What Does Deuteronomy 27:15 Mean in the King James?
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 analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
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
“in a secret place” 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
“graven image” 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 seeth all his goings.Yea, the darkness hideth not from thee; but the night shineth as the day: the darkness and the light are both alike to thee.Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.THE THREAD
Woe unto them that seek deep to hide their counsel from the LORD, and their works are in the dark, and they say, Who seeth us? and who knoweth 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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