Yea

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King James Dictionary [1]

YEA, adv. Ya.

1. Yes a word that expresses affirmation or assent. Will you go? Yea. It sometimes introduces a subject, with the sense of indeed, verily, truly, it is so.

Yea, hath God said, ye shall not eat of every tree in the garden?  Genesis 3 .

Let your communication be yea, yea nay, nay.  Matthew 5 .

2. It sometimes enforces the sense of something preceding not only so, but more.

Therein I do rejoice yea, and will rejoice.  Philippians 1 .

3. In Scripture, it is used to denote certainty, consistency, harmony, and stability.

All the promises of God in him are yea, and in him are amen.  2 Corinthians 1 .

In this use, the word may be considered a noun.

Yea is used only in the sacred and solemn style. See Yes.

Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary [2]

I detain the reader at this word in order to mark the peculiar sweetness of it. Our gracious Lord in recommending it to his disciples, evidently shewed that there was somewhat interesting in it. "Let your communication (said Jesus) be Yea, yea, Nay, nay; for whatsoever is more than these, cometh of evil." ( Matthew 5:37) I would not be understood, as speaking decidedly on any point where God the Holy Ghost hath not done it; but I venture to ask, did not our gracious Lord, mean by this recommendation to shew that the Yea, yea, of his people, should be in contemplating the verily, verily, of himself? And if with an eye to him, our yea had a frequent use, would there not be a peculiar sweetness derived from it?

Webster's Dictionary [3]

(1): ( adv.) More than this; not only so, but; - used to mark the addition of a more specific or more emphatic clause. Cf. Nay, adv., 2.

(2): ( n.) An affirmative vote; one who votes in the affirmative; as, a vote by yeas and nays.

(3): ( adv.) Yes; ay; a word expressing assent, or an affirmative, or an affirmative answer to a question, now superseded by yes. See Yes.

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia [4]

.

1. In the Old Testament:

( אף , 'aph , "also," "moreover," "yea" (  1 Samuel 21:5 the King James Version;   1 Samuel 24:11 , etc.), גּם , gam , "also," "likewise," "moreover," "yea" ( 2 Kings 2:3;  2 Kings 16:3 , etc., כּי , kı̄ , "inasmuch," "certainly," "doubtless," "yea" ( Psalm 102:13;  Psalm 105:12 , etc.)): Each of these words occurs frequently, especially the first two.

2. In the New Testament:

In the New Testament we have: αί , naı́ , "verily," "yea," the usual particle of affirmation (  Matthew 5:37;  Matthew 9:28 , etc.); δέ , , "however," "on the other hand" ( Luke 2:35;  Acts 20:34 the King James Version, etc.); ἀλλά , allá , "however," "but" ( Luke 24:22 the King James Version;   Romans 3:31 the King James Version, etc.); καί , kai , "also," "besides," "yea" ( Acts 3:16;  Acts 7:43 the King James Version, etc.). Christ forbids the employment of any affirmation stronger than the solemn repetition of the first mentioned (  Matthew 5:37 ).

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