What Does Deuteronomy 13:8 Mean?
You shall not yield to him, nor hear and respond to him; your eye shall not pity him, nor shall you spare him, nor shall you cover him.
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
Thou shalt not consent unto him, nor hearken unto him; neither shall thine eye pity him, neither shalt thou spare, neither shalt thou conceal him:THE KEY
The verse follows refusal to its last shelter: after assent, hearing, pity, and sparing, it forbids covering the person.
THE MEANING
This verse speaks in a severe sequence: no assent, no heeding, no pity, no sparing, no concealment. It gives compassion no exemption from that refusal, and makes covering the person the final forbidden act. Its force remains stark.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the idea that loyalty must mean hiding what someone is doing: here, concealment itself becomes a forbidden form of protection.
THE ROOT
תְכַסֶּה
tekhasseh
GROWS FROM
כסה
kasah: to cover, cover over, conceal.
The verse ends with the image of putting a cover over the person: its final prohibition is not merely to keep quiet but to deny concealment. The same root names both covering as an act and a covering itself, making protection through hiding visible in the Hebrew.
ALSO GROWS
kissah: he covered
כִּסָּה
This verbal form makes the root’s concrete action clear: to place a covering over something.
mikhseh: a covering
מִכְסֶה
This noun from the same root names the cover itself, echoing how the verse treats concealment as an act of sheltering.
תַחְמֹל
tachmol
GROWS FROM
חמל
chamal: to spare, pity, show compassion.
“spare” in this verse is tachmol. The Hebrew places sparing alongside pity, so restraint and compassion share the same root-family here. The verse refuses both responses in this case, leaving no softening through either mercy or protection.
ALSO GROWS
chamal: to spare or show compassion
חָמַל
This verb shares the root and makes the compassionate sense within “spare” audible.
chemlah: compassion, pity
חֶמְלָה
This noun from the same root shows why sparing in the verse carries an emotional as well as protective sense.
תִּשְׁמַע
tishma
GROWS FROM
שמע
shama: to hear, heed.
“hear and respond” in this verse is tishma. This root can mean hearing that is attended to, not sound merely reaching the ear. The prohibition closes that channel of response before the verse turns to pity, sparing, and concealment.
ALSO GROWS
shama: he heard, listened
שָׁמַע
This basic verb shows the hearing-root underlying “hearken.”
shemuah: a report, something heard
שְׁמוּעָה
This noun shares the same consonants and shows how the root extends from hearing to what is received by hearing.
THE PATTERN
Scripture treats covering as an act with consequences: concealment can preserve what needs to be exposed, while confession brings it into the open.
Whoever covers his rebellions shall not prosper, but whoever speaks them into the open and lets them go shall be shown compassion.I make my falling short known to you, and my crookedness I do not cover. I say, I will speak my rebellion into the open before the LORD, and you release the crookedness of my falling short. Selah.For there is nothing covered that will not be uncovered, and nothing hidden that will not be known.THE THREAD
Whoever covers his rebellions shall not prosper, but whoever speaks them into the open and lets them go shall be shown compassion.The Hebrew word תְכַסֶּה (tekhasseh, “you cover”) and מְכַסֶּה (mekhasseh, “one who covers”) share the root כסה (kasah, “cover”). Deuteronomy forbids covering the person, while Proverbs sets covering wrongdoing against confession, revealing concealment as an act that keeps what is hidden under its cover.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us