Psalms 35:11

35:11 Violent men perjure themselves, ¹ 

and falsely accuse me. ² 

Exodus 20:16

20:16 “You shall not give ³  false testimony ⁴  against your neighbor.

Exodus 20:1

The Decalogue

20:1 ⁵ God spoke all these words: ⁶ 

Exodus 22:9-10

22:9 In all cases of illegal possessions, ⁷  whether for an ox, a donkey, a sheep, a garment, or any kind of lost item, about which someone says ‘This belongs to me,’ ⁸  the matter of the two of them will come before the judges, ⁹  and the one whom ¹⁰  the judges declare guilty ¹¹  must repay double to his neighbor. 22:10 If a man gives his neighbor a donkey or an ox or a sheep or any beast to keep, and it dies or is hurt ¹²  or is carried away ¹³  without anyone seeing it, ¹⁴ 

Exodus 26:19

26:19 and you are to make forty silver bases to go under the twenty frames – two bases under the first frame for its two projections, and likewise ¹⁵  two bases under the next frame for its two projections;

Exodus 26:2

26:2 The length of each ¹⁶  curtain is to be forty-two feet, and the width of each curtain is to be six feet ¹⁷  – the same size for each of the curtains.

Exodus 16:7-8

16:7 and in the morning you will see ¹⁸  the glory of the Lord, because he has heard ¹⁹  your murmurings against the Lord. As for us, what are we, ²⁰  that you should murmur against us?”

16:8 Moses said, “You will know this ²¹  when the Lord gives you ²²  meat to eat in the evening and bread in the morning to satisfy you, because the Lord has heard your murmurings that you are murmuring against him. As for us, what are we? ²³  Your murmurings are not against us, ²⁴  but against the Lord.”

Matthew 26:59-60

26:59 The ²⁵  chief priests and the whole Sanhedrin were trying to find false testimony against Jesus so that they could put him to death. 26:60 But they did not find anything, though many false witnesses came forward. Finally ²⁶  two came forward

Acts 6:11-13

6:11 Then they secretly instigated ²⁷  some men to say, “We have heard this man ²⁸  speaking blasphemous words against Moses and God.” 6:12 They incited the people, the ²⁹  elders, and the experts in the law; ³⁰  then they approached Stephen, ³¹  seized him, and brought him before the council. ³²  6:13 They brought forward false witnesses who said, “This man does not stop saying things against this holy place ³³  and the law. ³⁴ 

[35:11]  ¹ tn Heb “witnesses of violence rise up.”

[35:11]  ² tn Heb “[that] which I do not know they ask me.”

[20:16]  ³ tn Heb “answer” as in a court of law.

[20:16]  ⁴ 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).

[20:1]  ⁵ sn This chapter is the heart of the Law of Israel, and as such is well known throughout the world. There is so much literature on it that it is almost impossible to say anything briefly and do justice to the subject. But the exposition of the book must point out that this is the charter of the new nation of Israel. These ten commands (words) form the preamble; they will be followed by the decisions (judgments). And then in chap. 24 the covenant will be inaugurated. So when Israel entered into covenant with God, they entered into a theocracy by expressing their willingness to submit to his authority. The Law was the binding constitution for the nation of Israel under Yahweh their God. It was specifically given to them at a certain time and in a certain place. The Law legislated how Israel was to live in order to be blessed by God and used by him as a kingdom of priests. In the process of legislating their conduct and their ritual for worship, the Law revealed God. It revealed the holiness of Yahweh as the standard for all worship and service, and in revealing that it revealed or uncovered sin. But what the Law condemned, the Law (Leviticus) also made provision for in the laws of the sacrifice and the feasts intended for atonement. The NT teaches that the Law was good, and perfect, and holy. But it also teaches that Christ was the end (goal) of the Law, that it ultimately led to him. It was a pedagogue, Paul said, to bring people to Christ. And when the fulfillment of the promise came in him, believers were not to go back under the Law. What this means for Christians is that what the Law of Israel revealed about God and his will is timeless and still authoritative over faith and conduct, but what the Law regulated for Israel in their existence as the people of God has been done away with in Christ. The Ten Commandments reveal the essence of the Law; the ten for the most part are reiterated in the NT because they reflect the holy and righteous nature of God. The NT often raises them to a higher standard, to guard the spirit of the Law as well as the letter.

[20:1]  ⁶ sn The Bible makes it clear that the Law was the revelation of God at Mount Sinai. And yet study has shown that the law code’s form follows the literary pattern of covenant codes in the Late Bronze Age, notably the Hittite codes. The point of such codes is that all the covenant stipulations are appropriate because of the wonderful things that the sovereign has done for the people. God, in using a well-known literary form, was both drawing on the people’s knowledge of such to impress their duties on them, as well as putting new wine into old wineskins. The whole nature of God’s code was on a much higher level. For this general structure, see M. G. Kline, Treaty of the Great King. For the Ten Commandments specifically, see J. J. Stamm and M. E. Andrew, The Ten Commandments in Recent Research (SBT). See also some of the general articles: M. Barrett, “God’s Moral Standard: An Examination of the Decalogue,” BV 12 (1978): 34-40; C. J. H. Wright, “The Israelite Household and the Decalogue: The Social Background and Significance of Some Commandments,” TynBul 30 (1979): 101-24; J. D. Levenson, “The Theologies of Commandment in Biblical Israel,” HTR 73 (1980): 17-33; M. B. Cohen and D. B. Friedman, “The Dual Accentuation of the Ten Commandments,” Masoretic Studies 1 (1974): 7-190; D. Skinner, “Some Major Themes of Exodus,” Mid-America Theological Journal 1 (1977): 31-42; M. Tate, “The Legal Traditions of the Book of Exodus,” RevExp 74 (1977): 483-509; E. C. Smith, “The Ten Commandments in Today’s Permissive Society: A Principleist Approach,” SwJT 20 (1977): 42-58; and D. W. Buck, “Exodus 20:1-17,” Lutheran Theological Journal 16 (1982): 65-75.

[22:9]  ⁷ tn Heb “concerning every kind [thing] of trespass.”

[22:9]  ⁸ tn The text simply has “this is it” (הוּא זֶה, hu’ zeh).

[22:9]  ⁹ tn Again, or “God.”

[22:9]  ¹⁰ tn This kind of clause Gesenius calls an independent relative clause – it does not depend on a governing substantive but itself expresses a substantival idea (GKC 445-46 §138.e).

[22:9]  ¹¹ tn The verb means “to be guilty” in Qal; in Hiphil it would have a declarative sense, because a causative sense would not possibly fit.

[22:10]  ¹² tn The form is a Niphal participle from the verb “to break” – “is broken,” which means harmed, maimed, or hurt in any way.

[22:10]  ¹³ tn This verb is frequently used with the meaning “to take captive.” The idea here then is that raiders or robbers have carried off the animal.

[22:10]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “there is no one seeing.”

[26:19]  ¹⁵ tn The clause is repeated to show the distributive sense; it literally says, “and two bases under the one frame for its two projections.”

[26:2]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “one” (so KJV).

[26:2]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “twenty-eight cubits” long and “four cubits” wide.

[16:7]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “morning, and you will see.”

[16:7]  ¹⁹ tn The form is a Qal infinitive construct with a preposition and a suffix. It forms an adverbial clause, usually of time, but here a causal clause.

[16:7]  ²⁰ tn The words “as for us” attempt to convey the force of the Hebrew word order, which puts emphasis on the pronoun: “and we – what?” The implied answer to the question is that Moses and Aaron are nothing, merely the messengers. The next verse repeats the question to further press the seriousness of what the Israelites are doing.

[16:8]  ²¹ tn “You will know this” has been added to make the line smooth. Because of the abruptness of the lines in the verse, and the repetition with v. 7, B. S. Childs (Exodus [OTL], 273) thinks that v. 8 is merely a repetition by scribal error – even though the versions render it as the MT has it. But B. Jacob (Exodus, 447) suggests that the contrast with vv. 6 and 7 is important for another reason – there Moses and Aaron speak, and it is smooth and effective, but here only Moses speaks, and it is labored and clumsy. “We should realize that Moses had properly claimed to be no public speaker.”

[16:8]  ²² tn Here again is an infinitive construct with the preposition forming a temporal clause.

[16:8]  ²³ tn The words “as for us” attempt to convey the force of the Hebrew word order, which puts emphasis on the pronoun: “and we – what?” The implied answer to the question is that Moses and Aaron are nothing, merely the messengers.

[16:8]  ²⁴ tn The word order is “not against us [are] your murmurings.”

[26:59]  ²⁵ tn Grk “Now the.” Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[26:60]  ²⁶ tn Here δέ (de) has not been translated.

[6:11]  ²⁷ 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]  ²⁸ 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]  ²⁹ 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]  ³⁰ tn Or “and the scribes.” See the note on the phrase “experts in the law” in 4:5.

[6:12]  ³¹ tn Grk “approaching, they seized him”; the referent (Stephen) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[6:12]  ³² tn Or “the Sanhedrin” (the highest legal, legislative, and judicial body among the Jews). Stephen suffers just as Peter and John did.

[6:13]  ³³ sn This holy place is a reference to the temple.

[6:13]  ³⁴ 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.