Emily Dickinson Lexicon

YEA, adv. [ye; Sax. gea, geac; G. D. and Dan. ja; Sw. jaka, to consent. Qu. G. bejaken, to affirm. Class Cg, No. 25, 26.]

1. Yes; a word that expresses affirmation or assent. Will you go? yea. It sometimes introduces a subject, with the sense of indeed, verily, truly, it is so. Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree in the garden? – Gen. iii. Let your communication be yea, yea; nay, nay. Matth. v.
2. It sometimes enforces the sense of something preceding; not only so, but more. Therein I do rejoice, yea, and will rejoice. – Phil. i.
3. In Scripture, it is used to denote certainty, consistency, harmony and stability. All the promises of God in him are yea, and in him are amen. – 2 Cor. i. [In this use, the word may be considered a noun.] Yea is used only in the sacred and solemn style. [See Yes.]