HAP, HAPLY . The old word ‘hap,’ which means chance , is found in Ruth 2:3 ‘her hap was to light on a part of the field belonging to Boaz.’ The Heb. is literally ‘her chance chanced’ (AVm [Note: Authorized Version margin.] ‘her hap happened’). ‘Haply’ is ‘by hap.’ ‘Happily’ is the same word under a different spelling, and had formerly the same meaning, though it now means ‘by good luck.’ In AV [Note: Authorized Version.] the spelling is now always ‘haply,’ but in the first edition it was ‘happily’ in 2 Corinthians 9:4 ‘Lest happily if they of Macedonia come with mee, and find you unprepared, wee (that wee say not, you) should bee ashamed in this same confident boasting.’