“The Jesus who said” - why is there a definite article before the proper name “Jesus”?
The system doesn't seem to be providing for the well-being of all the people, and that's what makes it, almost in its very nature, something contrary to the Jesus who said, "Blessed are the poor. Woe to the rich." (source: a documentary film)
Since normally proper names are not preceded by the definite article, I don't know why in a film a person said "the Jesus". I hear the definite article before Jesus, and the subtitles also confirm that, but I don't know if I heard it wrong, so here is a link to a YouTube video starting at that part of the film.
Why is the definite article used here? My hunch is it is to emphasize a particular version, if you will, among different versions of Jesus that preached on the poor and the rich. Are there other examples of the definite article being used before proper names/nouns?
articles definite-article proper-nouns
edited 54 mins ago
CowperKettle
27.8k1087166
asked 1 hour ago
Deancue
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add a comment |
The system doesn't seem to be providing for the well-being of all the people, and that's what makes it, almost in its very nature, something contrary to the Jesus who said, "Blessed are the poor. Woe to the rich." (source: a documentary film)
Since normally proper names are not preceded by the definite article, I don't know why in a film a person said "the Jesus". I hear the definite article before Jesus, and the subtitles also confirm that, but I don't know if I heard it wrong, so here is a link to a YouTube video starting at that part of the film.
Why is the definite article used here? My hunch is it is to emphasize a particular version, if you will, among different versions of Jesus that preached on the poor and the rich. Are there other examples of the definite article being used before proper names/nouns?
articles definite-article proper-nouns
edited 54 mins ago
CowperKettle
27.8k1087166
asked 1 hour ago
Deancue
1,868825
add a comment |
The system doesn't seem to be providing for the well-being of all the people, and that's what makes it, almost in its very nature, something contrary to the Jesus who said, "Blessed are the poor. Woe to the rich." (source: a documentary film)
Since normally proper names are not preceded by the definite article, I don't know why in a film a person said "the Jesus". I hear the definite article before Jesus, and the subtitles also confirm that, but I don't know if I heard it wrong, so here is a link to a YouTube video starting at that part of the film.
Why is the definite article used here? My hunch is it is to emphasize a particular version, if you will, among different versions of Jesus that preached on the poor and the rich. Are there other examples of the definite article being used before proper names/nouns?
articles definite-article proper-nouns
edited 54 mins ago
CowperKettle
27.8k1087166
asked 1 hour ago
Deancue
1,868825
The system doesn't seem to be providing for the well-being of all the people, and that's what makes it, almost in its very nature, something contrary to the Jesus who said, "Blessed are the poor. Woe to the rich." (source: a documentary film)
Since normally proper names are not preceded by the definite article, I don't know why in a film a person said "the Jesus". I hear the definite article before Jesus, and the subtitles also confirm that, but I don't know if I heard it wrong, so here is a link to a YouTube video starting at that part of the film.
Why is the definite article used here? My hunch is it is to emphasize a particular version, if you will, among different versions of Jesus that preached on the poor and the rich. Are there other examples of the definite article being used before proper names/nouns?
articles definite-article proper-nouns
articles definite-article proper-nouns
edited 54 mins ago
CowperKettle
27.8k1087166
asked 1 hour ago
Deancue
1,868825
edited 54 mins ago
CowperKettle
27.8k1087166
asked 1 hour ago
Deancue
1,868825
edited 54 mins ago
CowperKettle
27.8k1087166
edited 54 mins ago
CowperKettle
27.8k1087166
edited 54 mins ago
CowperKettle
27.8k1087166
27.8k1087166
asked 1 hour ago
Deancue
1,868825
asked 1 hour ago
Deancue
1,868825
asked 1 hour ago
Deancue
1,868825
1,868825
add a comment |
add a comment |
2 Answers
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When a person has said many things over the course of their life, those statements may not always be perfectly consonant with one another. Using the definite article the is an acknowledgement of that dissonance or lack of agreement between one statement and another:
Where's the President Trump who promised a middle-class tax break?
It's as if to say there is more than one version of the person, and the speaker is singling out one of them.
P.S. In the specific context of Jesus, he is known only via the biographical traditions that present his life and sayings, and thus there are literally "versions" of Jesus. Sometimes, as Jeff says, the speaker who uses that phrase is promoting the version that they consider the "true" version; at other times it is simply a recognition of there being multiple versions to choose from. I don't think it's possible to say from that brief interview which meaning the bishop has in mind.
answered 1 hour ago
Tᴚoɯɐuo
107k679173
add a comment |
Your supposition is correct. The use of the definite article is a rhetorical device to indicate that what is being said is the truth because truth is necessarily unique whereas error is manifold.
For Christians, Christianity is supposed to be determined by the meaning of what were the actual words of Jesus. But people differ in how they interpret those words. So the sentence means "something contrary to what I interpret as the meaning of certain words of Jesus." Rhetorically, however, the speaker wants to imply by using the definite article that there is only one correct interpretation, namely the speaker's.
answered 1 hour ago
Jeff Morrow
9,1911023
add a comment |
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2 Answers
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2 Answers
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When a person has said many things over the course of their life, those statements may not always be perfectly consonant with one another. Using the definite article the is an acknowledgement of that dissonance or lack of agreement between one statement and another:
Where's the President Trump who promised a middle-class tax break?
It's as if to say there is more than one version of the person, and the speaker is singling out one of them.
P.S. In the specific context of Jesus, he is known only via the biographical traditions that present his life and sayings, and thus there are literally "versions" of Jesus. Sometimes, as Jeff says, the speaker who uses that phrase is promoting the version that they consider the "true" version; at other times it is simply a recognition of there being multiple versions to choose from. I don't think it's possible to say from that brief interview which meaning the bishop has in mind.
answered 1 hour ago
Tᴚoɯɐuo
107k679173
add a comment |
When a person has said many things over the course of their life, those statements may not always be perfectly consonant with one another. Using the definite article the is an acknowledgement of that dissonance or lack of agreement between one statement and another:
Where's the President Trump who promised a middle-class tax break?
It's as if to say there is more than one version of the person, and the speaker is singling out one of them.
P.S. In the specific context of Jesus, he is known only via the biographical traditions that present his life and sayings, and thus there are literally "versions" of Jesus. Sometimes, as Jeff says, the speaker who uses that phrase is promoting the version that they consider the "true" version; at other times it is simply a recognition of there being multiple versions to choose from. I don't think it's possible to say from that brief interview which meaning the bishop has in mind.
answered 1 hour ago
Tᴚoɯɐuo
107k679173
add a comment |
When a person has said many things over the course of their life, those statements may not always be perfectly consonant with one another. Using the definite article the is an acknowledgement of that dissonance or lack of agreement between one statement and another:
Where's the President Trump who promised a middle-class tax break?
It's as if to say there is more than one version of the person, and the speaker is singling out one of them.
P.S. In the specific context of Jesus, he is known only via the biographical traditions that present his life and sayings, and thus there are literally "versions" of Jesus. Sometimes, as Jeff says, the speaker who uses that phrase is promoting the version that they consider the "true" version; at other times it is simply a recognition of there being multiple versions to choose from. I don't think it's possible to say from that brief interview which meaning the bishop has in mind.
answered 1 hour ago
Tᴚoɯɐuo
107k679173
When a person has said many things over the course of their life, those statements may not always be perfectly consonant with one another. Using the definite article the is an acknowledgement of that dissonance or lack of agreement between one statement and another:
Where's the President Trump who promised a middle-class tax break?
It's as if to say there is more than one version of the person, and the speaker is singling out one of them.
P.S. In the specific context of Jesus, he is known only via the biographical traditions that present his life and sayings, and thus there are literally "versions" of Jesus. Sometimes, as Jeff says, the speaker who uses that phrase is promoting the version that they consider the "true" version; at other times it is simply a recognition of there being multiple versions to choose from. I don't think it's possible to say from that brief interview which meaning the bishop has in mind.
answered 1 hour ago
Tᴚoɯɐuo
107k679173
edited 17 mins ago
answered 1 hour ago
Tᴚoɯɐuo
107k679173
answered 1 hour ago
Tᴚoɯɐuo
107k679173
answered 1 hour ago
Tᴚoɯɐuo
107k679173
107k679173
add a comment |
add a comment |
Your supposition is correct. The use of the definite article is a rhetorical device to indicate that what is being said is the truth because truth is necessarily unique whereas error is manifold.
For Christians, Christianity is supposed to be determined by the meaning of what were the actual words of Jesus. But people differ in how they interpret those words. So the sentence means "something contrary to what I interpret as the meaning of certain words of Jesus." Rhetorically, however, the speaker wants to imply by using the definite article that there is only one correct interpretation, namely the speaker's.
answered 1 hour ago
Jeff Morrow
9,1911023
add a comment |
Your supposition is correct. The use of the definite article is a rhetorical device to indicate that what is being said is the truth because truth is necessarily unique whereas error is manifold.
For Christians, Christianity is supposed to be determined by the meaning of what were the actual words of Jesus. But people differ in how they interpret those words. So the sentence means "something contrary to what I interpret as the meaning of certain words of Jesus." Rhetorically, however, the speaker wants to imply by using the definite article that there is only one correct interpretation, namely the speaker's.
answered 1 hour ago
Jeff Morrow
9,1911023
add a comment |
Your supposition is correct. The use of the definite article is a rhetorical device to indicate that what is being said is the truth because truth is necessarily unique whereas error is manifold.
For Christians, Christianity is supposed to be determined by the meaning of what were the actual words of Jesus. But people differ in how they interpret those words. So the sentence means "something contrary to what I interpret as the meaning of certain words of Jesus." Rhetorically, however, the speaker wants to imply by using the definite article that there is only one correct interpretation, namely the speaker's.
answered 1 hour ago
Jeff Morrow
9,1911023
Your supposition is correct. The use of the definite article is a rhetorical device to indicate that what is being said is the truth because truth is necessarily unique whereas error is manifold.
For Christians, Christianity is supposed to be determined by the meaning of what were the actual words of Jesus. But people differ in how they interpret those words. So the sentence means "something contrary to what I interpret as the meaning of certain words of Jesus." Rhetorically, however, the speaker wants to imply by using the definite article that there is only one correct interpretation, namely the speaker's.
answered 1 hour ago
Jeff Morrow
9,1911023
answered 1 hour ago
Jeff Morrow
9,1911023
answered 1 hour ago
Jeff Morrow
9,1911023
answered 1 hour ago
Jeff Morrow
9,1911023
9,1911023
add a comment |
add a comment |
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