What Does Deuteronomy 19:18 Mean?
And the judges shall search well; and, behold, if the witness is a witness of lies, and has answered a lie against his brother;
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
And the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness be a false witness, and hath testified falsely against his brother;THE KEY
A witness’s accusation is not self-authenticating; it has to withstand inquiry.
THE MEANING
When an accusation is made against someone near you, its force does not make it true; the claim is subject to searching examination. The person named remains a brother while the truth of what is said is still being tested.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie this undoes is that a witness’s charge becomes true simply because it is presented as testimony.
THE ROOT
וְדָרְשׁוּ
wĕdārešû
GROWS FROM
ד־ר־שׁ
d-r-sh
To seek, inquire, or investigate.
“search well” in this verse is wĕdārešû. English makes this sound like a formal procedure, but the Hebrew centers the judges’ active search for what is true. The same root connects inquiry with seeking: testimony is something to examine, not merely receive.
ALSO GROWS
dārash: To seek or inquire.
דָּרַשׁ
This is the root action behind the judges’ careful investigation.
midrash: Inquiry or interpretation.
מִדְרָשׁ
This branch preserves the root’s sense of pursuing understanding through examination.
שֶׁקֶר
sheqer
GROWS FROM
שׁ־ק־ר
sh-q-r
Falsehood or deception.
“witness of lies” in this verse is sheqer. Hebrew repeats שֶׁקֶר (sheqer, falsehood): the witness is called a witness of falsehood, then said to have answered falsehood against his brother. The repetition ties the witness’s claim to the falsehood it carries.
ALSO GROWS
sheqer: Falsehood or a lie.
שֶׁקֶר
This is the word that characterizes both the witness and his testimony.
shāqar: To lie or deal falsely.
שָׁקַר
The related verb shows falsehood as something spoken or enacted, not just an abstract idea.
THE PATTERN
A claim that can harm another’s standing must be examined before it is accepted as truth.
The aligned one at the head of his own contention seems straight, but his neighbor comes and searches him out.These were of nobler birth than those in Thessalonica, who received the word with all eagerness of heart, and sifted the writings daily, whether these things held so.Do not judge by what the eye sees, but judge the judgment of alignment.THE THREAD
Then you shall search it out, and dig, and ask well; and, behold, if it is truth, and the thing set firm, that such abomination is done among you;The same root דָּרַשׁ (dārash, seek or inquire) appears here in “inquire,” joined with “make search” and “ask diligently.” The repeated root opens this verse as a deliberate search for truth before a charge becomes judgment.
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