What Does Deuteronomy 28:14 Mean?
And you shall not turn aside from any of the words that I command you this day, to the right hand or to the left, to walk after other gods to serve them.
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 thou shalt not go aside from any of the words which I command thee this day, to the right hand, or to the left, to go after other gods to serve them.THE KEY
A turn away is not a blank space: the path runs from departure to following, and from following to service.
THE MEANING
The commanded words mark a path in the present; turning away has a destination. The verse names it plainly: going after other gods becomes service to them. What you follow can claim your labor and allegiance.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie this undoes is that a departure is neutral or merely private: the verse traces it into a new object of service.
THE ROOT
תָּסוּר
tasur
GROWS FROM
סור
sur
Turn aside or depart; in a causative form, remove or put away.
“turn aside” in this verse is tasur. The verb names a shift out of the commanded way, and the same root can describe removing something from its place. The next phrases expose where this turn leads: following another and giving it service.
ALSO GROWS
sur: Turn aside; depart.
סוּר
This is the basic movement the verse says not to make.
hesir: Remove; take away.
הֵסִיר
This causative form shows the root can also name something being put out of its place, deepening the force of the departure.
לָלֶכֶת
lalekhet
GROWS FROM
הלך
halakh
Walk or go.
“walk after” in this verse is lalekhet. The phrase is directional: the verse describes going after another god, a movement of following rather than a belief kept at a distance. The same root gathers ordinary going and walking into that image of pursuit.
ALSO GROWS
holekh: One who goes or walks.
הוֹלֵךְ
This form makes the follower a person in motion, echoing the verse’s sequence from turning to following.
halikhah: Walking; a walk or journey.
הֲלִיכָה
This noun names movement as a course, illuminating the verse’s image of a direction taken.
לְעָבְדָם
le'ovdam
GROWS FROM
עבד
avad
Work or serve.
“serve” in this verse is le'ovdam. The verse ends not with private regard but with service: עבד carries the sense of labor as well as serving. The movement from turning, to following, to serving shows how a direction becomes an allegiance that receives one’s work.
ALSO GROWS
eved: Servant; worker.
עֶבֶד
The person serving is named by the same root as the act of service.
avodah: Work; service; labor.
עֲבוֹדָה
This branch makes the concrete labor within serving visible.
THE PATTERN
The direction a person follows becomes the allegiance that receives their service.
Therefore you shall guard to do as the LORD your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.And Elijah came to all the people, and said, How long will you limp on two branches? If the LORD is God, walk after him, but if Baal, then walk after him. And the people answered him not a word.No one can serve two masters, for he will either hate the one and love the other, or he will hold fast to one and look down on the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.THE THREAD
Only hold fast and be very firm, to guard and to do according to all the instruction that Moses, my servant, commanded you. Do not turn aside from it to the right hand or to the left, so that you will see clearly wherever you go.Joshua uses the same Hebrew root סור (sur, turn aside or depart) with the same right-or-left image. Deuteronomy makes the turn’s endpoint explicit: going after other gods becomes service to them.
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