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What is the difference between перед Богом and пред Богом?

If possible the answer should also associations which are linked to both variants. Apparently пред Богом is more of an "old style", biblical expression, but (if so) it's hard to imagine, what this would mean exactly.

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Yes, exactly, "перед Богом" is a neutral expression and "пред Богом" is more of an "old style", it is used in poetry, especially in the XIXth century. So, "пред Богом" is poetic and lofty style, "перед Богом" is neutral and modern.

Here are the examples:

  • Пе́ред Бо́гом все равны́

  • Ка́ждый пред Бо́гом наг. Жа́лок, наг и убо́г. В ка́ждой му́зыке Бах, в ка́ждом из нас Бог. (Иосиф Бродский)

This phenomenon is called "reduced vocalism", it was quite common in the Old Slavonic, in the Bible and in the Russian poetry: голос-глас, волосы-власы, город-град, etc.

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  • Just wanted to add that the reason why this forms co-existed is the the reduced form is a borrowing from Old Slavonic, this is an example of so called "старославянизм".
    – shabunc ♦
    Jul 15, 2014 at 19:33

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