Next time you hear the word throughly, you’ll think again before using spell check!
SHAUNA: Hi, this is Shauna on Joni Eareckson Tada: Sharing Hope. Today, Joni’s sharing a word you have never heard. And you are going to be fascinated by this because I bet you’ve read this word before, and you don't even know it. Joni found this word when she was reading Psalm 51 and decided to look it up in different translations. Well, let’s hear Joni tell us about it.
JONI : I decided to look that Psalm up in the King James Bible. As you all know, Psalm 51 is David’s song of repentance. And I really like the way it comes across in the King James Version. I'm familiar with the King James because well, I was raised in the Reformed Episcopal Church where we read the Book of Common Prayer. And that Book was written the same time as King James put together the Bible, so I’m very comfortable with that language. The phrasing is a little like poetry.
Well, we started reading Psalm 51, and we stopped short at the second verse. We re-read it and thought for certain the publisher had made an error. Because in the King James it says, “Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin.” Now I know what you’re thinking: “Joni, you said that word wrong. It’s not supposed to be throughly, it should be ‘wash me thoroughly from mine iniquity’ right?”
Well, that’s exactly what I thought. So, I looked closer at the spelling of the word, and it is spelled “throo-ly.” I went ahead and checked other King James Bibles printed by different publishers and was astounded to see the same thing: the word “throo-ly”—not thoroughly, but “throughly.” So, I did a little research on this, and I learned that in Elizabethan language, the English of the 16th century, the word “throughly” literally means “through and through,” like, scrubbing something inside out. I guess the best paraphrase might be, “Lord, wash me inside out from mine iniquity—through and through.” Well, I was so heartened to read that. Some translations like the NIV say, “cleanse me from my sin,” but I don’t know, somehow, that doesn't quite convey the idea of through and through, does it?
Well, it’s not many times that I prefer English from the 16th century, but this time, I do. Because I just don’t want God to scrub the outside of my soul, helping me to get rid of surface sins; no, I want him to do more than cleansing me from my sin, I want him to wash me through and through, clean clear through. ‘Holy Spirit, make my heart spic ‘n’ span clean!’ Unfortunately, the word ‘throughly’ has gone completely out of use. In fact, when I wrote it on my computer, my automatic spell checker kept trying to change it to ‘thoroughly.’ But hey, I’m with Shakespeare; I’m with Queen Elizabeth; I’m with King James on this one. Lord Jesus, don’t do an exterior job on my character, get out the “Mr. Clean Magic Eraser,” and get rid of every vestige of hidden sin. And friend, that’s my prayer for you today. First Thessalonians 5 says [in modern English], “May God himself, the God of peace, sanctify you through and through.” I think the Elizabethans would approve of that.
SHAUNA: Go to our radio page today at joniradio.org and download your chronological reading schedule. Joni and Ken start with Genesis 1 on January 1st and the adventure through the Bible continues all the way through to December 31st. So, get on a solid path in the new year by reading through the Bible with Ken and Joni. For all your resources, just go to joniradio.org today.
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