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

And the sun stood still, and the moon stayed, until the people had avenged themselves upon their enemies. Is not this written in the book of Jasher? So the sun stood still in the midst of heaven, and hasted not to go down about a whole day.

Joshua 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.

This verse in the Selah Decoded Version

THE KEY

The sun’s stillness is also a silence, holding the day open until vengeance is complete.

THE MEANING

The verse places you inside a day that does not close while vengeance is still being carried out. The sun falls silent and the moon stands; the line holds the sky’s arrested motion and the people’s violence together without softening either.

THE ROOT

וַיִּדֹּם

wayyiddōm

GROWS FROM

דמם

Be silent; be still.

“stood still” in this verse is wayyiddōm. The word for the sun’s stillness also carries the sense of silence. What English presents as motion stopped is also a hush that holds while the people complete their vengeance.

ALSO GROWS

dōm: Be still; wait in silence.

דּוֹם

Psalm 37:7 begins with this same-root imperative, rendered “Rest” in the KJV, linking the sun’s stillness with a person’s waiting.

dūmiyyāh: Silence; quiet waiting.

דּוּמִיָּה

Psalm 62:1 uses this noun for the soul waiting upon God, extending the root’s stillness from the sky to the inner life.

עָמָד

ʿāmad

GROWS FROM

עמד

Stand; remain in place.

“stayed / stood” in this verse is ʿāmad. The moon’s “stayed” and the sun’s later “stood” come from the same root. English makes them sound like separate actions, while Hebrew repeats one verb for both lights’ held position.

ALSO GROWS

ʿāmad: Stand; remain.

עָמַד

This is the form used for the moon’s staying, placing it in the same standing posture as the sun.

heʿemid: Make stand; establish.

הֶעֱמִיד

This causative branch shows the root can also describe setting something in a standing position, deepening the image of the lights held in place.

THE PATTERN

Scripture uses stillness as a charged interval in which the next act is still pending.

The sun and moon stood still in their habitation: at the light of thine arrows they went, and at the shining of thy glittering spear.

Habakkuk 3:11 · KJVThe sun and moon stand still amid arrows and a spear, making celestial stillness part of the battle vision.

To the chief Musician, to Jeduthun, A Psalm of David. Truly my soul waiteth upon God: from him cometh my salvation.

Psalm 62:1 · KJVThe soul’s waiting uses the same silence-root as the sun’s stillness, showing that waiting can carry quiet within it.

And when he had opened the seventh seal, there was silence in heaven about the space of half an hour.

Revelation 8:1 · KJVHeaven’s measured silence is a pause within an unfolding sequence, not the end of the action.

THE THREAD

Rest in the LORD, and wait patiently for him: fret not thyself because of him who prospereth in his way, because of the man who bringeth wicked devices to pass.

Psalm 37:7 · KJV

Joshua’s “stood still” comes from ⁨דמם⁩ (dāmam, be silent or be still), and Psalm 37:7 begins with ⁨דּוֹם⁩ (dōm, be still), rendered “Rest” in the KJV. The shared root links a cosmic pause with a person waiting, showing how English gives distinct words to the same stillness.

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