Exodus 20:7

20:7 “You shall not take ¹  the name of the Lord your God in vain, ²  for the Lord will not hold guiltless ³  anyone who takes his name in vain.

Exodus 21:19

21:19 and then ⁴  if he gets up and walks about ⁵  outside on his staff, then the one who struck him is innocent, except he must pay ⁶  for the injured person’s ⁷  loss of time ⁸  and see to it that he is fully healed.

[20:7]  ¹ tn Or “use” (NCV, TEV); NIV, CEV, NLT “misuse”; NRSV “make wrongful use of.”

[20:7]  ² tn שָׁוְא (shav’, “vain”) describes “unreality.” The command prohibits use of the name for any idle, frivolous, or insincere purpose (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 196). This would include perjury, pagan incantations, or idle talk. The name is to be treated with reverence and respect because it is the name of the holy God.

[20:7]  ³ tn Or “leave unpunished.”

[21:19]  ⁴ tn “and then” has been supplied.

[21:19]  ⁵ tn The verb is a Hitpael perfect with vav (ו) consecutive; it follows the sequence of the imperfect before it – “if he gets up and walks about.” This is proof of recovery.

[21:19]  ⁶ tn The imperfect tense carries a nuance of obligatory imperfect because this is binding on the one who hit him.

[21:19]  ⁷ tn Heb “his”; the referent (the injured person) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[21:19]  ⁸ tn The word appears to be the infinitive from the verb “to sit” with a meaning of “his sitting down”; some suggest it is from the verb “to rest” with a meaning “cease.” In either case the point in the context must mean compensation is due for the time he was down.