What Does Psalm 106:13 Mean in the King James?
They soon forgat his works; they waited not for his counsel:
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
The Hebrew says they hurried and forgot his works, then would not wait for counsel: what is already given cannot guide a life that never pauses to receive it.
THE MEANING
When you hurry, what has already been done can slip from view; counsel you do not wait for cannot shape what comes next. The verse speaks to the space between what you have received and where you go now.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
A lack of direction does not always mean counsel is absent; sometimes you have moved on before receiving it.
THE ROOT
מִהֲרוּ
miharu
GROWS FROM
מ־ה־ר
m-h-r
to hurry, hasten
“soon” in this verse is miharu. The Hebrew form says they hurried and forgot his works. Beside their refusal to wait, that speed links losing sight of what has happened with missing the counsel that could guide what comes next.
ALSO GROWS
mahar: to hurry, hasten
מָהַר
This verb names the speed that frames their forgetting.
meherah: quickly, speedily
מְהֵרָה
The related adverb carries the same sense of moving without delay.
חִכּוּ
ḥikkû
GROWS FROM
ח־כ־ה
ḥ-k-h
to wait for, look for, expect
“waited” in this verse is ḥikkû. This root can describe waiting with expectation, not merely letting time pass. Here, refusing to wait means the counsel is not given room to shape what comes next.
ALSO GROWS
ḥākâ: to wait for, expect
חָכָה
This is the root verb behind the verse’s account of not waiting.
meḥakkēh: one who waits for, awaits
מְחַכֵּה
The related form describes someone remaining in expectation, the posture this verse says is absent.
עֲצָתוֹ
ʿăṣātô
GROWS FROM
י־ע־ץ
y-ʿ-ṣ
to advise, counsel, deliberate
Counsel is guidance formed through advice and deliberation. The verse says they do not wait for this direction, so what is forgotten also fails to orient the next step.
ALSO GROWS
ʿēṣâ: counsel, advice
עֵצָה
This is the noun for the guidance they do not await.
yōʿēṣ: counselor, adviser
יוֹעֵץ
The related word names one who gives counsel, making the verse’s counsel a source of direction rather than a passing thought.
THE PATTERN
Direction stays available when what has been received is remembered and awaited.
And thou shalt remember all the way which the LORD thy God led thee these forty years in the wilderness, to humble thee, and to prove thee, to know what was in thine heart, whether thou wouldest keep his commandments, or no.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.Wherefore I will not be negligent to put you always in remembrance of these things, though ye know them, and be established in the present truth.THE THREAD
I will remember the works of the LORD: surely I will remember thy wonders of old.Both verses use מַעֲשֶׂה (ma’aseh, work or deed), from עָשָׂה (asah, do or make). Psalm 77 gives the response missing here: the LORD’s works remain present when they are remembered.
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