What Does Deuteronomy 13:7 Mean?
Of the gods of the peoples who are around you, near to you or far from you, from one edge of the earth to the other edge of the earth;
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Namely, of the gods of the people which are round about you, nigh unto thee, or far off from thee, from the one end of the earth even unto the other end of the earth;THE KEY
The near and far sit in one unbroken field, so distance cannot erase a competing claim.
THE MEANING
The verse names the gods of surrounding peoples as close at hand or far away, then stretches that range from one edge of the earth to the other. Its living claim spans every horizon it names.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It dissolves the assumption that only what is near belongs in the picture; the verse gives the distant edge the same place in its scope.
THE ROOT
קְרֹבִים
qerovim
GROWS FROM
ק־ר־ב
q-r-b
Approach; draw near.
English “nigh” sounds like a fixed location, while this root carries the motion of approaching. The same root gives קָרְבָּן (qorban, an offering or presentation brought near), so nearness has relational force before the verse extends its range to the earth’s edges.
ALSO GROWS
qarav: Approach; draw near.
קָרַב
It shows that the nearness named here belongs to a root of movement toward something.
qorban: Offering or presentation; something brought near.
קָרְבָּן
It connects nearness with what is brought into relation, adding depth to the verse’s “nigh unto thee.”
רְחֹקִים
rechoqim
GROWS FROM
ר־ח־ק
r-ḥ-q
Be distant; put at a distance.
The word for “far off” shares its root with words for both distance and making something distant. The verse holds this separation alongside the root of approach, carrying its scope from closeness to the farthest horizon.
ALSO GROWS
rachóq: Far; distant.
רָחוֹק
This is the singular form of the word behind “far off,” making the spatial contrast explicit.
hirchíq: Put far away; remove to a distance.
הִרְחִיק
It shows the root can describe an act of distancing as well as a distant place.
mercháq: Distance; a remote place.
מֶרְחָק
It names distance itself, echoing how the verse extends its range beyond what is near.
THE PATTERN
Scripture places claims to divinity across the created horizon, from surrounding peoples to heaven and earth.
You shall not walk after other gods, of the gods of the peoples surrounding you.For all the gods of the nations are nothings; but the LORD made the heavens.For even if there are those called gods, whether in heaven or on earth, as there are many gods and many lords.THE THREAD
But for me, drawing near to God is good; I have set my shelter in the Lord LORD, to recount all your works.The psalm’s קִרְבַת (qirvat, nearness) uses the same Hebrew root ק־ר־ב (q-r-b), meaning “approach, draw near,” as the word translated “nigh” here. That shared root turns nearness from a coordinate into relational movement, while this verse sets it alongside the far horizon.
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