Exodus 20:16
in Exodus 20You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.
KJV
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
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This verse in Exodus 20
Commentary
13 notes on this verseThou shalt not bear false witness, etc. - Not only false oaths, to deprive a man of his life or of his right, are here prohibited, but all whispering, tale-bearing, slander, and calumny; in a word, whatever is deposed as a truth, which is false in fact, and tends to injure another in his goods, person, or character, is against the spirit and letter of this law.
This site's exposition
Thou shalt not bear false witness
The ninth commandment is set in a courtroom, since bearing witness against a neighbour is what a witness does at a trial. Deuteronomy 19:16 to 19:19 supplies the penalty, that a false witness receives what he intended for the accused. Matthew 26:59 and 26:60 report the council seeking false witness against Jesus and finding none that agreed until two came forward.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
In the Decalogue itself it is written, "You shall not bear false witness," in which classification every lie is embraced, for whoever pronounces any statement gives testimony to his own mind. If anyone should argue that not every lie should be called false witness, what will he answer to this statement which is also in the sacred Scriptures: "The mouth that belies, kills the soul"? If anyone should think that this passage can be interpreted to except certain lies, he may read in another passage: "You will destroy all that speak a lie." In this connection, our divine Lord said with his own lips, "Let your speech be 'yes, yes'; 'no, no'; and whatever is more comes from the evil one." Hence the apostle too, when he directs that the old man should be put off, under which term all sins are understood, goes on to explain his remark and specifically says, "Therefore put away lying and speak the truth."
The law says to you, for example, "You shall not bear false witness." If you know what the truth of the evidence is, you have light in your mind. But if you are overcome by greed for sordid gain and decide in your heart of hearts to bear false witness for the sake of it, then you are already beginning to be tossed about by the storm in the absence of Christ. You are being heaved up and down by the waves of your avarice, you are being endangered by the tempest of your desires, and with Christ apparently absent, you are on the verge of sinking.
The Medieval Church3 voices
But because the neighbor is an image of the Trinity, and to him, insofar as he bears the image of the Father, piety is owed: insofar as he bears the image of the Son, truthfulness is owed, insofar as he bears the image of the …
A commentator
BonaventureCollationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 1 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
One offends his neighbor in word, against which there is one commandment, namely: "Thou shalt not bear false witness." By false witness are signified all things that a man can say against his neighbor.
A commentator
BonaventureCollationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 7 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
The eighth plague was of locusts devouring all green vegetation, by which liars are struck, who trample the truth with their teeth and lips.
6 more voices on this verse
The Medieval Church5 voices
A commentator
BonaventureCollations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 21 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
But we cannot possess these three in relation to others unless we have them first in relation to ourselves. Wherefore there are three more commandments: one that straightens all deeds, another that straightens all speech, and yet another that straightens all affective dispositions. That which …
A commentator
BonaventureCollationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 1 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
One offends his neighbor in word, against which there is one commandment, namely: "Thou shalt not bear false witness." By false witness are signified all things that a man can say against his neighbor.
The Lord has forbidden anyone to injure his neighbor by deed; now he forbids us to injure him by word. "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor." This may occur in two ways, either in a court of justice or in ordinary conversation. …
A commentator
BonaventureCollationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 7 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
Here is prohibited the lie that is harmful to one's neighbor. And according to the general understanding, every pernicious lie is here prohibited: and it is to be understood that every lie is evil. Augustine distinguishes and says that there is the officious, jocose, and …
A commentator
BonaventureCollationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 7 · Written in the 13th century.
proposed
The eighth plague was of locusts devouring all green vegetation, by which liars are struck, who trample the truth with their teeth and lips.
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Thou shall not bear false witness against thy neighbour.
The words behind it
5 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| לֹֽא־ | lo'- | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| תַעֲנֶ֥ה | taaneh | you must testify | H6030 → | 331 times |
| בְרֵעֲךָ֖ | vereakha | against neighbor your | H7453 → | 188 times |
| עֵ֥ד | ʾed | testimony of | H5707 → | 70 times |
| שָֽׁקֶר׃ ס | shaker | falsehood | H8267 → | 113 times |
לֹֽא־not
lo'-H3808 →5168 times
תַעֲנֶ֥הyou must testify
taanehH6030 →331 times
בְרֵעֲךָ֖against neighbor your
vereakhaH7453 →188 times
עֵ֥דtestimony of
ʾedH5707 →70 times
שָֽׁקֶר׃ סfalsehood
shakerH8267 →113 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Exodus 23:1“You shall not spread a false report. Do not join the wicked by being a malicious witness.
it leads to
- Psalms 101:5
Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret, I will put to silence; the one with haughty eyes and a proud heart, I will not endure.
- Proverbs 19:5
A false witness will not go unpunished, and one who utters lies will not escape.
- Psalms 101:5
Through
Psalms 15:3who has no slander on his tongue, who does no harm to his neighbor, who casts no scorn on his friend,
it leads to
- Romans 13:10
Love does no wrong to its neighbor. Therefore love is the fulfillment of the law.
- Psalms 101:5–8
Whoever slanders his neighbor in secret, I will put to silence; the one with haughty eyes and a proud heart, I will not endure.
- Matthew 7:12
In everything, then, do to others as you would have them do to you. For this is the essence of the Law and the Prophets.
- James 4:11
Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. And if you judge the law, you are not a practitioner of…
- Leviticus 19:16
You must not go about spreading slander among your people. You must not endanger the life of your neighbor. I am the LORD.
- Romans 13:10
Through
Proverbs 19:5A false witness will not go unpunished, and one who utters lies will not escape.
it leads to
- Proverbs 21:28
A lying witness will perish, but the man who listens to truth will speak forever.
- Proverbs 21:28
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies6
On this verse
About Exodus
This page draws on 11 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Augustine of Hippo, On Lying 5.6; Augustine of Hippo, SERMON 75.5; Bonaventure, Breviloquium, Part 5; Bonaventure, Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 1; Bonaventure, Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 7; Bonaventure, Collations on the Hexaemeron, Collation 21; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Thomas Aquinas, Explanation of the Ten Commandments.