'I have waited for Thy salvation' (Gen. 49:18).

'Wait on the Lord, and keep His way' (Psa. 37:34).

To anyone acquainted with the Hebrew, the two passages wherein Paul

associates the words 'to gather together' with the Second Coming of Christ

will be seen in clearer light (2 Thess. 2:1; Heb. 10:25).

The word which we now consider occurs as a verb only eight times in the

whole Hebrew Scriptures.  It is translated 'to view', 'to hope', 'to tarry'

and 'to wait'.  As a noun it occurs but twice and is translated 'hope'.  The

word is sabar (and users of Parkhurst should avoid confusing this with shabar

'to break').

When Nehemiah 'viewed' the walls of Jerusalem (Neh. 2:13,15), this is

the word used.  The translation from 'looking' to 'waiting' and 'hoping' is

seen in Psalm 145:15 and Psalm 104:27:

'The eyes of all wait upon Thee'.

'These wait all upon Thee'.

In one case here the eyes are mentioned and in the other they are omitted.

These wait for their 'meat in due season', and the figure of the expectant

child, or even the expectant dog that eagerly anticipates his food, should be

kept in mind.

Isaiah using this word says:

'The grave cannot praise Thee, death cannot celebrate Thee: they that

go down into the pit cannot hope for Thy truth' (Isa. 38:18).

'I have hoped for Thy salvation' (Psa. 119:166), said the Psalmist, and

we immediately think of Hebrews 9:28:

'Unto them that look for Him shall He appear the second time without

sin unto salvation',

or we think of Titus 2:

'That we should live ... looking for that blessed hope' (Tit. 2:12,13).

There are seven passages where the Hebrew word shamar is translated

'wait' in the Authorized Version and about the same number in which it is

rendered 'watch'.  Its primary meaning, however, is 'to keep', a translation

that occurs 284 times.

The verb 'to keep' is somewhat ambiguous in English, having to

represent such meanings as 'to watch, to observe, to heed, to celebrate, to

guard, to defend, to maintain in order, to provide sustenance, to stock, to

preserve, to hold in custody, to detain, to reserve or lay up, to hide, to

follow, to stay', and many more shades of meaning.  In the Old Testament the

verb 'to keep' represents twelve different Hebrew words and fifteen Greek

ones in the LXX, besides fourteen combinations such as 'keep alive', 'keep

silence', etc.  Of all these words translated 'keep', the one before us is

perhaps the most suitable.