VERY

ver'-i: As adjective (from verus, "true"), "true," "real," "actual," etc. (Genesis 27:21,24, "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 me'odh, and in the New Testament represents, as adjective and adverb, several Greek words, as alethos, "truly" (John 7:26, above), autos (John 14:11, "the very works' sake"; Romans 13:6), sphodra (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"), huper- (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.

W. L. Walker

From the International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
Edited by James Orr, published in 1939 by Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co.