All KJV Words
Archaic KJV Word
What Does “Sore” Mean in the Bible?
In the King James Bible, “Sore” means “greatly” in modern English. It is an archaic word from the 1611 KJV that has dropped out of everyday use.
What Was Lost
The embodied intensity. Being 'sore afraid' was not just very frightened but frightened to the point of physical pain -- fear so intense your body ached. 'Sore lamentation' was grief that physically hurt. The word made emotions visceral, bodily, real. When sore became only a wound, the intensifier that made biblical emotions physical disappeared.