What Does Psalm 145:15 Mean in the King James?
The eyes of all wait upon thee; and thou givest them their meat in due season.
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 word translated “wait” carries expectant hope: all eyes are turned toward the one who gives food in its season.
THE MEANING
You are part of the “all” whose attention turns toward God, and food comes from him in its time. The verse holds your looking and your receiving together in a rhythm of expectation and provision.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
Having to wait does not mean you are forgotten; the verse holds waiting and giving together, each in its season.
THE ROOT
יְשַׂבֵּרוּ
yesabberu
GROWS FROM
שׂבר
sabar
to wait for, hope, or expect
This is expectant waiting: all eyes are directed toward someone from whom provision is expected. English “wait” can sound passive, while the Hebrew also carries the sense of hope.
ALSO GROWS
sivri: my hope, my expectation
שִׂבְרִי
Psalm 119:116 uses this noun from the same root, showing that the verse’s waiting can also be named as hope.
sivro: his hope, his expectation
שִׂבְרוֹ
Psalm 146:5 uses this form for hope in the LORD, echoing the direction of the eyes in this verse.
נוֹתֵן
noten
GROWS FROM
נתן
natan
to give, set, or place
“givest” in this verse is noten. The same root can describe giving and setting something in place. Here, provision is not abstract: food is given to them in its fitting time.
ALSO GROWS
mattanah: gift
מַתָּנָה
This noun from the same root makes the giving in the verse visible as provision received.
nittan: was given, was set
נִתַּן
This passive form carries the root’s sense of something placed or given, fitting the verse’s picture of provision arriving in season.
THE PATTERN
Living creatures look beyond themselves for sustenance, and provision meets them in the time appointed for it.
These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give them their meat in due season.Who provideth for the raven his food? when his young ones cry unto God, they wander for lack of meat.Behold the fowls of the air: for they sow not, neither do they reap, nor gather into barns; yet your heavenly Father feedeth them. Are ye not much better than they?THE THREAD
These wait all upon thee; that thou mayest give them their meat in due season.Psalm 104:27 uses the same שׂבר (sabar, wait expectantly) verb and repeats the giving of food in due season. It places this verse in a wider rhythm of living things looking toward provision.
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