Discovery BoxDeuteronomy 19:16-21
Context19:16 If a false 1 witness testifies against another person and accuses him of a crime, 2 19:17 then both parties to the controversy must stand before the Lord, that is, before the priests and judges 3 who will be in office in those days. 19:18 The judges will thoroughly investigate the matter, and if the witness should prove to be false and to have given false testimony against the accused, 4 19:19 you must do to him what he had intended to do to the accused. In this way you will purge 5 evil from among you. 19:20 The rest of the people will hear and become afraid to keep doing such evil among you. 19:21 You must not show pity; the principle will be a life for a life, an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth, a hand for a hand, and a foot for a foot. 6
Exodus 20:16
Context20:16 “You shall not give 7 false testimony 8 against your neighbor.
Exodus 23:1
Context23:1 9 “You must not give 10 a false report. 11 Do not make common cause 12 with the wicked 13 to be a malicious 14 witness.
Exodus 23:1
Context23:1 15 “You must not give 16 a false report. 17 Do not make common cause 18 with the wicked 19 to be a malicious 20 witness.
Exodus 21:13
Context21:13 But if he does not do it with premeditation, 21 but it happens by accident, 22 then I will appoint for you a place where he may flee.
Proverbs 6:19
Context6:19 a false witness who pours out lies, 23
and a person who spreads discord 24 among family members. 25
Proverbs 19:5
Context19:5 A false witness 26 will not go unpunished,
and the one who spouts out 27 lies will not escape punishment. 28
Proverbs 19:9
Context19:9 A false witness will not go unpunished,
and the one who spouts out 29 lies will perish. 30
Malachi 3:5
Context3:5 “I 31 will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to testify against those who practice divination, those who commit adultery, those who break promises, 32 and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, 33 who refuse to help 34 the immigrant 35 and in this way show they do not fear me,” says the Lord who rules over all.
[19:16] 1 tn Heb “violent” (חָמָס, khamas). This is a witness whose motivation from the beginning is to do harm to the accused and who, therefore, resorts to calumny and deceit. See I. Swart and C. VanDam, NIDOTTE 2:177-80.
[19:16] 2 tn Or “rebellion.” Rebellion against God’s law is in view (cf. NAB “of a defection from the law”).
[19:17] 3 tn The appositional construction (“before the
[19:18] 4 tn Heb “his brother” (also in the following verse).
[19:19] 5 tn Heb “you will burn out” (בִּעַרְתָּ, bi’arta). Like a cancer, unavenged sin would infect the whole community. It must, therefore, be excised by the purging out of its perpetrators who, presumably, remained unrepentant (cf. Deut 13:6; 17:7, 12; 21:21; 22:21-22, 24; 24:7).
[19:21] 6 sn This kind of justice is commonly called lex talionis or “measure for measure” (cf. Exod 21:23-25; Lev 24:19-20). It is likely that it is the principle that is important and not always a strict application. That is, the punishment should fit the crime and it may do so by the payment of fines or other suitable and equitable compensation (cf. Exod 22:21; Num 35:31). See T. S. Frymer-Kensky, “Tit for Tat: The Principle of Equal Retribution in Near Eastern and Biblical Law,” BA 43 (1980): 230-34.
[20:16] 7 tn Heb “answer” as in a court of law.
[20:16] 8 tn The expression עֵד שָׁקֶר (’ed shaqer) means “a lying witness” (B. S. Childs, Exodus [OTL], 388). In this verse the noun is an adverbial accusative, “you will not answer as a lying witness.” The prohibition is against perjury. While the precise reference would be to legal proceedings, the law probably had a broader application to lying about other people in general (see Lev 5:1; Hos 4:2).
[23:1] 9 sn People who claim to worship and serve the righteous judge of the universe must preserve equity and justice in their dealings with others. These verses teach that God’s people must be honest witnesses (1-3); God’s people must be righteous even with enemies (4-5); and God’s people must be fair in dispensing justice (6-9).
[23:1] 10 tn Heb “take up, lift, carry” (נָשָׂא, nasa’). This verb was also used in the prohibition against taking “the name of Yahweh in vain.” Sometimes the object of this verb is physical, as in Jonah 1:12 and 15. Used in this prohibition involving speech, it covers both originating and repeating a lie.
[23:1] 11 tn Or “a groundless report” (see Exod 20:7 for the word שָׁוְא, shav’).
[23:1] 12 tn Heb “do not put your hand” (cf. KJV, ASV); NASB “join your hand.”
[23:1] 13 tn The word “wicked” (רָשָׁע, rasha’) refers to the guilty criminal, the person who is doing something wrong. In the religious setting it describes the person who is not a member of the covenant and may be involved in all kinds of sin, even though there is the appearance of moral and spiritual stability.
[23:1] 14 tn The word חָמָס (khamas) often means “violence” in the sense of social injustices done to other people, usually the poor and needy. A “malicious” witness would do great harm to others. See J. W. McKay, “Exodus 23:1-43, 6-8: A Decalogue for Administration of Justice in the City Gate,” VT 21 (1971): 311-25.
[23:1] 15 sn People who claim to worship and serve the righteous judge of the universe must preserve equity and justice in their dealings with others. These verses teach that God’s people must be honest witnesses (1-3); God’s people must be righteous even with enemies (4-5); and God’s people must be fair in dispensing justice (6-9).
[23:1] 16 tn Heb “take up, lift, carry” (נָשָׂא, nasa’). This verb was also used in the prohibition against taking “the name of Yahweh in vain.” Sometimes the object of this verb is physical, as in Jonah 1:12 and 15. Used in this prohibition involving speech, it covers both originating and repeating a lie.
[23:1] 17 tn Or “a groundless report” (see Exod 20:7 for the word שָׁוְא, shav’).
[23:1] 18 tn Heb “do not put your hand” (cf. KJV, ASV); NASB “join your hand.”
[23:1] 19 tn The word “wicked” (רָשָׁע, rasha’) refers to the guilty criminal, the person who is doing something wrong. In the religious setting it describes the person who is not a member of the covenant and may be involved in all kinds of sin, even though there is the appearance of moral and spiritual stability.
[23:1] 20 tn The word חָמָס (khamas) often means “violence” in the sense of social injustices done to other people, usually the poor and needy. A “malicious” witness would do great harm to others. See J. W. McKay, “Exodus 23:1-43, 6-8: A Decalogue for Administration of Justice in the City Gate,” VT 21 (1971): 311-25.
[21:13] 21 tn Heb “if he does not lie in wait” (NASB similar).
[21:13] 22 tn Heb “and God brought into his hand.” The death is unintended, its circumstances outside human control.
[6:19] 23 sn The
[6:19] 24 sn Dissension is attributed in Proverbs to contentious people (21:9; 26:21; 25:24) who have a short fuse (15:8).
[6:19] 25 tn Heb “brothers,” although not limited to male siblings only. Cf. NRSV, CEV “in a family”; TEV “among friends.”
[19:5] 26 tn Heb “a witness of lies.” This expression is an attributive genitive: “a lying witness” (cf. CEV “dishonest witnesses”). This is paralleled by “the one who pours out lies.”
[19:5] 27 tn Heb “breathes out”; NAB “utters”; NIV “pours out.”
[19:5] 28 tn Heb “will not escape” (so NAB, NASB); NIV “will not go free.” Here “punishment” is implied, and has been supplied in the translation for clarity.
[19:9] 29 tn Heb “breathes out”; NAB “utters”; NIV “pours out.”
[19:9] 30 sn The verse is the same as v. 5, except that the last word changes to the verb “will perish” (cf. NCV “will die”; CEV, NLT “will be destroyed”; TEV “is doomed”).
[3:5] 31 tn The first person pronoun (a reference to the
[3:5] 32 tn Heb “those who swear [oaths] falsely.” Cf. NIV “perjurers”; TEV “those who give false testimony”; NLT “liars.”
[3:5] 33 tn Heb “and against the oppressors of the worker for a wage, [the] widow and orphan.”
[3:5] 34 tn Heb “those who turn aside.”
[3:5] 35 tn Or “resident foreigner”; NIV “aliens”; NRSV “the alien.”
