sa.ad describes refreshing people with food and sustaining persons, steps, or a throne.

The dominant usage concerns sustaining or upholding: it is used of support amid slipping feet, a plea for preservation, and the upholding of a throne. It also describes refreshing travelers or guests with a morsel of food before they continue.

1. Sustaining or upholding · dominant

   In Psalm 94:18 the imperfect form occurs when the speaker says that his foot slips and the APB renders the response, “your kindness, O LORD, supported me.” Psalm 119:117 uses an imperative in a plea followed by “and I will be saved,” while Proverbs 20:28 places the sequential perfect in the clause that the APB renders, “his throne is upheld by kindness.”

   Psalm 94:18Psalm 119:117Proverbs 20:28Psalm 18:36Psalm 41:4Psalm 20:3
2. Refreshing with food before going on · common

   The imperative forms in Genesis 18:5, Judges 19:5, Judges 19:8, and 1 Kings 13:7 occur in invitations to eat or refresh oneself before continuing a journey or visit. Psalm 104:15 uses an imperfect form in the clause where the APB speaks of food for the human heart.

   Genesis 18:5Judges 19:5Judges 19:81 Kings 13:7Psalm 104:15

In the Anselm Project Bible: The APB presents the food-and-travel contexts with “refresh” or “refresh yourself,” and explicitly uses “supported” and “upheld” in Psalm 94:18 and Proverbs 20:28. In several other verses, including Psalm 18:36, Psalm 20:3, Psalm 41:4, and Isaiah 9:6, the translation does not clearly isolate the term's contribution.