to different dialects. For example, the word "saw" is spelled a dozen different ways (even differently within the same sentence), and differently for singular and plural nouns (similarly, the word "say"); "have take" and "have taken" are found in the same sentence, as are "had know" and "had known"; and so forth. Prepositions and pronouns that often seem misplaced and incorrectly used: "at", "for", "in", "of", "on", "there", "to", "what", and "which" again and again seem wrongly situated; "themself" and "themselves" are found in the same sentence, as are "youself" and "yourselves"; and so forth. Capitalization, punctuation, and other grammatical conventions that are rudimentary by today's standards, and vary greatly from sentence to sentence. For example, the past tense of a verb was made by adding nothing to the present tense, or an "e", "en", "ed", "ede", "id", "ide", or still other suffixes. In short, one encounters formidable obstacles to being able to understand (what will become) a single verse of Scripture.
And so the need for Wycliffe's Bible. Wycliffe's Bible is the "Later Version" of the "Wycliffe Bible" (often referred to here as the WB), with its irregular spelling deciphered, the verb forms made consistent, and numerous grammatical variations standardized. Wycliffe's Bible is the key that unlocks the amazing secrets found within the WB.
Three types of words: obsolete, archaic, and precursors
As stated above, with the spelling modernized, three types of words are found in the "Wycliffe Bible": obsolete ("dead words", unknown and unused for centuries); archaic ("old-fashioned words", now chiefly used poetically); and, the vast majority, "precursors", which are strangely-spelled forerunners of words that we use today. To understand the text, each group of words must be dealt with in a particular way.
Obsolete Words
Perhaps 2% of the words in the "Later Version" of the Wycliffe Old Testament (WOT) are "dead" words that are not presently used, or found in current dictionaries. This percentage is significantly lower than the estimated 5% of obsolete words found in the "Later Version" of the Wycliffe New Testament (WNT). It is amazing how in little more than a decade, the time taken to revise the "Early Version" of the "Wycliffe Bible", the language so quickly evolved, and how much more modern the lexicon of the "Wycliffe Bible" became, particularly its Old Testament. But to understand the text, these obsolete words must be replaced.
Fortunately for our purposes, the "Later Version" of the "Wycliffe Bible" was created at an exciting time of transition, just as the nascent language was beginning to blossom into the English that we know today. Many modern equivalents for words that we consider "dead" are found in the text itself, already in use alongside their soon-to-be-discarded doublets. Examples of "in-house" replacement words include: again, alley, ascend, ashamed, basket, besides, call, choir, desire, diminish, disturb, follow, hair shirt, harm, hinge, knew, know, mad, pasture, path, praise, reckon, repent, restore, rider, shame/d, snare, strong hold, strong vengeance, stumble, trap, trouble, uncle, weigh (both as a balance or scales and as the verb), weight, with, and still other words (including "that" and "those", which are replacements for "thilke"). So more than half of the obsolete or "dead" words in the "Later Version" of the WB were replaced with words already there in the text. Somewhat surprisingly, a number of the equivalent modern words were found only in the "Early Version" of the "Wycliffe Bible". In these instances, which are not infrequent, it is the "Later Version" that utilizes only the older, soon-to-be defunct, term.
For the relatively few remaining obsolete words, reference works were consulted, and appropriate replacement words were chosen and utilized. Older words, in use as close as possible to the time of the "Wycliffe Bible", were favored over more recent words. When selecting replacements not already found in the text, words were chosen, as often as possible, that were different from those used in the KJV, so as not to artificially produce similar phraseology. But sometimes the only appropriate replacement word was that which the KJV also used.
When an obsolete word was replaced, the effort was made to use the same replacement word as often as possible to reflect word usage found in the original text. However many words have more than one meaning, and different contexts at times required multiple renderings for an individual "dead" word. So "bire", usually rendered "rush", also became "force"; "covenable", usually rendered "suitable", also became "opportune"; "departe", usually rendered "part" ("to divide"), also became "separate"; "grutche", usually rendered "grumble", also became "grudge"; "kyndli", usually rendered "of kind", or "by kind", also became "naturally"; "meyne", usually rendered "family", also became "household"; "out-takun", usually rendered "except", also became "besides"; "sclaundre", usually rendered "cause to stumble", also became "offend"; and "wilne", usually rendered "desire", also became "to delight in", or "to take pleasure in". Of these particular replacement words, only "except", "family", "naturally", and "separate" are not found in the original text.
In all, approximately 100 individual replacement words (and their various forms and tenses) were utilized for the Old Testament, and for the New Testament, those replacement words and 140 others. Some replacement words ("benumbed", "creaketh", "creditor", "mocked", "parched", "physician", "satisfy", and "wrenched") were used rarely; other replacement words ("ascend", "call", "except", "pour", and "promise") were used repeatedly.
Archaic Words
About 4% of the words used in the "Later Version" of the WOT and 10% of the words used in the "Later Version" of the WNT, are today considered "archaic", that is, not widely used, but still found in good, current dictionaries. Words in this category include: "anon" (at once), "comeling" (stranger or newcomer), "culver" (dove), "forsooth" ("for truth" and "but"), "knitches" (bundles), "livelode"/"lifelode" (livelihood), "quern" (hand-mill), "principat" (principality), "repromission" (promise), "soothly" (truly), "strand" (stream), "sweven" (dream), "trow" (to trust or to believe), "ween" (to suppose), and "youngling" (young person). Once understood, these words are valid and vital, and evoke the atmosphere and colour of the original text. Most archaic words have been retained. Sometimes the KJV follows the "Later Version" in the use of an archaic word - such as "anon" (at once), "baken" (baked), "holden" (held), "holpen" (helped), "leasing" (lying), "letting" (hindering!), "washen" (washed), "wist" (knew), and "wot" (know) - and Wycliffe's Bible also follows the WB.
Significantly, and of great benefit for our purposes, many archaic words in the "Wycliffe Bible" have their own modern equivalents right there in the original text. So in Wycliffe's Bible, following the original text, you will find both "again-rising" and "resurrection"; "again-buying" and "redemption"; "alarge" and "enlarge"; "alure" and "lattice" (and "alley"); "anon" and "at once"; "araneid" and "spider"; "barnacle" and "bit" (part of a "bridle", which is also found); "cheer" and "face"; "close" and "enclose"; "comprehend" and "apprehend" (i.e., to physically catch, lay hold of, or to grasp); "darked" and "darkened"; "dure" and "endure"; "err" and "wander"; "flower" and "flourish"; "forgat" and "forgot"; "gat" and "begat"; "gender" and "engender"; "get" and "beget"; "gobbets" and "pieces"; "gotten" and "begotten"; "grave" and "engrave"; "gree" and "degree"; "grene" and "snare" (and "trap"); "half" and "hand" (and "side"); "harded" and "hardened"; "leasing" and "lying"; "leaveful" and "lawful"; "lessed" and "lessened"; "liquor" and "liquid"; "manyfold" and "manifold"; "marishes" and "marshes"; "maumet" and "idol"; "meed" and "reward"; "nurse" and "nourish"; "owe" and "ought"; "paddocks" and "frogs"; "painture" and "painting"; "plage" and "region"; "says" (and "serges") and "curtains"; "simulacra" and "idols"; "sop up" and "swallow"; "spelunk" and "cave" (and "den"); "strain" and "constrain"; "sweven" and "dream"; "thank" (past tense of "think") and "thought"; "tree" and "beam" (and "stick", and "timber", and "wood" as well); "venge" and "avenge"; "vinery" and "vineyard"; "virtue" and "strength" or "power" (and "host" as well); "volatiles" and "birds"; "waiter" (and "waker") and "watcher" (and "watchman"); "waking" and "watching"; "wem" and "spot"; and still more doublets of archaic and modern words. For definitions, see the Glossary at the back of the book.
Precursors
But the vast majority of words in the "Later Version" of the WOT, about 94%, and in the "Later Version" of the WNT, about 85%, are the direct precursors of words that we use today. Although these words are spelled differently
