Timeline for Why "the powers that be"?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
11 events
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| Aug 22, 2020 at 3:35 | history | edited | herisson | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
The relevant part of the Wikipedia article seems to have been removed. Edited to link to the version that was current at the time that this answer was written
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| Sep 27, 2017 at 15:30 | comment | added | herisson | The Oxford English dictionary does provide a simlar example from the King James bible which it classifies as indicative, not subjunctive: "1611 Bible (King James) 2 Kings vi. 16 They that be with vs are moe then they that be with them." | |
| Jan 4, 2016 at 16:21 | comment | added | Benjamin Harman | Ah, we have a Wiki hater. Well, if not for the fact that the way "powers that be" is used in Romans 13:1 makes applying the subjunctive mood patently incorrect grammatically and but for the fact that Shakespeare and others have used this archaic alternative to the present indicative "are", then I might agree with you. However, grammar precludes all other explanations here that call "be" subjunctive or "lexical" in this context, while historical usage in countless literary classics absolutely supports the Wiki explanation. So it does explain it entirely, for its the only explanation that fits. | |
| Jan 4, 2016 at 14:50 | comment | added | Tim Ward | However, in this Wiki article, it does note "citation needed"... So it still doesn't explain anything. | |
| Jan 4, 2016 at 13:17 | history | edited | Benjamin Harman | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Jan 4, 2016 at 13:08 | history | edited | Benjamin Harman | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Jan 4, 2016 at 12:47 | history | edited | Benjamin Harman | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Jan 4, 2016 at 12:39 | comment | added | Benjamin Harman | I went ahead and included the link above. Sorry, it took me a couple minutes to find it. I had actually read several articles on the subjunctive, so I was having trouble figuring out which it was from my internet history. | |
| Jan 4, 2016 at 12:35 | history | edited | Benjamin Harman | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Jan 4, 2016 at 12:19 | history | edited | Benjamin Harman | CC BY-SA 3.0 |
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| Jan 4, 2016 at 12:15 | history | answered | Benjamin Harman | CC BY-SA 3.0 |