Bible Encyclopedias
Very

International Standard Bible Encyclopedia

ver´i : As adjective (from verus , "true"), "true," "real," "actual," etc. ( Genesis 27:21 , Genesis 27:24 , "my very son Esau"; Joshua 10:27 , "this very day"; John 7:26 , "the very Christ," etc.); chiefly as adverb, "in a high degree," "extremely." As ab adverb it is commonly in the Old Testament the translation of מאוד , me'ōdh , and in the New Testament represents, as adjective and adverb, several Greek words, as alēthṓs , "truly" (John 7:26 , above), autós (John 14:11 , "the very works' sake"; Romans 13:6 ), sphódra (Matthew 18:31 , "very sorry," the Revised Version (British and American) "exceeding sorry"; Mark 16:4 , "very great," the Revised Version (British and American) "exceeding"), hupér - (in composition 1 Thessalonians 5:13 ), etc. the Revised Version (British and American) frequently omits "very," and also substitutes other words for it, as "exceeding" (2 Chronicles 16:8; Matthew 26:7; compare above), "sore" (Zechariah 9:5 ), etc.