student asking question

What does "for unto you" mean? I'm not familiar with "unto" and also, I don't quite understand the phrase "David a savior," how can I understand the structure of "David a savior"?

teacher

Native speaker’s answer

Rebecca

"Unto" is a rather archaic preposition form meaning "to." The expression "for unto you" is commonly seen in older documents or literature, such as the bible. However, it is not commonly used today in speaking nor writing. We can understand "for unto you" as meaning "for to you," so the whole sentence can be understood as, "for you a savior was born in the city of David today, which is Christ the Lord." "The city of David a savior" can be read as "a savior (in the city of David). Again, this type of grammar pattern is not commonly used today. In older examples of writing, the subject position may be near the end of a sentence or phrase, rather than after a verb.

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