity. Outside these cases, verbs are not generally marked for number.