ma.hah describes holding back or waiting rather than moving ahead promptly.

The attested use describes delay as a failure or refusal to proceed promptly: people delay before acting or traveling, while a coming vision may seem to delay but is still awaited.

1. Holding back or waiting before proceeding · dominant

   In Genesis 19:16, the sequential imperfect occurs when a man delays before the men take his family by the hand and bring them outside the city. In Genesis 43:10 and Psalm 119:60, perfect forms look back on delay in relation to returning and keeping commandments; Exodus 12:39 places the infinitive construct under the statement that the people could not delay. Habakkuk 2:3 applies the imperfect to the vision's apparent delay and pairs it with the instruction to wait.

   Genesis 19:16Genesis 43:10Psalm 119:60Exodus 12:39Habakkuk 2:3Judges 3:26

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB commonly presents the term with "delay" or "delayed," while Judges 19:8 uses "wait" in a request to remain until the day declines. Because the APB is a whole-verse translation text, these renderings show the clauses' overall presentation rather than fixed English equivalents.