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1. halt

Example KJV verse(s)

1 Kings 18:21 And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.

Micah 4:7 And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever.

Relevant Hebrew/Greek sense(s) from responsible original-language lexicon

Lemma: פסח – be lame, limp; limp by, pass by, spare. (LXHOTLEX)

  • to waver ⇔ limp — to waver between choices, conceived of as limping.

Contemporary English sense(s) people today are likely to hear

Bring or come to an abrupt stop (NOAD)

Sense(s) intended by the KJV translators

  1. intransitive. To be lame, walk lame, limp. archaic. (OED)

Explanation

Elijah used a metaphor of a man limping to challenge the Israelites to choose the one true God. People today will still get the overall gist (waver) of Elijah's challenge, but they'll miss the particular metaphor (limp) that he used.

Other KJV verses in which this word is a false friend

  • And as he passed over Penuel the sun rose upon him, and he halted upon his thigh. (Genesis 32:31)
  • And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word. (1 Kings 18:21)
  • For I am ready to halt, and my sorrow is continually before me. (Psalm 38:17)
  • For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. Report, say they, and we will report it. All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him. (Jeremiah 20:10)
  • And I will make her that halted a remnant, and her that was cast far off a strong nation: and the LORD shall reign over them in mount Zion from henceforth, even for ever. (Micah 4:7)
  • Wherefore if thy hand or thy foot offend thee, cut them off, and cast them from thee: it is better for thee to enter into life halt or maimed, rather than having two hands or two feet to be cast into everlasting fire. (Matthew 18:8)
  • And if thy foot offend thee, cut it off: it is better for thee to enter halt into life, than having two feet to be cast into hell, into the fire that never shall be quenched: (Mark 9:45)
  • So that servant came, and shewed his lord these things. Then the master of the house being angry said to his servant, Go out quickly into the streets and lanes of the city, and bring in hither the poor, and the maimed, and the halt, and the blind. (Luke 14:21)
  • In these lay a great multitude of impotent folk, of blind, halt, withered, waiting for the moving of the water. (John 5:3)

Previous translations

Bishop's

And Elias came vnto all the people, and said: how long halt ye betweene two opinions? If the Lorde be God, folowe him: but if Baal be he, then go after him. And the people aunswered him not one worde.

Geneva

And Eliiah came vnto all the people, and said, How long halt ye betweene two opinions? If the Lord be God, followe him: but if Baal be he, then goe after him; the people answered him not a worde.

Modern TR-Based Translations

NKJV

And Elijah came to all the people, and said, “How long will you falter between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him; but if Baal, follow him.” But the people answered him not a word.

SKJV

And Elijah came to all the people and said, "How long will you halt between two opinions? If the LORD is God, follow Him, but if Baal, then follow him." And the people did not answer him a word.