What Does Lamentations 3:25 Mean in the King James?

The LORD is good unto them that wait for him, to the soul that seeketh him.

Lamentations 3:25 · KJV

The analysis reads the King James wording.

King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.

THE KEY

Hebrew’s word for waiting is kin to its word for hope, so the pause in this verse is already filled with expectation.

THE MEANING

The LORD is good to you in the very stretch of waiting for him; your living soul seeks him even while the answer is not in hand. The verse holds expectation and seeking together as one relationship with him. His goodness is not measured only by how quickly the waiting ends.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

This undoes the belief that waiting proves you are outside the LORD’s goodness: the verse names him as good to the one still waiting and seeking.

THE ROOT

קָוָה

qavah

GROWS FROM

קוה

To wait, look for, or hope expectantly.

English “wait” can sound like an empty pause, but this Hebrew verb also carries expectation and hope. The verse presents waiting for the LORD as expectancy directed toward him, with seeking as its companion, not as a blank interval outside his goodness.

ALSO GROWS

tiqvah: Hope, expectation.

תִּקְוָה

This noun from the same root shows that hope is not separate from waiting; the verse’s waiting already carries the idea of hope.

qōwê: Those who wait or hope.

קֹוֵי

Isaiah 40:31 uses this form of the root for those who wait for the LORD, making the waiting a defining orientation toward him.

דָּרַשׁ

darash

GROWS FROM

דרש

To seek, inquire, or search carefully.

“seeketh” in this verse is darash. The English “seek” can sound like looking for an absent object; darash also carries the sense of inquiry. The living soul’s seeking is an engaged turning toward the LORD, not proof that he is simply missing.

ALSO GROWS

doresh: One who seeks or inquires.

דּוֹרֵשׁ

This form names the seeker, bringing out the active, ongoing quality of the soul’s seeking.

midrash: Inquiry or exposition.

מִדְרָשׁ

From the same root, this word preserves seeking as careful inquiry, a depth the English “seek” can leave unheard.

THE PATTERN

Waiting for the LORD is hope still directed toward him, while seeking keeps that expectancy relational.

I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.

Psalm 130:5 · KJVThe verse repeats the language of waiting, then sets it beside hope in the LORD’s word.

But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.

Isaiah 40:31 · KJVWaiting for the LORD is shown as an enduring orientation from which strength emerges.

Ask, and it shall be given you; seek, and ye shall find; knock, and it shall be opened unto you:

Matthew 7:7 · KJVSeeking appears alongside asking and knocking as an active, continuing relation with God.

THE THREAD

I wait for the LORD, my soul doth wait, and in his word do I hope.

Psalm 130:5 · KJV

The repeated “wait” comes from the same Hebrew root as the waiting in Lamentations. Psalm 130 then places that waiting beside hope in the LORD’s word, letting you hear it as expectancy directed toward him rather than empty time.

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