Reproving Betimes

Reproving betimes with sharpness, when moved upon by the Holy Ghost; and then showing forth afterwards an increase of love toward him whom thou hast reproved, lest he esteem them to be his enemy. D&C 121:43


Betimes means early, soon, quickly, in good time. It was a common word in Elizabethan English. Shakespeare used it frequently, as in Macbeth, IV, 3, 162:

"Good God, betimes remove
The means that makes us strangers!"

Since modern scripture is rhetorically linked with the King James Version, we can find similar usages of the word betimes in Gen. 26:31, 2 Chron. 36:15, and Job 8:5 among others.