The Hebrew verb palat means to escape, slip away, or cause to escape — to bring to safety. It is related to pelet (escape, deliverance) and palitah (remnant, escaped ones). It is used of those who escape judgment, warfare, and danger — both by their own flight and by God's gracious intervention.
The vocabulary of escape and deliverance is central to salvation theology. God is the one who causes His people to palat — to escape the jaws of judgment and death. The Psalmist frequently appeals to God as deliverer: "Rescue me and deliver me" (palat, Psalm 71:2). The concept of the palitah — the escaped remnant — is crucial in prophetic theology: even when judgment falls, God preserves a remnant. This anticipates Paul's "all Israel will be saved" (Romans 11:26) and the promise that none who belong to Christ will ultimately perish (John 10:28). True escape is not by human cunning but by divine mercy.