The meaning of Haste in the Bible
(From International Standard Bible Encyclopedia)

hast (chaphaz, chush, mahar; speudo): "Haste" (from a root meaning "to pursue") implies "celerity of motion."

(1) The noun occurs as translation of mahar, "to hasten," etc. (Exodus 10:16; Exodus 12:33, "in haste"); of chapaz, "to make haste" (II Kings 7:15; Psalms 31:22; Psalms 116:11, "I said in my haste (the Revised Version margin "alarm"), All men are liars"); of chippazon, a "hasty flight" (Exodus 12:11; Deuteronomy 16:3; Isaiah 52:12); of nachats, "to be urgent" (I Samuel 21:8, "The king's business required haste").

(2) "Haste" as a verb is transitive and intrans; instances of the transitive use are, 'uts, "to hasten," "press" (Exodus 5:13, "And the taskmasters hasted them," the Revised Version (British and American) "were urgent"); chush, "to make haste" (Isaiah 5:19); mahar (II Chronicles 24:5 twice); shaqadh, "to watch," "to fix one's attention" on anything (Jeremiah 1:12 the King James Version, "I will hasten my word"); mahir, "hasting" (Isaiah 16:5, "hasting righteousness," the Revised Version (British and American) "swift to do"). The intransitive use is more frequent and represents many different words.

Hasty also occurs in several instances (Proverbs 21:5; Proverbs 29:20, 'uts, etc.); in Isaiah 28:4, bikkur, "first-fruit," is translated "hasty fruit," the Revised Version (British and American) "first-ripe fig."

The Revised Version (British and American) has "Haste ye" for "assemble yourselves" (Joel 3:11 margin, as the King James Version); "make haste" for "speedily" (Psalms 143:7); "and hasted to catch whether it were his mind" (for I Kings 20:33 the King James Version); "and it hasteth toward the end," margin (Hebrew) "panteth," for "but at the end it shall speak" (Habakkuk 2:3); "hastily" for "suddenly" (I Timothy 5:22); for "and for this I make haste" (Job 20:2), "even by reason of my haste that is in me," margin "and by reason of this my haste is within me"; for "hasten after another god" (Psalms 16:4), the American Standard Revised Version has "that give gifts for another god," the English Revised Version "exchange the Lord for"; for "hasten hereunto" (Ecclesiastes 2:25), "have enjoyment"; for "hasten hither" (I Kings 22:9), "fetch quickly"; for "and gather" (Exodus 9:19), "hasten in"; for "hasteneth that he may" (Isaiah 51:14), "shall speedily"; for "hasteth to" (Job 9:26), "swoopeth on"; for "and hasteth" (Job 40:23), "he trembleth"; for "hasty" (Daniel 2:15), "urgent."

W. L. Walker

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