Exodus 20:16

20:16 “You shall not give ¹  false testimony ²  against your neighbor.

Exodus 23:1

Justice

23:1 ³ “You must not give ⁴  a false report. ⁵  Do not make common cause ⁶  with the wicked ⁷  to be a malicious ⁸  witness.

Leviticus 19:16

19:16 You must not go about as a slanderer among your people. ⁹  You must not stand idly by when your neighbor’s life is at stake. ¹⁰  I am the Lord.

Leviticus 19:1

Religious and Social Regulations

19:1 The Lord spoke to Moses:

Leviticus 21:10-13

Rules for the High Priest

21:10 “‘The high ¹¹  priest – who is greater than his brothers, on whose head the anointing oil is poured, who has been ordained ¹²  to wear the priestly garments – must neither dishevel the hair of his head nor tear his garments. ¹³  21:11 He must not go where there is any dead person; ¹⁴  he must not defile himself even for his father and his mother. 21:12 He must not go out from the sanctuary and must not profane ¹⁵  the sanctuary of his God, because the dedication of the anointing oil of his God is on him. I am the Lord. 21:13 He must take a wife who is a virgin. ¹⁶ 

Psalms 50:20

50:20 You plot against your brother; ¹⁷ 

you slander your own brother. ¹⁸ 

Psalms 101:5

101:5 I will destroy anyone who slanders his neighbor in secret.

I will not tolerate anyone who has a cocky demeanor and an arrogant attitude. ¹⁹ 

Proverbs 10:18

10:18 The one who conceals hatred utters lies, ²⁰ 

and the one who spreads ²¹  slander ²²  is certainly ²³  a fool.

Proverbs 18:8

18:8 The words of a gossip ²⁴  are like choice morsels; ²⁵ 

they go down into the person’s innermost being. ²⁶ 

Proverbs 26:22

26:22 The words of a gossip are like delicious morsels;

they go down into a person’s innermost being. ²⁷ 

Jeremiah 6:28

6:28 I reported, ²⁸ 

“All of them are the most stubborn of rebels! ²⁹ 

They are as hard as bronze or iron.

They go about telling lies.

They all deal corruptly.

Jeremiah 9:4

9:4 Everyone must be on his guard around his friends.

He must not even trust any of his relatives. ³⁰ 

For every one of them will find some way to cheat him. ³¹ 

And all of his friends will tell lies about him.

Jeremiah 37:13-15

37:13 But he only got as far as the Benjamin Gate. ³²  There an officer in charge of the guards named Irijah, ³³  who was the son of Shelemiah and the grandson of Hananiah, stopped him. He seized Jeremiah and said, ³⁴  “You are deserting to the Babylonians!” ³⁵  37:14 Jeremiah answered, “That’s a lie! I am not deserting to the Babylonians.” ³⁶  But Irijah would not listen to him. Irijah put Jeremiah under arrest and took him to the officials. 37:15 The officials were very angry ³⁷  at Jeremiah. They had him flogged and put in prison in the house of Jonathan, the royal secretary, which they had converted into a place for confining prisoners. ³⁸ 

Jeremiah 38:4-6

38:4 So these officials said to the king, “This man must be put to death. For he is demoralizing ³⁹  the soldiers who are left in the city as well as all the other people there by these things he is saying. ⁴⁰  This ⁴¹  man is not seeking to help these people but is trying to harm them.” ⁴²  38:5 King Zedekiah said to them, “Very well, you can do what you want with him. ⁴³  For I cannot do anything to stop you.” ⁴⁴  38:6 So the officials ⁴⁵  took Jeremiah and put him in the cistern ⁴⁶  of Malkijah, one of the royal princes, ⁴⁷  that was in the courtyard of the guardhouse. There was no water in the cistern, only mud. So when they lowered Jeremiah into the cistern with ropes he sank in the mud. ⁴⁸ 

Matthew 26:59

26:59 The ⁴⁹  chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were trying to find false testimony against Jesus so that they could put him to death.

Acts 6:11-13

6:11 Then they secretly instigated ⁵⁰  some men to say, “We have heard this man ⁵¹  speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 6:12 They incited the people, the ⁵²  elders, and the experts in the law; ⁵³  then they approached Stephen, ⁵⁴  seized him, and brought him before the council. ⁵⁵  6:13 They brought forward false witnesses who said, “This man does not stop saying things against this holy place ⁵⁶  and the law. ⁵⁷ 

Acts 24:5

24:5 For we have found ⁵⁸  this man to be a troublemaker, ⁵⁹  one who stirs up riots ⁶⁰  among all the Jews throughout the world, and a ringleader ⁶¹  of the sect of the Nazarenes. ⁶² 

Acts 24:13

24:13 nor can they prove ⁶³  to you the things ⁶⁴  they are accusing me of doing. ⁶⁵ 

Revelation 12:9-10

12:9 So ⁶⁶  that huge dragon – the ancient serpent, the one called the devil and Satan, who deceives the whole world – was thrown down to the earth, and his angels along with him. 12:10 Then ⁶⁷  I heard a loud voice in heaven saying,

“The salvation and the power

and the kingdom of our God,

and the ruling authority ⁶⁸  of his Christ, ⁶⁹  have now come,

because the accuser of our brothers and sisters, ⁷⁰ 

the one who accuses them day and night ⁷¹  before our God,

has been thrown down.

[20:16]  ¹ tn Heb “answer” as in a court of law.

[20:16]  ² 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]  ³ 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]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Or “a groundless report” (see Exod 20:7 for the word שָׁוְא, shav’).

[23:1]  ⁶ tn Heb “do not put your hand” (cf. KJV, ASV); NASB “join your hand.”

[23:1]  ⁷ 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]  ⁸ 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.

[19:16]  ⁹ tn The term רָכִיל (rakhil) is traditionally rendered “slanderer” here (so NASB, NIV, NRSV; see also J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 304, 316), but the exact meaning is uncertain (see the discussion in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 129). It is sometimes related to I רָכַל (“to go about as a trader [or “merchant”]”; BDB 940 s.v. רָכַל), and taken to refer to cutthroat business dealings, but there may be a II רָכַל, the meaning of which is dubious (HALOT 1237 s.v. II *רכל). Some would render it “to go about as a spy.”

[19:16]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “You shall not stand on the blood of your neighbor.” This part of the verse is also difficult to interpret. The rendering here suggests that one will not allow a neighbor to be victimized, whether in court (cf. v. 15) or in any other situation (see the discussion in B. A. Levine, Leviticus [JPSTC], 129).

[21:10]  ¹¹ tn The adjective “high” has been supplied in the translation for clarity, as in many English versions.

[21:10]  ¹² tn Heb “and he has filled his hand.” For this expression see the note on Lev 8:33.

[21:10]  ¹³ tn Regarding these signs of mourning see the note on Lev 10:6. His head had been anointed (v. 10a) so it must not be unkempt (v. 10b), and his garments were special priestly garments (v. 10a) so he must not tear them (v. 10b). In the translation “garments” has been employed rather than “clothes” to suggest that the special priestly garments are referred to here; cf. NRSV “nor tear his vestments.”

[21:11]  ¹⁴ tc Although the MT has “persons” (plural), the LXX and Syriac have the singular “person” corresponding to the singular adjectival participle “dead” (cf. also Num 6:6).

[21:12]  ¹⁵ sn Regarding “profane,” see the note on Lev 10:10 above.

[21:13]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “And he, a wife in her virginity he shall take.”

[50:20]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “you sit, against your brother you speak.” To “sit” and “speak” against someone implies plotting against that person (see Ps 119:23).

[50:20]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “against the son of your mother you give a fault.”

[101:5]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “[one who has] pride of eyes and wideness [i.e., arrogance] of heart, him I will not endure.”

[10:18]  ²⁰ tn Heb “lips of falsehood.” The genitive noun שָׁקֶר (shaqer, “falsehood”) functions as an attributive genitive. The noun “lips” is a metonymy of cause for speech produced by lips. The one who shows friendliness while concealing hatred is a liar (e.g., Ps 28:3).

[10:18]  ²¹ tn Heb “causes to go out.” The Hiphil of יָצָא (yatsa) literally means “to cause to go out” (BDB 424 s.v. Hiph.1). This may refer to speech (“to utter”) in the sense of causing words to go out of one’s mouth, or it may refer to slander (“to spread”) in the sense of causing slander to go out to others.

[10:18]  ²² tn The word דִבָּה (dibbah) means “whispering; defamation; evil report” (BDB 179 s.v.). Cf. NAB “accusations”; TEV “gossip.”

[10:18]  ²³ tn Heb “he is a fool.” The independent personal pronoun הוּא (hu’, “he”) is used for emphasis. This is reflected in the translation as “certainly.”

[18:8]  ²⁴ tn Or “slanderer”; KJV, NAB “talebearer”; ASV, NRSV “whisperer.”

[18:8]  ²⁵ tn The word כְּמִתְלַהֲמִים (kÿmitlahamim) occurs only here. It is related to a cognate verb meaning “to swallow greedily.” Earlier English versions took it from a Hebrew root הָלַם (halam, see the word לְמַהֲלֻמוֹת [lÿmahalumot] in v. 6) meaning “wounds” (so KJV). But the translation of “choice morsels” fits the idea of gossip better.

[18:8]  ²⁶ tn Heb “they go down [into] the innermost parts of the belly”; NASB “of the body.”

[26:22]  ²⁷ tn The proverb is essentially the same as 18:8; it observes how appealing gossip is.

[6:28]  ²⁸ tn These words are not in the text but are supplied in the translation for clarity. Some takes these words to be the continuation of the Lord’s commission of Jeremiah to the task of testing them. However, since this is the evaluation, the task appears to be complete. The words are better to be taken as Jeremiah’s report after he has completed the task.

[6:28]  ²⁹ tn Or “arch rebels,” or “hardened rebels.” Literally “rebels of rebels.”

[9:4]  ³⁰ tn Heb “Be on your guard…Do not trust.” The verbs are second masculine plural of direct address and there seems no way to translate literally and not give the mistaken impression that Jeremiah is being addressed. This is another example of the tendency in Hebrew style to turn from description to direct address (a figure of speech called apostrophe).

[9:4]  ³¹ tn Heb “cheating, each of them will cheat.”

[37:13]  ³² sn The Benjamin Gate would have been a gate in the northern wall leading out toward the territory of Benjamin. It is mentioned only here and in Jer 38:7 and Zech 14:10.

[37:13]  ³³ sn Nothing further is known about Irijah. It is generally agreed that the Hananiah mentioned here is not the same as the false prophet of the same name whom Jeremiah confronted approximately six years earlier (28:1, 5, 10, 15).

[37:13]  ³⁴ tn Heb “And he was in the gate of Benjamin and there was an officer of the guard whose name [more literally, and his name] was Irijah…and he seized the prophet Jeremiah, saying.” The sentence has been broken down and simplified to better conform with contemporary English style.

[37:13]  ³⁵ tn Heb “the Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.

[37:14]  ³⁶ tn Heb “the Chaldeans.” See the study note on 21:4 for explanation.

[37:15]  ³⁷ sn The officials mentioned here are not the same as those mentioned in Jer 36:12, most of whom were favorably disposed toward Jeremiah, or at least regarded what he said with enough trepidation to try to protect Jeremiah and preserve the scroll containing his messages (36:16, 19, 24). All those officials had been taken into exile with Jeconiah in 597 b.c. (2 Kgs 24:14).

[37:15]  ³⁸ tn Heb “for they had made it into the house of confinement.” The causal particle does not fit the English sentence very well and “house of confinement” needs some explanation. Some translate this word “prison” but that creates redundancy with the earlier word translated “prison” (בֵּית הָאֵסוּר, bet ha’esur, “house of the band/binding”] which is more closely related to the concept of prison [cf. אָסִיר, ’asir, “prisoner”]). It is clear from the next verse that Jeremiah was confined in a cell in the dungeon of this place.

[38:4]  ³⁹ tn Heb “weakening the hands of.” For this idiom see BDB 951 s.v. רָפָה Pi. and compare the usage in Isa 13:7; Ezek 21:7 (21:12 HT).

[38:4]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “by saying these things.”

[38:4]  ⁴¹ tn The Hebrew particle כִּי (ki) has not been rendered here because it is introducing a parallel causal clause to the preceding one. To render “For” might be misunderstood as a grounds for the preceding statement. To render “And” or “Moreover” sounds a little odd here. If it must be represented, “Moreover” is perhaps the best rendering.

[38:4]  ⁴² tn Or “is not looking out for these people’s best interests but is really trying to do them harm”; Heb “is not seeking the welfare [or “well-being”; Hebrew shalom] of this people but [their] harm [more literally, evil].”

[38:5]  ⁴³ tn Heb “Behold, he is in your hands [= power/control].”

[38:5]  ⁴⁴ tn Heb “For the king cannot do a thing with/against you.” The personal pronoun “I” is substituted in the English translation due to differences in style; Hebrew style often uses the third person or the title in speaking of oneself but English rarely if ever does. Compare the common paraphrasis of “your servant” for “I” in Hebrew (cf. BDB 714 s.v. עֶבֶד 6 and usage in 1 Sam 20:7, 8) and compare the usage in Pss 63:11 (63:12 HT); 61:6 (61:7 HT) where the king is praying for himself. For the meaning of יָכֹל (yakhol) as “to be able to do anything,” see BDB 407 s.v. יָכֹל 1.g.

[38:6]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “they.”

[38:6]  ⁴⁶ sn A cistern was a pear-shaped pit with a narrow opening. Cisterns were cut or dug in the limestone rock and lined with plaster to prevent seepage. They were used to collect and store rain water or water carried up from a spring.

[38:6]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “the son of the king.” See the translator’s note on Jer 36:26 for the rendering here.

[38:6]  ⁴⁸ tn Heb “And they let Jeremiah down with ropes and in the cistern there was no water, only mud, and Jeremiah sank in the mud.” The clauses have been reordered and restructured to create a more natural and smoother order in English.

[26:59]  ⁴⁹ tn Grk “Now the.” Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[6:11]  ⁵⁰ tn Another translation would be “they suborned” (but this term is not in common usage). “Instigate (secretly), suborn” is given by BDAG 1036 s.v. ὑποβάλλω.

[6:11]  ⁵¹ tn Grk “heard him”; but since this is direct discourse, it is more natural (and clearer) to specify the referent (Stephen) as “this man.”

[6:12]  ⁵² tn Grk “and the,” but καί (kai) has not been translated since English normally uses a coordinating conjunction only between the last two elements in a series of three or more.

[6:12]  ⁵³ tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 4:5.

[6:12]  ⁵⁴ tn Grk “approaching, they seized him”; the referent (Stephen) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:12]  ⁵⁵ tn Or “the Sanhedrin” (the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews). Stephen suffers just as Peter and John did.

[6:13]  ⁵⁶ sn This holy place is a reference to the temple.

[6:13]  ⁵⁷ sn The law refers to the law of Moses. It elaborates the nature of the blasphemy in v. 11. To speak against God’s law in Torah was to blaspheme God (Deut 28:15-19). On the Jewish view of false witnesses, see Exod 19:16-18; 20:16; m. Sanhedrin 3.6; 5.1-5. Stephen’s speech in Acts 7 may indicate why the temple was mentioned.

[24:5]  ⁵⁸ tn Grk “For having found.” The participle εὑρόντες (Jeurontes) has been translated as a finite verb due to requirements of contemporary English style.

[24:5]  ⁵⁹ tn L&N 22.6 has “(a figurative extension of meaning of λοιμός ‘plague,’ 23.158) one who causes all sorts of trouble – ‘troublemaker, pest.’ … ‘for we have found this man to be a troublemaker” Ac 24:5.”

[24:5]  ⁶⁰ tn Or “dissensions.” While BDAG 940 s.v. στάσις 3 translates this phrase “κινεῖν στάσεις (v.l. στάσιν) τισί create dissension among certain people Ac 24:5,” it is better on the basis of the actual results of Paul’s ministry to categorize this usage under section 2, “uprising, riot, revolt, rebellion” (cf. the use in Acts 19:40).

[24:5]  ⁶¹ tn This term is yet another NT hapax legomenon (BDAG 894 s.v. πρωτοστάτης).

[24:5]  ⁶² sn The sect of the Nazarenes is a designation for followers of Jesus the Nazarene, that is, Christians.

[24:13]  ⁶³ tn BDAG 778 s.v. παρίστημι/παριστάνω 1.f has “οὐδὲ παραστῆσαι δύνανταί σοι περὶ ὧν νυνὶ κατηγοροῦσίν μου nor can they prove to you the accusations they are now making against me Ac 24:13.”

[24:13]  ⁶⁴ tn The words “the things” are not in the Greek text but are implied. Direct objects were often omitted in Greek when clear from the context, but must be supplied for the modern English reader.

[24:13]  ⁶⁵ tn Grk “nor can they prove to you [the things] about which they are now accusing me.” This has been simplified to eliminate the relative pronoun (“which”) in the translation.

[12:9]  ⁶⁶ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the result of the war in heaven.

[12:10]  ⁶⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

[12:10]  ⁶⁸ tn Or “the right of his Messiah to rule.” See L&N 37.35.

[12:10]  ⁶⁹ tn Or “Messiah”; both “Christ” (Greek) and “Messiah” (Hebrew and Aramaic) mean “one who has been anointed.”

[12:10]  ⁷⁰ tn Grk “brothers,” but the Greek word may be used for “brothers and sisters” or “fellow Christians” (cf. BDAG 18 s.v. ἀδελφός 1, where considerable nonbiblical evidence for the plural ἀδελφοί [adelfoi] meaning “brothers and sisters” is cited). The translation “fellow believer” would normally apply (L&N 11.23), but since the speaker(s) are not specified in this context, it is not clear if such a translation would be appropriate here. The more generic “brothers and sisters” was chosen to emphasize the fact of a relationship without specifying its type.

[12:10]  ⁷¹ tn Or “who accuses them continually.”