5613. 'For if perhaps we had not delayed' means lingering in a state of indecision. This is clear from the meaning of 'delaying' as a state of indecision. For just as 'going', 'advancing , 'travelling', and 'sojourning' mean a state of life, 5605, so 'delaying' means a state of indecision; for when a state of life passes into a state of indecision, the external enters a state involving delay. Visual evidence of this presents itself in the person concerned; when his mind is at all undecided he stops in his tracks and ponders what to do. The reason for this is that indecision brings about a state of life in which a person is hesitant and vacillates between two different courses of action, and as a consequence produces a faltering step as the outward effect of that hesitancy. From this it is evident that 'if perhaps we had not delayed' means lingering in a state of indecision.