What Does Joshua 10:13 Mean?
And the sun stood, and the moon hushed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood in the midst of the heavens, and did not hurry to come in for about a whole day.
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 sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.THE KEY
The sun’s stillness is also a silence, holding the day open until vengeance is complete.
THE MEANING
The verse places you inside a day that does not close while vengeance is still being carried out. The sun falls silent and the moon stands; the line holds the sky’s arrested motion and the people’s violence together without softening either.
THE ROOT
וַיִּדֹּם
wayyiddōm
GROWS FROM
דמם
Be silent; be still.
“hushed” in this verse is wayyiddōm. The word for the sun’s stillness also carries the sense of silence. What English presents as motion stopped is also a hush that holds while the people complete their vengeance.
ALSO GROWS
dōm: Be still; wait in silence.
דּוֹם
Psalm 37:7 begins with this same-root imperative, rendered “Rest” in the KJV, linking the sun’s stillness with a person’s waiting.
dūmiyyāh: Silence; quiet waiting.
דּוּמִיָּה
Psalm 62:1 uses this noun for the soul waiting upon God, extending the root’s stillness from the sky to the inner life.
עָמָד
ʿāmad
GROWS FROM
עמד
Stand; remain in place.
The moon’s “stayed” and the sun’s later “stood” come from the same root. English makes them sound like separate actions, while Hebrew repeats one verb for both lights’ held position.
ALSO GROWS
ʿāmad: Stand; remain.
עָמַד
This is the form used for the moon’s staying, placing it in the same standing posture as the sun.
heʿemid: Make stand; establish.
הֶעֱמִיד
This causative branch shows the root can also describe setting something in a standing position, deepening the image of the lights held in place.
THE PATTERN
Scripture uses stillness as a charged interval in which the next act is still pending.
The sun and moon stood in their dwelling; at the light of your arrows they went, and at the shining of your flashing spear.To the chief Musician, to Jeduthun, A Psalm of David. Only toward God is my living soul hushed. From him comes my deliverance.And when he opens the seventh seal, there is silence in heaven for about half an hour.THE THREAD
Hush before the LORD, and wait for him in labor. Do not burn yourself because of the one who pushes through on his way, because of the man who makes schemes.Joshua’s “stood still” comes from דמם (dāmam, be silent or be still), and Psalm 37:7 begins with דּוֹם (dōm, be still), rendered “Rest” in the KJV. The shared root links a cosmic pause with a person waiting, showing how English gives distinct words to the same stillness.
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