1 Thou shalt not accept a false report; extend not thy hand to the wicked, to be an unrighteous witness.
Whoso secretly slandereth his neighbour, him will I destroy; him that hath a high look and a proud heart will I not suffer.
A false witness shall not be held innocent, and he that uttereth lies shall not escape.
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
Ye shall not steal, and ye shall not deal falsely, and ye shall not lie one to another.
Thou shalt not go about as a talebearer among thy people; thou shalt not stand up against the life of thy neighbour: I am Jehovah.
Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour.
If an unrighteous witness rise up against any man to testify against him of an offence; then both the men between whom the controversy is shall stand before Jehovah, before the priests and the judges that shall be in those days; and the judges shall make thorough inquiry; and if the witness be a false witness, and he have testified falsely against his brother, then shall ye do unto him as he had thought to have done unto his brother; and thou shalt put evil away from thy midst. And those that remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil in thy midst. And thine eye shall not spare: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
And the chief priests and the elders and the whole sanhedrim sought false witness against Jesus, so that they might put him to death. And they found none, though many false witnesses came forward. But at the last two false witnesses came forward and said, *He* said, I am able to destroy the temple of God, and in three days build it.
And if this should come to the hearing of the governor, *we* will persuade him, and save *you* from all anxiety. And they took the money and did as they had been taught. And this report is current among the Jews until this day.
having a good conscience, that [as to that] in which they speak against you as evildoers, they may be ashamed who calumniate your good conversation in Christ.
without natural affection, implacable, slanderers, of unsubdued passions, savage, having no love for what is good,
and not, according as we are injuriously charged, and according as some affirm that we say, Let us practise evil things, that good ones may come? whose judgment is just.
Then they suborned men, saying, We have heard him speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God. And they roused the people, and the elders, and the scribes. And coming upon [him] they seized him and brought [him] to the council. And they set false witnesses, saying, This man does not cease speaking words against the holy place and the law;
And persons engaged in military service also asked him saying, And we, what should we do? And he said to them, Oppress no one, nor accuse falsely, and be satisfied with your pay.
The evil-doer giveth heed to iniquitous lips; the liar giveth ear to a mischievous tongue.
and set two men, sons of Belial, before him, and they shall bear witness against him saying, Thou didst curse God and the king; and carry him out, and stone him, that he may die. And the men of his city, the elders and the nobles that dwelt in his city, did as Jezebel had sent to them, as it was written in the letter that she had sent to them: they proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth at the head of the people. And there came the two men, sons of Belial, and sat before him; and the men of Belial witnessed against him, against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, Naboth blasphemed God and the king. And they carried him forth out of the city, and stoned him with stones, that he died.
[He that] slandereth not with his tongue, doeth not evil to his companion, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour;
What shall be given unto thee, what shall be added unto thee, thou deceitful tongue?
a false witness that uttereth lies, and he that soweth discords among brethren.
He that uttereth truth sheweth forth righteousness; but a false witness deceit.
And the king said, And where is thy master's son? And Ziba said to the king, Behold, he abides at Jerusalem; for he said, To-day shall the house of Israel restore me the kingdom of my father.
A witness of Belial scorneth judgment, and the mouth of the wicked swalloweth down iniquity.
A lying witness shall perish; and a man that heareth shall speak constantly.
A maul, and a sword, and a sharp arrow, is a man that beareth false witness against his neighbour.
The north wind bringeth forth rain, and the angry countenance a backbiting tongue.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Exodus 23
Commentary on Exodus 23 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 23
Ex 23:1-33. Laws concerning Slander, &c.
1. put not thine hand—join not hands.
2. decline—depart, deviate from the straight path of rectitude.
3. countenance—adorn, embellish—thou shalt not varnish the cause even of a poor man to give it a better coloring than it merits.
10. six years thou shalt sow thy land—intermitting the cultivation of the land every seventh year. But it appears that even then there was a spontaneous produce which the poor were permitted freely to gather for their use, and the beasts driven out fed on the remainder, the owners of fields not being allowed to reap or collect the fruits of the vineyard or oliveyard during the course of this sabbatical year. This was a regulation subservient to many excellent purposes; for, besides inculcating the general lesson of dependence on Providence, and of confidence in His faithfulness to His promise respecting the triple increase on the sixth year (Le 25:20, 21), it gave the Israelites a practical proof that they held their properties of the Lord as His tenants, and must conform to His rules on pain of forfeiting the lease of them.
12. Six days thou shalt do thy work, and on the seventh day thou shalt rest—This law is repeated [Ex 20:9] lest any might suppose there was a relaxation of its observance during the sabbatical year.
13. make no mention of the name of other gods, &c.—that is, in common conversation, for a familiar use of them would tend to lessen horror of idolatry.
14-18. Three times … keep a feast … in the year—This was the institution of the great religious festivals—"The feast of unleavened bread," or the passover—"the feast of harvest," or pentecost—"the feast of ingathering," or the feast of tabernacles, which was a memorial of the dwelling in booths in the wilderness, and which was observed in the seventh month (Ex 12:2). All the males were enjoined to repair to the tabernacle and afterwards the temple, and the women frequently went. The institution of this national custom was of the greatest importance in many ways: by keeping up a national sense of religion and a public uniformity in worship, by creating a bond of unity, and also by promoting internal commerce among the people. Though the absence of all the males at these three festivals left the country defenseless, a special promise was given of divine protection, and no incursion of enemies was ever permitted to happen on those occasions.
19. Thou shalt not seethe a kid in his mother's milk—A prohibition against imitating the superstitious rites of the idolaters in Egypt, who, at the end of their harvest, seethed a kid in its mother's milk and sprinkled the broth as a magical charm on their gardens and fields, to render them more productive the following season. [See on De 14:21].
20-25. Behold, I send an Angel before thee, to keep thee in the way—The communication of these laws, made to Moses and by him rehearsed to the people, was concluded by the addition of many animating promises, intermingled with several solemn warnings that lapses into sin and idolatry would not be tolerated or passed with impunity.
21. my name is in him—This angel is frequently called Jehovah and Elohim, that is, God.
28. I will send hornets before thee, &c. (See on Jos 24:12)—Some instrument of divine judgment, but variously interpreted: as hornets in a literal sense [Bochart]; as a pestilential disease [Rosenmuller]; as a terror of the Lord, an extraordinary dejection [Junius].
29, 30. I will not drive … out … in one year; lest the land become desolate—Many reasons recommend a gradual extirpation of the former inhabitants of Canaan. But only one is here specified—the danger lest, in the unoccupied grounds, wild beasts should inconveniently multiply; a clear proof that the promised land was more than sufficient to contain the actual population of the Israelites.