Halt

Halt in biblical usage means lame or limping, referring to a physical disability affecting gait. Jacob's limp after wrestling with the divine figure at Peniel (Gen. 32:31) became a permanent memorial of that encounter, and Israel's dietary prohibition against eating the sinew of the thigh (Gen. 32:32) was traced to this wound. The psalmist uses the image of halting to describe the condition of his own suffering and vulnerability (Ps. 38:17).

The phrase to halt between two opinions in 1 Kings 18:21 uses the same Hebrew root with the metaphorical sense of limping or wavering—Elijah challenges the people of Israel who are limping between Baal and Yahweh, undecided in their allegiance. Jesus' healing of the lame and halt (Matt. 15:30–31; Luke 14:21) was a fulfillment of messianic expectation derived from Isaiah 35:6 (then shall the lame man leap as a hart), demonstrating the kingdom's restorative power.