• For, yf mj'n bertes wille wist were and preved How, yow to love, it stercd is and meved. Ye shulde knowe I your honour and welthe Thurste and desire, and eke your soules betthe.'
Infln. wit — Malory, Boly Grail (in Morley's Eng. Bel. 38), ' And so they looked upon him, and felt his pulse, to wit whether there were any life in him ;' Kx 97 Tind. 'And Pharas sent to wete.' For the phrase 'do to wit ' (2 Co 8^) see art. Do in vol. 1. p. 614i>, and observe the parallel phrases 'give to wit,' Rhem. NT, note to Jn 154 'These conditional speaches, 1/ you remaine in the vine. If you keepe my commatiiideiiients, and such like,
five us to wit that we be not sure to persist or persevere, nor to e saved, but under conditions to be fulfilled oy us ' ; and ' let to wit,' Cranmer, Works, i. 70, ' We let you to wit, that foras- much as it belongetb unto us,' eta
In AV there occur: (1) Present tense, 'I wot,' Gn 2r-», Nu 22«, .Jos 2^ Ac 3", Ph \^; ['he] wotteth,' Gn 39* ' My master wotteth not what is with me in the house ' ; ' we wot,' Ex 32'''', Ac 7"; 'ye wot,' Gn 44", Ro 11'^. (2) Past tense, 'I wist,' Jos 2*, Ac 23": 'he wist,' Ex 34'*, Lv C"'8, Jos 8", Jg 16™, Mk 9", Jn 5'^ Ac 12i'; 'ye wist,' Lk 2" ; ' they wist,' Ex 16", Mk 14«. (3) Irlin. ' to wit,' Gn 24'-', Ex 2*. 2 Co 8' (' do to wit').
The Heb. and Gr. are the ordinary verbs 'to know,' yiidd and ol5a, except in the last case, where 'we do you to wit' is the tr. of yvupl^ofifi' iiliiv, KV ' we make known to you.'
The infln. ' to wit ' is also used as a connecting phrase in Jos 171, 1 K 2-0 7" 13'2l, 2 K 10-1, 1 C'h T> 27', 2 Lh 4'a •i57- 10 31», Est 2'2, Jer 26i» 349, i>.i( isio, Ro 823, 2 Co .11». The fuller phrase is ' that is to wit,' which shows the infln. more clearly, as Mt 238 Tind. ' For one is youro Master, that is to wyt Chris't, and all ye are brethren ' ; Tinrlale, Works, i. 87, ' Wherefore they which are of faith are blessed, that Is to wit mode righteous, with righteous Abraham.' Except In 2 Oo 6'8 (*() there is no equivalent in Ueb. or Greek.
]\'it a.<i a s11b.1t. occurs in Ps 107" 'And are at tlieir wit's end ' (y^;nn cci?;rrS;i, lit. as AVm, RVm 'and all their wisdom is swallowed up,' KV 'and are at their wits' [plu.] end ' ; the AV phrase comes from Gov. ; M yc. has the more lit^ 'and al
932
WITCH, WITCHCRAFT
WITNESS
the wisdom of hem was devourid,' after Viil<^. et omnvs sapicntia eorum devorata est) ; 1 Es 4-* ' Many tiiere be that have run out of their wits for women ' (TroWot aircvoTidiiaav rats /5(ats Siafo/ais Sick rdt ymatKa^) ; 2 Es 5^ ' Then shall wit hide itself (absrondctur tunc sensits) ; Sir 31^ 'He riseth early, and Iiis wits are with him ' {Marri rpwl, Kal i] i'vx^ airroS iut avroO).
The subst. * wit ' was very common in the cent, preceding the issue of AV. It was losinj^ its tone by 1611, and not only occurs less frequently in AV than in previous versions, but is used more readily in the Prefacp, with its familiar style, than in the tr. of any of the books. Thus, 'their sharpnesse of wit' ; *to exercise and whet our wits*; 'opening our wits, that we may understand his word' — all occurring in the Preface. In the earlier versions we find, e.g.. He 5J-* \Vyc. ' hem that for custum han wittis exercisid,' so Tind. ' which thorow custome have their wittes exercised,' and all the VSS till Rhem., and AV (' senses,' Or. Tu. a."<r(i»;T/,p,«); Lk 1*^ Tind. 'And all that hearde him mer- Telledat his wit and answers' (so Matt., Wye. 'prudens,' Rhem. 'wisedom,' others 'understanding,' Gr. <ru*i<rif) ; 24-** Tind. ' Then openneti he their wyttes that they myght understond the scriptures' (Rhem. and AV ' understanding,' Gr. to> »«I.) ; .Mk 5^5 Rhem. 'They see him that was vexed of the devil, sitting, clothed, and wel in his wittes.'
The word has some range of meaning, thus : (1) Sfii^e, meaning, as WycUf, Works, i. 98, 'Syththe the Pater Noster is the beste prayer that is, for in it mot alle other prayers be closed yf thay sohulle graciouslyche be hurde of God, therfore scholde men kunne this prayour, and studie the wyt thereof ' ; Melvill, Diary, 36, *A babli'ng of words without wit. at least wesdome.' (2) Cleverness, as Hall, Works, ii. G9, ' How many shall once wish they had been bom dullards, yea idiots, when they shall find their uit to have barred them out of heaven? Say the world what it will, a dram of holinesse is worth a pound of wit.' (3) Understanding, ability to underttand, »a Pr. Ck. 1652 (Keeling, p. 379)—
* O Holy Ghost, into oar wits.
Send down thine heavenly light' ;
Elyot, Govemour, ii. 439, ' A man of greate witte, singuler lemynge, and excellent wisedome.' (4) Wisdom, as Ro 1134 W^c. * Who knew the witte of the lord, or who was his coun- ceilour ? ' : Spenser, Hymn of Heavenly Beauty —