Sources: the Tanakh and the Talmud; answered in English in the Essay style.

The Answer in Brief

In Psalm 27:10, "forsake" translates the Hebrew root עזב (azav), meaning to leave behind, abandon, or withdraw relational presence and protection. The psalm uses it in a double movement: the poet fears that even his closest human bonds — father and mother — may break through azav, yet trusts that God will not. Across the Tanakh, azav carries a consistent weight: it describes the severance of a protective, covenantal relationship. When humans forsake God, as in [Isaiah 65:11] and [Joshua 24:16], they rupture their covenant loyalty. When God is implored not to forsake, as in [Psalms 27:9], [Psalms 71:9], and [Psalms 119:8], the word names the deepest dread — divine withdrawal. The repeated divine promise, "I will not forsake" ([I Kings 6:13], [Deuteronomy 31:8], [I Samuel 12:22]), is the covenantal counter-guarantee. To forsake, in this context, is to abandon someone who depended on you, leaving them without shelter, help, or the steadfast love (chesed) that defined the relationship.

Background

The Hebrew verb עזב (azav) appears throughout the Tanakh as one of the primary words for abandonment. It is distinct from related words like נטש (natash, to scatter or let loose) or עזב used in a neutral sense of simply leaving a place. In its covenantal and relational contexts — which dominate the Psalms and the prophets — azav carries the sense of willful withdrawal from a relationship of obligation and care. The one who azavs is not merely absent; they have turned away from someone who had a claim on their presence.

Psalm 27 is attributed to David and is liturgically read during the High Holiday season in Jewish tradition, though its themes are universal to human vulnerability and trust. The psalm opens with confident declarations — "The ETERNAL is my light and my help; whom shall I fear?" — but moves through real anxiety: enemies, war, abandonment. By verse 9, the poet is pleading with God not to withdraw. Verse 10 then offers a stark contrast: even the most foundational human relationship, that of parent to child, might fail through abandonment (azav), but God's taking-in (יאספני, from asaf, to gather in) will not.

The covenantal framework is essential for reading azav correctly. In the ancient Near East, treaties and covenants created mutual obligations of loyalty. To forsake was to breach that covenant — to walk away from the obligations of care, protection, and solidarity. The Tanakh consistently describes Israel's relationship with God in these covenantal terms. When Israel "forsakes" God, as in [Joshua 24:16] and [Isaiah 65:11], they are depicted as abandoning a living relationship, not merely an abstract idea. When God promises not to forsake Israel, as in [I Kings 6:13] and [I Samuel 12:22], it is a covenant pledge of continued presence and protection.

Understanding chesed — often translated as "steadfast love," "lovingkindness," or "covenant loyalty" — is also necessary here. In [Genesis 24:27] and [Ruth 2:20], the Hebrew text uses the phrase לא עזב חסדו ("has not forsaken/withheld his chesed"), linking azav directly to the failure or preservation of covenantal faithfulness. To forsake someone is, at its core, to withdraw chesed — to stop being the loyal partner the covenant requires.

The Sources

Psalm 27:10 and 27:9 — The Core Text

The verse itself, [Psalms 27:10], reads: "Though my father and mother abandon me, GOD will take me in." The word translated "abandon" is azav. The poet does not say his parents have abandoned him, but uses a conditional — even if they were to do so. This is the most radical imaginable human abandonment: the people whose biological and social obligation to care for a child is most absolute. If even they were to azav, God would not.

The verse cannot be read in isolation from [Psalms 27:9], which immediately precedes it: "Do not hide Your face from me; do not thrust aside Your servant in anger; You have ever been my help. Do not forsake me, do not abandon me, O God, my deliverer." Here the poet uses two verbs together — "do not forsake me, do not abandon me" — which together intensify the plea. The fear of divine withdrawal is expressed as the withdrawal of God's face (presence), being thrust aside, being forsaken. The sequence of verse 9 and verse 10 is deliberate: the poet first pleads that God not do what he fears, then grounds his confidence in the conviction that God's taking-in surpasses even parental loyalty.

The Divine Promise Not to Forsake

Several texts make explicit that not forsaking is a defining characteristic of God's relationship with Israel. [I Kings 6:13] records God's word to Solomon at the dedication of the Temple: "I will abide among the children of Israel, and I will never forsake My people Israel." The word "never" attaches the promise to God's abiding presence — the same root azav appears in the negative, functioning as a covenant guarantee. The Temple itself was a symbol of that presence, and the promise that God would not azav was built into its founding.

[Deuteronomy 31:8] gives Moses's final charge to Joshua: "And it is indeed GOD who will go before you, and be with you — and not fail you or forsake you. Fear not and be not dismayed!" The promise "not forsake" here is paired with "not fail" and with the command not to fear. To be forsaken is thus the thing that would give cause for fear; the assurance of non-abandonment is what enables courage. This is precisely the logic of Psalm 27 — the poet can face enemies and darkness because God will not forsake.

[I Samuel 12:22] extends the logic to the covenantal community: "For the sake of God's great name, GOD will never abandon this people, seeing that GOD undertook to make you a covenanted people." Samuel's speech ties God's non-abandonment directly to the covenant — God will not forsake Israel because God made a covenant to be Israel's God. The abandonment of Israel would be, in effect, a breach of God's own commitment, which is impossible given God's faithfulness.

[Psalms 94:14] states this as a declarative principle: "For GOD will not forsake this people; God's very own will not be abandoned." The verse moves from community ("this people") to the intimate ("God's very own"), suggesting that azav is the opposite of belonging — to forsake is to expel from the circle of those who are "God's own."

The Human Plea Not to Be Forsaken

The Psalms contain repeated individual pleas that echo Psalm 27:9. [Psalms 38:22] reads: "Do not abandon me, O ETERNAL One; my God, be not far from me." Here azav is again paired with distance — abandonment means God becoming far. [Psalms 71:9] situates the plea in vulnerability: "Do not cast me off in old age; when my strength fails, do not forsake me!" Old age and failing strength are the human conditions that most resemble the helplessness of a child — and the fear of azav in that state mirrors the parent-child image of Psalm 27:10. [Psalms 119:8] makes the plea with a note of bargained faithfulness: "I will keep Your laws; do not utterly forsake me." The phrase "utterly forsake" suggests degrees — partial distance versus total abandonment — but the root is the same.

[Psalms 138:8] frames the plea in terms of chesed: "GOD will settle accounts for me. O ETERNAL One, Your steadfast love is eternal; do not forsake the work of Your hands." The "work of Your hands" is the human being whom God created — to forsake that person would be to abandon one's own creation. The appeal is to God's chesed as the force that prevents azav.

[Psalms 9:11] offers the positive assurance: "Those who know Your name trust You, for You do not abandon those who turn to You, O ETERNAL One." To "know God's name" is to have entered into relationship, and those in relationship are not abandoned. Forsaking, again, is the breaking of relationship.

When Humans Forsake God

The word azav runs in both directions. Just as humans fear being forsaken by God, the texts equally condemn humans who forsake God. [Joshua 24:16] records Israel's vow: "Far be it from us to forsake the ETERNAL and serve other gods!" The forsaking of God is here equated with turning to other gods — azav is not mere neglect but active transfer of loyalty to another party. This is covenant infidelity.

[Isaiah 65:11] names those "who forsake GOD" as those who "ignore My holy mountain" and "set a table for Luck" — i.e., who turn to foreign religious practices. The Targum Jonathan on [Isaiah 1:28] renders the same concept as "those that forsake the law of the Lord shall be destroyed," which slightly shifts the object of forsaking from God to God's Torah, but the covenantal logic is the same: to forsake is to exit the relationship of obligation and loyalty.

[II Chronicles 7:19] gives God's conditional warning: "But if you turn away from Me and forsake My laws and commandments that I set before you, and go and serve other gods and worship them." Here azav is applied to the laws themselves — forsaking God's commandments is equivalent to forsaking God. [Psalms 89:31] uses the same logic: "If his sons forsake My Teaching and do not live by My rules." The covenant is embodied in the Torah, and to abandon the Torah is to azav the covenantal relationship.

Chesed as the Opposite of Azav

Two Hebrew-language texts illuminate the semantic field around azav by pairing it with chesed. [Genesis 24:27] has Eliezer praising God: "אֲשֶׁר לֹֽא־עָזַב חַסְדּוֹ וַאֲמִתּוֹ מֵעִם אֲדֹנִי" — "who has not forsaken (azav) His steadfast love and faithfulness toward my master." God's chesed and emet (faithfulness) were not abandoned — the negative of azav is the persistence of loyal love. [Ruth 2:20] offers Naomi's blessing of Boaz: "בָּרוּךְ הוּא לַיהֹוָה אֲשֶׁר לֹא־עָזַב חַסְדּוֹ אֶת־הַחַיִּים וְאֶת־הַמֵּתִים" — "Blessed is he of the ETERNAL, who has not forsaken (azav) his steadfast love toward the living and the dead." In both texts, lo azav chesdo ("has not forsaken his chesed") is a formula of praise. To forsake, then, is specifically to withhold chesed — to stop being loyal, caring, and present to those who depend on you.

Where They Agree and Disagree

The sources are strikingly consistent on the core meaning of azav: it is the withdrawal of protective, loyal, covenantal presence. There is no significant disagreement on this point across the texts. The variation lies in direction and subject, not in meaning.

When God is the subject who might forsake, the texts uniformly present divine non-abandonment as a covenant guarantee ([I Kings 6:13], [Deuteronomy 31:8], [I Samuel 12:22], [Psalms 94:14]). The individual psalms of petition ([Psalms 27:9], [Psalms 38:22], [Psalms 71:9], [Psalms 119:8]) express fear of divine azav but do not assert that God has forsaken — they are pleas, not laments of accomplished abandonment.

When humans are the subject who forsake, the texts uniformly present this as a covenantal rupture with dire consequences ([Isaiah 65:11], [Joshua 24:16], [II Chronicles 7:19], [Isaiah 1:28] via the Targum). The Targum Jonathan on Isaiah 1:28 introduces a slight shift — "forsake the law of the Lord" rather than forsaking God directly — but this is consistent with the broader tradition that Torah observance is the expression of covenantal loyalty.

One apparent tension: the individual psalms ([Psalms 27:9], [Psalms 71:9]) express fear that God might forsake the individual even without cause, while texts like [Psalms 89:31] and [II Chronicles 7:19] suggest that God's withdrawal is conditional on human sin. The tradition does not fully resolve this tension, but it is not a contradiction — the psalms of petition express raw human anxiety, while the covenantal texts describe the structural logic. The poet of Psalm 27 knows the promise but still pleads, because the experience of suffering can feel like abandonment even when the covenant holds.

Conclusion

In Psalm 27:10, "forsake" (azav) means the withdrawal of covenantal protection, loyal presence, and chesed — the steadfast love that defines a binding relationship. The word names the most feared rupture: being left without shelter by the one who was obligated to care for you. The psalm sets this against the most extreme imaginable human parallel — parental abandonment — and declares that God's "taking in" exceeds even that deepest human bond. Across the Tanakh, azav is consistently the language of broken covenant, whether humans forsake God or fear God's forsaking them. The divine promise, repeated in [I Kings 6:13], [Deuteronomy 31:8], and [I Samuel 12:22], is precisely that God will not azav — will not withdraw the chesed that constitutes the relationship. Psalm 27:10 draws its power from that promise, holding it against the real human terror of being left alone.

References

1. Psalms.27:10
2. Psalms.27:9
3. Psalms.89:31
4. Isaiah.1:28
5. Psalms.94:14
6. I Kings.6:13
7. Joshua.24:16
8. Genesis.24:27
9. Ruth.2:20
10. Psalms.138:8
11. Deuteronomy.31:8
12. Psalms.9:11
13. I Samuel.12:22
14. Psalms.119:8
15. Psalms.71:9
16. Isaiah.58:2
17. II Chronicles.21:10
18. Ezekiel.8:12
19. Ezekiel.9:9
20. Targum Jonathan on Isaiah.1:28
21. Isaiah.65:11
22. II Chronicles.7:19
23. Psalms.38:22
24. Psalms.16:10
25. Psalms.37:33