The King James Bible interchangeably uses 'spake/spoke', 'sware/swore' and 'bare/bore' for the simple past tenses of 'speak', 'swear', and 'bear', respectively.
Were their interchangeability an innovation of Early Modern English with nuanced distinction in the periods therebefore or had they always been alternatives for the same things? How did the King James scholars decide which form should be used for which context?
Best Answer
Every dictionary I'm looking at here says "spake" is simply an (archaic) past tense of "speak." Variations happen. They used to happen more than now, especially in spelling.