What Does Psalm 123:2 Mean?
Behold, as the eyes of servants look to the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maidservant to the hand of her mistress; so our eyes look to the LORD our God, until he bends toward us.
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Behold, as the eyes of servants look unto the hand of their masters, and as the eyes of a maiden unto the hand of her mistress; so our eyes wait upon the LORD our God, until that he have mercy upon us.THE KEY
The waiting eyes are fixed on the hand from which favor can come.
THE MEANING
Your gaze rests on the LORD as a servant’s eyes follow a master’s hand. The waiting holds its attention there until favor is shown; it is watchful dependence, not an empty stare.
THE ROOT
שֶׁיְחָנֵּנוּ
sheyeḥonnēnū
GROWS FROM
חנן
To show favor or be gracious.
“bends toward us” in this verse is sheyeḥonnēnū. The Hebrew verb translated “have mercy” comes from חנן, a root of showing favor. Its word family makes the plea more specific: the eyes are fixed on the one whose favor they await, and the hands in the image make that favor something extended.
ALSO GROWS
ḥēn: Favor or acceptance.
חֵן
This noun shares the root and names what the eyes await.
ḥannūn: Gracious; one who shows favor.
חַנּוּן
This related form describes the character expressed when favor is given.
teḥinnāh: A request for favor or supplication.
תְּחִנָּה
This branch turns the root’s meaning into a plea, like the gaze that waits in this verse.
THE PATTERN
Dependence keeps its attention on the one who provides, even while the response is awaited.
The eyes of all look to you, and you give them their food in its season.All of them look to you, to give them their food in its time.Look at the birds of the air, for they do not sow, nor reap, nor gather into storehouses; yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not much better than they?THE THREAD
Bend toward us, O LORD, bend toward us, for we are filled beyond measure with contempt.The repeated plea “have mercy” uses חנן (ḥānan, show favor), the same root as the verb at the end of verse 2. The next verse names what the waiting gaze seeks: favor amid the painful reality of contempt.
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