The Hebrew verb shakach means to forget, to cease to care about, to neglect, or to lose from memory. In biblical thought, forgetting is not merely a cognitive failure but a moral and relational one — to forget God's works or commands is to abandon the covenant relationship.
Deuteronomy warns Israel repeatedly: 'Do not forget the LORD your God' (Deuteronomy 4:9; 6:12; 8:11–19). The warning is urgent because forgetting leads to pride (thinking one's prosperity is self-generated) and idolatry. The Psalms confess the fear of God's forgetting His people (Psalm 13:1; 44:24) while also trusting He cannot forget: 'Can a mother forget her nursing child? ...Though she may forget, I will not forget you!' (Isaiah 49:15). The contrast with zakar (H2142, to remember) is the heartbeat of biblical theology — God's remembering is saving action; His forgetting is withdrawal of presence. Christ's cry from the cross — 'My God, why have you forsaken me?' — is the ultimate shakach moment, borne so we would never be forgotten.