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Which one is grammatically correct sentence?

  1. According to the Bible it is meek and humble who shall inherit the earth.
  2. According to the Bible it is the meek and humble who shall inherit the earth.
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The grammatically correct sentence is: 2. According to the Bible it is the meek and humble who shall inherit the earth. Use the when the word after it has a specific meaning. For example, in the sentence "According to the Bible it is the meek and humble who shall inherit the earth," the meek and humble are specific groups of people. Anytime a noun is referring to something specific or particular, an article such as "the," "a," or "an" should come before the noun.

Sometimes you would not use an article in front of the word "meek." For example, "That person is meek." You would not use "the" before "meek" in this sentence because "meek" is not a specific noun here, it is an adjective describing the person. However, if you are referring to the meek specifically, then you would use "the" before "meek." For example, "The meek shall inherit the earth." In this sentence, "meek" is a specific noun because it is referring to a specific group of people: the meek.

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    It's a common usage in English to make the [adjective] mean 'people who are [adjective]' - the young, the wounded, the poor etc.
    – Kate Bunting
    Aug 6, 2020 at 8:41
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    The blind, the deaf, the dead...
    – Michael Harvey
    Aug 6, 2020 at 9:06
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    After a nuclear war, said Kruschev, the living will envy the dead.
    – Michael Harvey
    Aug 6, 2020 at 10:56

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