What Does Deuteronomy 27:15 Mean?
Cursed be the man who makes any carved or cast image, an abomination to the LORD, the work of the hands of a carver, and sets it in hiding. And all the people shall answer and say, Amen.
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
Cursed be the man that maketh any graven or molten image, an abomination unto the LORD, the work of the hands of the craftsman, and putteth it in a secret place. And all the people shall answer and say, Amen.THE KEY
Concealment is part of the idolatry, yet the hidden object is answered for aloud by the whole people.
THE MEANING
The curse names the person who makes an image and hides it; secrecy does not remove the act from the LORD’s claim. The people answer “Amen,” giving the judgment a shared voice. What is concealed in one place is named in the assembly.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that hiding a handmade image makes the act private and beyond the LORD’s judgment.
THE ROOT
בַּסֵּתֶר
basseter
GROWS FROM
סתר
satar
to hide or conceal
“sets it in hiding” in this verse is basseter. The verse names not only the carved object but the act of placing it where it will be concealed. The same root gives the language for a hiding place, so secrecy belongs to the object’s placement; it does not make the act invisible to the LORD.
ALSO GROWS
satar: to hide or conceal
סָתַר
The verb makes clear that the location is part of an act of hiding.
seter: a hiding place or secret
סֵתֶר
This noun shows how the root names both concealment and the place that conceals.
פֶּסֶל
pesel
GROWS FROM
פסל
pasal
to hew or carve into shape
“carved” in this verse is pesel. The root keeps the human handwork visible: this is something cut into a shape. Beside the molten image, it shows two ways a person fashions what the verse condemns.
ALSO GROWS
pasal: to hew or carve
פָּסַל
The verb names the making process behind the image.
pesil: a carved figure or idol
פְּסִיל
This related noun keeps the image tied to the act of carving it.
אָמֵן
amen
GROWS FROM
אמן
aman
to be firm, steady, or reliable; to affirm as true
The people do not leave the warning as an unconfirmed accusation; they answer with a word rooted in firmness. “Amen” carries the force of a shared affirmation that the judgment stands.
ALSO GROWS
emunah: firmness, steadiness, trust
אֱמוּנָה
This branch links the people’s affirmation to steadfast trust.
ne'eman: reliable, firm, trustworthy
נֶאֱמָן
This branch shows how the root describes what can be depended on.
THE PATTERN
Concealment cannot place human work beyond the LORD’s sight and judgment.
For his eyes are upon the ways of man, and he sees all his steps.Even darkness does not darken from you; the night lights up like day, and darkness is as light to you.And no creation is hidden before him, but all things are naked and bared at the throat to the eyes of him to whom our account belongs.THE THREAD
Woe to those who dig deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, whose works are in the dark, and who say, Who sees us? Who perceives us?The verb לְהַסְתִּיר (lehasteer, “to conceal”) in Isaiah grows from סתר (satar, “to hide or conceal”), the same root carried by “in a secret place” here. Isaiah lets the hidden work voice its assumption, “Who seeth us?”, exposing secrecy as a claim of invisibility that this verse overturns.
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