What Does Deuteronomy 28:14 Mean in the King James?
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 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
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.
“go 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.
“go 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.
Ye shall observe to do therefore as the LORD your God hath commanded you: ye shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left.And Elijah came unto all the people, and said, How long halt ye between two opinions? if the LORD be God, follow him: but if Baal, then follow him. And the people answered him not a word.No man can serve two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve God and mammon.THE THREAD
Only be thou strong and very courageous, that thou mayest observe to do according to all the law, which Moses my servant commanded thee: turn not from it to the right hand or to the left, that thou mayest prosper whithersoever thou goest.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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