> I've always been curious why we translate old passages into "thou"s and "let not"s. > This might be why modern people feel so disconnected from past people,

> I've always been curious why we translate old passages into "thou"s and "let not"s. > This might be why modern people feel so disconnected from past people, even though we're basically identical. If the original text used what was already considered an archaic or rarefied register at its time of composition (as is often true of various classical works, indeed this is often basically what a "classical language" means), then a translator, in the process of trying to convey the original author's tone and intent, might choose to do the same in the target language.