What Does Deuteronomy 4:13 Mean in the King James?
And he declared unto you his covenant, which he commanded you to perform, even ten commandments; and he wrote them upon two tables of stone.
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
What the KJV calls ten commandments, Hebrew calls ten words, spoken, written, and given to take shape in action.
THE MEANING
The covenant reaches you as words declared, written, and given shape in action. What is spoken becomes visible on stone; what is written is entrusted to be done. The verse holds hearing, inscription, and lived practice in one movement.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
It undoes the belief that covenant is only an idea to agree with: its words are joined to embodied doing.
THE ROOT
עֲשֶׂרֶת הַדְּבָרִים
aseret ha-devarim
GROWS FROM
ד־ב־ר
d-b-r
Speak; word, utterance, or matter.
The Hebrew phrase means “ten words,” where the KJV says “ten commandments.” The same root holds both the spoken word and the thing spoken, joining the covenant’s declaration to the words written on stone.
ALSO GROWS
dābār: Word, utterance, matter.
דָּבָר
This singular form reveals that the covenant’s commands are also words: speech made specific and shareable.
dibbēr: He spoke.
דִּבֵּר
The same root links the written words to the speaking that declares them.
כָּתַב
katav
GROWS FROM
כ־ת־ב
k-t-b
Write or inscribe.
“wrote” in this verse is katav. Writing gives spoken words a visible, lasting form. Here the covenant’s words move from declaration to inscription on stone, where they can be seen and carried.
ALSO GROWS
ketav: Writing or script.
כְּתָב
The branch names the visible form the spoken covenant takes on the tablets.
mikhtav: A written message or letter.
מִכְתָּב
It shows how writing can carry words beyond the moment they are spoken.
THE PATTERN
Covenant words move from hearing into written form and lived action.
And he took the book of the covenant, and read in the audience of the people: and they said, All that the LORD hath said will we do, and be obedient.But this shall be the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel; After those days, saith the LORD, I will put my law in their inward parts, and write it in their hearts; and will be their God, and they shall be my people.But be ye doers of the word, and not hearers only, deceiving your own selves.THE THREAD
And he was there with the LORD forty days and forty nights; he did neither eat bread, nor drink water. And he wrote upon the tables the words of the covenant, the ten commandments.The Hebrew word דְּבָרִים (devarim, words) comes from the same root, ד־ב־ר (d-b-r), as the phrase translated “ten commandments.” Exodus makes the link explicit: the writing on the tablets is called the words of the covenant.
Read the SDV Bible.
Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.
The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.
Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us