What Does Job 10:13 Mean in the King James?

And these things hast thou hid in thine heart: I know that this is with thee.

Job 10:13 · KJV

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 Hebrew word for “hid” also means to store or treasure away, so what is concealed remains held close.

THE MEANING

The speaker confronts God with the claim that these things are hidden in God’s heart and says, “I know this is with you.” What is hidden remains present with the one who holds it; concealment is a form of keeping, not disappearance.

WHAT THIS UNDOES

It undoes the assumption that concealment means absence: what is hidden is still with the one who holds it, and can still be known.

THE ROOT

צָפַנְתָּ

tsafanta

GROWS FROM

צפן

tsaphan

To hide, store, or treasure away.

“hid” in this verse is tsafanta. This root holds hiding and laying up together: what is concealed is also kept. The verse’s force is that the hidden things remain with the one who stores them; secrecy does not make them absent.

ALSO GROWS

tsafun: Hidden, concealed, or stored away.

צָפוּן

It shows the continuing state of what the speaker says is held in God’s heart.

titspon: You hide or store up.

תִּצְפֹּן

This form appears with words kept “with thee,” echoing the verse’s claim that what is hidden remains with its keeper.

יָדַעְתִּי

yada’ti

GROWS FROM

ידע

yada

To know, recognize, or perceive.

The speaker’s “I know” uses yada, a word for knowing and recognizing. Set beside what is hidden, it gives the line its tension: the matter is concealed, yet the speaker recognizes that it remains with God.

ALSO GROWS

yada: To know, recognize, or perceive.

יָדַע

It is the verb behind the speaker’s direct claim of knowledge.

madda: Knowledge or understanding.

מַדָּע

This related noun shows the root’s reach into what is known or understood.

moda: An acquaintance or kinsman; one known.

מוֹדָע

It carries knowing into relationship, reinforcing the personal force of the speaker’s claim.

THE PATTERN

What is hidden remains held within the one who keeps it, whether as concealed things, guarded words, or treasure.

Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!

Psalm 31:19 · KJV“Laid up” uses the same Hebrew root as Job’s “hid,” presenting what is kept out of sight as goodness held in reserve.

My son, if thou wilt receive my words, and hide my commandments with thee;

Proverbs 2:1 · KJVThe words are hidden “with thee,” showing concealment as keeping something close within.

Again, the kingdom of heaven is like unto treasure hid in a field; the which when a man hath found, he hideth, and for joy thereof goeth and selleth all that he hath, and buyeth that field.

Matthew 13:44 · KJVThe repeated hiding keeps the treasure concealed and held in place until it is found.

THE THREAD

Oh how great is thy goodness, which thou hast laid up for them that fear thee; which thou hast wrought for them that trust in thee before the sons of men!

Psalm 31:19 · KJV

“Laid up” in Psalm 31:19 uses the same root, ⁨צפן⁩ (tsaphan), as “hid” in Job 10:13. The shared root shows that the hidden things in Job and the goodness in the psalm are both held in reserve, still present with the one who keeps them.

Read the SDV Bible.

Every verse has a Deep Dive in the app.

Get Selah Verse

The iPhone Bible app with the Selah Decoded Version.

Does something in this reading look wrong? Tell us