What Does Deuteronomy 31:18 Mean in the King James?
And I will surely hide my face in that day for all the evils which they shall have wrought, in that they are turned unto other gods.
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
The people turn toward other gods, and God hides his face, the verse makes presence itself the point of rupture.
THE MEANING
When you turn toward other gods, God says he hides his face in that day; the harm you have wrought stands alongside that turning. Divine concealment is presented as a deliberate response to divided allegiance.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The belief that you can turn toward other gods while expecting God’s face to remain openly toward you.
THE ROOT
הַסְתֵּר אַסְתִּיר
hastēr astīr
GROWS FROM
סתר
satar
To hide, conceal, or keep out of sight.
The Hebrew repeats the root in an emphatic construction: God says he will surely hide his face. A branch of this root, סֵתֶר (seter, secret or hiding place), turns concealment into a place hidden from view; the verse pictures God’s face as withheld.
ALSO GROWS
seter: Secret; hiding place.
סֵתֶר
The verb’s hiddenness can also name a place of concealment, making the hidden face more than a passing feeling.
mistar: Hiding place; shelter.
מִסְתָּר
This branch shows concealment as a condition of being covered from sight, the image used here for God’s face.
פָּנָה
panah
GROWS FROM
פנה
panah
To turn, face toward, or direct oneself.
“turned toward” in this verse is panah. The verb for turning belongs to the same word family as פָּנִים (panim, face or presence). The people direct themselves toward other gods as God’s face becomes hidden; English separates the turning from the face, while Hebrew links their orientation.
ALSO GROWS
panim: Face; presence.
פָּנִים
The shared word family links the people’s turn toward other gods with the face God conceals.
pniyah: Turning; direction; appeal.
פְּנִיָּה
This related word keeps the sense of deliberate orientation: the verse describes a directed turn, not an accidental drift.
THE PATTERN
Scripture portrays divine presence as relationally responsive: turning away brings hiddenness, while drawing near meets nearness.
But your iniquities have separated between you and your God, and your sins have hid his face from you, that he will not hear.And the heathen shall know that the house of Israel went into captivity for their iniquity: because they trespassed against me, therefore hid I my face from them, and gave them into the hand of their enemies: so fell they all by the sword.THE THREAD
And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities.Isaiah uses the same concealment root, סתר (satar, hide), alongside פָּנִים (panim, face or presence). The repeated image opens Deuteronomy’s line further: hiddenness is tied to the people’s turning and the harm bound up with it.
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