Wait
Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words [1]
for which see Expect , No. 1, is rendered "to wait" in John 5:3 , AV; Acts 17:16; 1—Corinthians 11:33 , RV.
"to await or expect eagerly," is rendered "to wait for" in Romans 8:19,23,25; 1—Corinthians 1:7; Galatians 5:5; Philippians 3:20 , RV (AV, "look for"); Hebrews 9:28 , RV (AV, "look for"), here "them that wait" represents believers in general, not a section of them; 1—Peter 3:20 (in the best texts; some have No. 1). See LOOK (for), Note (1).
"to look for" with a view to favorable reception, is rendered "to wait for" in Mark 15:43; Luke 2:25; 12:36; 23:51 . See LOOK (for), No. 2.
"to await," is rendered "to wait for" in Luke 1:21; 8:40; Acts 10:24; in Acts 27:33 , RV "ye wait" (AV, "have tarried"). See LOOK (for), No. 1.
"to wait for" (ana, "up," used intensively, and meno, "to abide"), is used in 1—Thessalonians 1:10 , of "waiting" for the Son of God from heaven; the word carries with it the suggestion of "waiting" with patience and confident expectancy.
"to await an event," is used in Acts 1:4 , of "waiting" for the Holy Spirit, "the promise of the Father." In the Sept., Genesis 49:18 .
to continue steadfastly, is rendered "to wait on," in Mark 3:9; Acts 10:7 . See Continue , No. 9 (in the Sept., Numbers 13:21 ).
"to sit constantly beside" (para, "beside," hedra, "a seat"), is used in the best texts in 1—Corinthians 9:13 , RV, "wait upon (AV, "at") (the altar)." In the Sept., Proverbs 1:21; 8:3 .
2—Thessalonians 3:5Patience. Ephesians 4:14Wiles. Acts 20:19 Acts 20:3 23:30Plot.
King James Dictionary [2]
WAIT, The sense is to stop, or to continue.
1. To stay or rest in expectation to stop or remain stationary, till the arrival of some person or event. Thus we say, I went to the place of meeting, and there waited an hour for the moderator or chairman. I will go to the hotel, and there wait till you come. We will wait for the mail. 2. To stay proceedings, or suspend any business, in expectation of some person, event, or the arrival of some hour. The court was obliged to wait for a witness. 3. To rest in expectation and patience.
All the days of my appointed time will I wait, till my change come. Job 14 .
4. To stay not to depart.
Haste, my dear father, tis no time to wait.
5. To stay to continue by reason of hindrance. 6. To lie in ambush, as an enemy.
Such ambush waited to intercept thy way.
To wait on or upon, to attend, as a servant to perform menial services for as, to wait on a gentleman to wait on the table.
To wait on,
1. To attend to go to see to visit on business or for ceremony. Tell the gentleman I will wait on him at ten oclock. 2. To pay servile or submissive attendance. 3. To follow, as a consequence as the ruin that waits on such a supine temper. Instead of this, we use await. 4. To look watchfully.
It is a point of cunning to wait on him with whom you speak, with your eye. Unusual.
5. To attend to to perform.
Aaron and his sons shall wait on their priests office. Numbers 3 , 8. Romans 12 .
6. To be ready to serve to obey. Psalms 25 . Proverbs 20 .
To wait at, to attend in service to perform service at. 1 Corinthians 9 .
To wait for, to watch, as an enemy. Job 15 .
Webster's Dictionary [3]
(1): ( v. t.) To attend on; to accompany; especially, to attend with ceremony or respect.
(2): ( v. i.) The act of waiting; a delay; a halt.
(3): ( v. t.) To stay for; to rest or remain stationary in expectation of; to await; as, to wait orders.
(4): ( v. i.) To stay or rest in expectation; to stop or remain stationary till the arrival of some person or event; to rest in patience; to stay; not to depart.
(5): ( v. i.) To watch; to observe; to take notice.
(6): ( v. t.) To cause to wait; to defer; to postpone; - said of a meal; as, to wait dinner.
(7): ( v. i.) Hautboys, or oboes, played by town musicians; not used in the singular.
(8): ( v. t.) To attend as a consequence; to follow upon; to accompany; to await.
(9): ( v. i.) One who watches; a watchman.
(10): ( v. i.) Ambush.
(11): ( v. i.) Musicians who sing or play at night or in the early morning, especially at Christmas time; serenaders; musical watchmen.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia [4]
wāt :
1. The Substantive:
The word is used in the Old Testament both as a substantive add as a verb. In the New Testament it appears as a verb only. ארב , 'erebh , מארב , ma'ărābh , mean a concealed hiding-place for purposes of sudden attack, an ambuscade. (1) "Lie in wait": "Abimelech rose up ... from lying in wait" ( Judges 9:35 the King James Version); "When they ... abide in the covert to lie in wait" ( Job 38:40 ). (2) "Lay wait": "They compassed him in, and laid wait for him" ( Judges 16:2 ).
2. The Verb:
(1) שׁרת , shārath , "to serve," "to minister," to act in the capacity of servant or attendant: "These waited on the king" ( 2 Chronicles 17:19 ). Used especially in this sense with regard to the ceremonial service of the host: "They shall go in to wait upon the service in the work of the tent of meeting" ( Numbers 8:24; compare Numbers 8:25 ); "The Levites wait upon their business" ( 2 Chronicles 13:10 the King James Version). "Wait at" occurs in the same sense in the New Testament: "They which wait at (the Revised Version (British and American) "wait upon") the altar," etc. ( 1 Corinthians 9:13 the King James Version). (2) The simple verb is used to describe the longsuffering and patience of God toward His willful people: "And therefore will Yahweh wait, that he may be gracious unto you" ( Isaiah 30:18 ); "When the longsuffering of God waited in the days of Noah" (ἀπεκδέχομαι , apekdéchomai , 1 Peter 3:20 ). (3) The most important and frequent use of the word "wait," however, is to define the attitude of a soul God-ward. It implies the listening ear, a heart responsive to the wooing of God, a concentration of the spiritual faculties upon heavenly things, the patience of faith, "the earnest expectation of the creation" ( Romans 8:19 ). It describes an eager anticipation and yearning for the revelation of truth and love as it is in the Father. Thus: "My soul, wait thou ... for God only" ( Psalm 69:5 ); "Our soul hath waited for Yahweh" ( Psalm 33:20 ); "Mine eyes fail while I wait for my God" ( Psalm 69:3 ); "Wait for Yahweh, and he will save thee" ( Proverbs 20:22 ).
Also the New Testament thus: "Waiting for our adoption, to wit, the redemption of our body" ( Romans 8:23 ); "For we through the Spirit by faith wait for the hope of righteousness" ( Galatians 5:5 ). From various references in the New Testament there seems to have been in the days of Jesus a sect in whose name the word "wait" played an important part. Of the aged Simeon, who met Mary and Joseph when they brought the infant Jesus to the temple, it is said that he was "waiting for (the Revised Version (British and American) "looking for") the consolation of Israel" ( Luke 2:25 ), that is, he was looking for the fulfillment of the Messianic promise. Again, after our Lord's crucifixion, when Joseph of Arimathea begged for the body of Jesus, we are told that he was one of those that "waited for the kingdom of God" (προσδέχομαι , prosdéchomai , Mark 15:43 the King James Version; Luke 23:51 the King James Version). It is thought by some authorities that this implies their having belonged to the sect of the Essenes. Epiphanius associates the sect with one which he names "Gortheni," whose title is derived from a word which means "to expect."
