grammaticality - Infinitive use in “whether or not he be” compared with its use in “if he be”
Here is the phrase in question:
. . . but whether he be, or whether he be not. . . .
Is the usage of the infinitive in that phrase above the same sort of thing as occurs in this quotation:
“Whosoever holds this hammer, if he be worthy, shall possess the power of Thor.”
Are those two uses of the infinitive be the same syntactically, or are they different constructions altogether?
I find it rather weird that this formal or archaic usage coincides with the colloquial use of be as in
“Dudes be like. . . .”
Is this last quote perceived as a new colloquialism, but in fact has roots stretching back to Middle English (like for example the word ain’t)?
I’d really appreciate it if you could both parts of my question.
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