the Second Week after Easter
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Legacy Standard Bible
Exodus 20:7
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"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
"You shall not misuse the name of Yahweh your God, because Yahweh will not leave unpunished anyone who misuses his name.
"You must not use the name of the Lord your God thoughtlessly; the Lord will punish anyone who misuses his name.
"You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold guiltless anyone who takes his name in vain.
"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain [that is, irreverently, in false affirmations or in ways that impugn the character of God]; for the LORD will not hold guiltless nor leave unpunished the one who takes His name in vain [disregarding its reverence and its power].
"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.
Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lorde thy God in vaine: for the Lorde will not hold him guiltles that taketh his Name in vayne.
Do not misuse my name. I am the Lord your God, and I will punish anyone who misuses my name.
ג "You are not to use lightly the name of Adonai your God, because Adonai will not leave unpunished someone who uses his name lightly.
Thou shalt not idly utter the name of Jehovah thy God; for Jehovah will not hold him guiltless that idly uttereth his name.
"You must not use the name of the Lord your God to make empty promises. If you do, the Lord will not let you go unpunished.
"You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
You shall not take a false oath in the name of the LORD your God; for the LORD will not declare him innocent who takes an oath in his name falsely.
"Do not use my name for evil purposes, for I, the Lord your God, will punish anyone who misuses my name.
Do not misuse the name of the Lord your God, because the Lord will not leave anyone unpunished who misuses his name.
You shall not take the name of Jehovah your God in vain; for Jehovah will not leave unpunished the one who takes His name in vain.
Thou shalt not take the name of ye LORDE thy God in vayne. For the LORDE shal not holde him vngiltie, that taketh his name in vayne.
Thou shalt not take the name of Jehovah thy God in vain; for Jehovah will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
You are not to make use of the name of the Lord your God for an evil purpose; whoever takes the Lord's name on his lips for an evil purpose will be judged a sinner by the Lord
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lorde thy God in vayne: for the Lorde will not holde him giltlesse that taketh his name in vayne.
Remember the sabbath day, to keep it holy.
Thou shalt not take the Name of the Lord thy God in vaine: for the Lord will not holde him guiltlesse, that taketh his Name in vaine.
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord thy God will not acquit him that takes his name in vain.
Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave anyone unpunished who takes His name in vain.
Thou schalt not take in veyn the name of thi Lord God, for the Lord schal not haue hym giltles, that takith in veyn the name of his Lord God.
`Thou dost not take up the name of Jehovah thy God for a vain thing, for Jehovah acquitteth not him who taketh up His name for a vain thing.
You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain; for Yahweh will not hold him innocent that takes his name in vain.
Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain: for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.
"You shall not take the name of Yahweh your God in vain, for Yahweh will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.
"You must not misuse the name of the Lord your God. The Lord will not let you go unpunished if you misuse his name.
"Do not use the name of the Lord your God in a false way. For the Lord will punish the one who uses His name in a false way.
You shall not make wrongful use of the name of the Lord your God, for the Lord will not acquit anyone who misuses his name.
Thou shalt not utter the name of Yahweh thy God for falsehood, for Yahweh will not let him go unpunished who uttereth his name for falsehood.
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain: for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that shall take the name of the Lord his God in vain.
"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.
No using the name of God, your God, in curses or silly banter; God won't put up with the irreverent use of his name.
"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.
Contextual Overview
Bible Verse Review
from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge
take: Leviticus 19:12, Leviticus 24:11-16, Deuteronomy 5:11, Psalms 50:14-16, Proverbs 30:9, Jeremiah 4:2, Matthew 5:33-37, Matthew 23:16-22, Matthew 26:63, Matthew 26:64, 2 Corinthians 1:23, Hebrews 6:16, Hebrews 6:17, James 5:12
guiltless: Joshua 2:12, Joshua 2:17, Joshua 9:20, 2 Samuel 21:1, 2 Samuel 21:2, 1 Kings 2:9
Reciprocal: Genesis 3:5 - God Genesis 24:3 - swear Genesis 24:5 - Peradventure Genesis 27:20 - Because Leviticus 24:16 - blasphemeth Numbers 30:2 - swear Judges 11:10 - if we do Judges 17:2 - Blessed 1 Samuel 28:10 - sware 2 Kings 5:20 - as the Lord liveth Job 9:28 - I know Psalms 34:21 - desolate Psalms 139:20 - thine Proverbs 16:5 - unpunished Jeremiah 34:16 - polluted Jeremiah 42:5 - The Lord be Ezekiel 17:16 - whose oath Ezekiel 39:7 - and I will Matthew 15:9 - in Matthew 26:72 - with 1 Timothy 1:10 - perjured
Cross-References
but from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, you shall not eat from it; for in the day that you eat from it you will surely die."
And Pharaoh's officials saw her and praised her to Pharaoh; and the woman was taken into Pharaoh's house.
But Yahweh struck Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai, Abram's wife.
And Abraham journeyed from there toward the land of the Negev and settled between Kadesh and Shur; then he sojourned in Gerar.
And Abraham said of Sarah his wife, "She is my sister." So Abimelech king of Gerar sent and took Sarah.
But God came to Abimelech in a dream of the night and said to him, "Behold, you are a dead man because of the woman whom you have taken, for she is married."
(Now Abimelech had not come near her.) Then he said, "Lord, will You kill a nation, even though righteous?
Did he not himself say to me, ‘She is my sister'? And she herself also said, ‘He is my brother.' In the integrity of my heart and the innocence of my hands I have done this."
Then God said to him in the dream, "Indeed, I know that in the integrity of your heart you have done this, and I also held you back from sinning against Me; therefore I did not let you touch her.
Then Abimelech called Abraham and said to him, "What have you done to us? And how have I sinned against you, that you have brought on me and on my kingdom a great sin? You have done to me things that ought not to be done."
Gill's Notes on the Bible
Thou shall not take the name of the Lord God in vain,.... Make use of the name Lord or God, or any other name and epithet of the divine Being, in a light and trifling way, without any show of reverence of him, and affection to him; whereas the name of God ought never to be mentioned but in a grave and serious manner, and with an awe of the greatness of his majesty upon the mind. The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan restrain this to swearing by the name of the Lord; and so the Jewish writers generally interpret it either of swearing lightly, rashly, or falsely; and to this it may very well be extended, though not limited; and so forbids, as all profane oaths; imprecations, and curses by the name of God, which the mouths of wicked men are full of, so swearing by it in matters trivial, and of no importance; for swearing even by the name of the Lord ought not to be used but in matters of moment and consequence, for the confirmation of a thing, and putting an end to strife, and where a matter cannot be determined and decided without an appeal to God. And great care should be taken that a man swears to that which is true, and not false; for false swearing, or perjury, is a very grievous sin, and as it is strictly forbidden, it is severely punished by the Lord, as follows; see Leviticus 19:12, this is the third command, and the reason enforcing it follows:
for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name is vain; will not look upon him as an innocent person, and treat him as such; will not acquit and discharge him as just and righteous; but on the contrary will consider him as a guilty person, a profaner of his name, and a transgressor of his law, and will condemn and punish him, if not in this world, yet in the world to come; and so the Targum of Jonathan, by way of explanation, adds,
"in the day of the great judgment;''
see Malachi 3:5.
Barnes' Notes on the Bible
The Hebrew name which is rendered in our King James Version as the ten commandments occurs in Exodus 34:28; Deuteronomy 4:13; Deuteronomy 10:4. It literally means “the Ten Words.” The Ten Commandments are also called the law, even the commandment Exodus 24:12, the words of the covenant Exodus 34:28, the tables of the covenant Deuteronomy 9:9, the covenant Deuteronomy 4:13, the two tables Deuteronomy 9:10, Deuteronomy 9:17, and, most frequently, the testimony (e. g. Exodus 16:34; Exodus 25:16), or the two tables of the testimony (e. g. Exodus 31:18). In the New Testament they are called simply the commandments (e. g. Matthew 19:17). The name decalogue is found first in Clement of Alexandria, and was commonly used by the Fathers who followed him.
Thus we know that the tables were two, and that the commandments were ten, in number. But the Scriptures do not, by any direct statements, enable us to determine with precision how the Ten Commandments are severally to be made out, nor how they are to be allotted to the Two tables. On each of these points various opinions have been held (see Exodus 20:12).
Of the Words of Yahweh engraven on the tables of Stone, we have two distinct statements, one in Exodus Exodus 20:1-17 and one in Deuteronomy Deuteronomy 5:7-21, apparently of equal authority, but differing principally from each other in the fourth, the fifth, and the tenth commandments.
It has been supposed that the original commandments were all in the same terse and simple form of expression as appears (both in Exodus and Deuteronomy) in the first, sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth, such as would be most suitable for recollection, and that the passages in each copy in which the most important variations are found were comments added when the books were written.
The account of the delivery of them in Exodus 19:0 and in Exodus 20:18-21 is in accordance with their importance as the recognized basis of the covenant between Yahweh and His ancient people (Exodus 34:27-28; Deuteronomy 4:13; 1 Kings 8:21, etc.), and as the divine testimony against the sinful tendencies in man for all ages. While it is here said that “God spake all these words,” and in Deuteronomy 5:4, that He “talked face to face,” in the New Testament the giving of the law is spoken of as having been through the ministration of Angels Acts 7:53; Galatians 3:19; Hebrews 2:2. We can reconcile these contrasts of language by keeping in mind that God is a Spirit, and that He is essentially present in the agents who are performing His will.
Exodus 20:2
Which have brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of bondage - It has been asked: Why, on this occasion, was not the Lord rather proclaimed as “the Creator of Heaven and Earth”? The answer is, Because the Ten Commandments were at this time addressed by Yahweh not merely to human creatures, but to the people whom He had redeemed, to those who had been in bondage, but were now free men Exodus 6:6-7; Exodus 19:5. The commandments are expressed in absolute terms. They are not sanctioned by outward penalties, as if for slaves, but are addressed at once to the conscience, as for free men. The well-being of the nation called for the infliction of penalties, and therefore statutes were passed to punish offenders who blasphemed the name of Yahweh, who profaned the Sabbath, or who committed murder or adultery. (See Leviticus 18:24-30 note.) But these penal statutes were not to be the ground of obedience for the true Israelite according to the covenant. He was to know Yahweh as his Redeemer, and was to obey him as such (Compare Romans 13:5).
Exodus 20:3
Before me - Literally, “before my face.” The meaning is that no god should be worshipped in addition to Yahweh. Compare Exodus 20:23. The polytheism which was the besetting sin of the Israelites did not in later times exclude Yahweh, but associated Him with false deities. (Compare the original of 1 Samuel 2:25.)
Exodus 20:4
Graven image - Any sort of image is here intended.
As the first commandment forbids the worship of any false god, seen or unseen, it is here forbidden to worship an image of any sort, whether the figure of a false deity Joshua 23:7 or one in any way symbolic of Yahweh (see Exodus 32:4). The spiritual acts of worship were symbolized in the furniture and ritual of the tabernacle and the altar, and for this end the forms of living things might be employed as in the case of the Cherubim (see Exodus 25:18 note): but the presence of the invisible God was to be marked by no symbol of Himself, but by His words written on stones, preserved in the ark in the holy of holies and covered by the mercy-seat. The ancient Persians and the earliest legislators of Rome also agreed in repudiating images of the Deity.
A jealous God - Deuteronomy 6:15; Joshua 24:19; Isaiah 42:8; Isaiah 48:11; Nahum 1:2. This reason applies to the First, as well as to the second commandment. The truth expressed in it was declared more fully to Moses when the name of Yahweh was proclaimed to him after he had interceded for Israel on account of the golden calf (Exodus 34:6-7; see the note).
Visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children - (Compare Exodus 34:7; Jeremiah 32:18). Sons and remote descendants inherit the consequences of their fathers’ sins, in disease, poverty, captivity, with all the influences of bad example and evil communications. (See Leviticus 26:39; Lamentations 5:7 following) The “inherited curse” seems to fall often most heavily on the least guilty persons; but such suffering must always be free from the sting of conscience; it is not like the visitation for sin on the individual by whom the sin has been committed. The suffering, or loss of advantages, entailed on the unoffending son, is a condition under which he has to carry on the struggle of life, and, like all other inevitable conditions imposed upon men, it cannot tend to his ultimate disadvantage, if he struggles well and perseveres to the end. The principle regulating the administration of justice by earthly tribunals Deuteronomy 24:16, is carried out in spiritual matters by the Supreme Judge.
Exodus 20:6
Unto thousands - unto the thousandth generation. Yahweh’s visitations of chastisement extend to the third and fourth generation, his visitations of mercy to the thousandth; that is, forever. That this is the true rendering seems to follow from Deuteronomy 7:9; Compare 2 Samuel 7:15-16.
Exodus 20:7
Our translators make the Third commandment bear upon any profane and idle utterance of the name of God. Others give it the sense, “Thou shalt not swear falsely by the name of Jehovah thy God.” The Hebrew word which answers to “in vain” may be rendered either way. The two abuses of the sacred name seem to be distinguished in Leviticus 19:12 (see Matthew 5:33). Our King James Version is probably right in giving the rendering which is more inclusive. The caution that a breach of this commandment incurs guilt in the eyes of Yahweh is especially appropriate, in consequence of the ease with which the temptation to take God’s name “in vain” besets people in their common conversation with each other.
Exodus 20:8
Remember the sabbath day - There is no distinct evidence that the Sabbath, as a formal ordinance, was recognized before the time of Moses (compare Nehemiah 9:14; Ezekiel 20:10-12; Deuteronomy 5:15). The word “remember” may either be used in the sense of “keep in mind” what is here enjoined for the first time, or it may refer back to what is related in Exodus 16:22-26.
Exodus 20:10
The sabbath ... - a Sabbath to Yahweh thy God. The proper meaning of “sabbath” is, “rest after labor.” Compare Exodus 16:26.
Thy stranger that is within thy gates - Not a “stranger,” as is an unknown person, but a “lodger,” or “sojourner.” In this place it denotes one who had come from another people to take up his permanent abode among the Israelites, and who might have been well known to his neighbors. That the word did not primarily refer to foreign domestic servants (though all such were included under it) is to be inferred from the term used for “gates,” signifying not the doors of a private dwelling, but the gates of a town or camp.
Exodus 20:12
Honour thy father and thy mother - According to our usage, the fifth commandment is placed as the first in the second table; and this is necessarily involved in the common division of the commandments into our duty toward God and our duty toward men. But the more ancient, and probably the better, division allots five commandments to each table (compare Romans 13:9), proceeding on the distinction that the First table relates to the duties which arise from our filial relations, the second to those which arise from our fraternal relations. The connection between the first four commandments and the fifth exists in the truth that all faith in God centers in the filial feeling. Our parents stand between us and God in a way in which no other beings can. On the maintenance of parental authority, see Exodus 21:15, Exodus 21:17; Deuteronomy 21:18-21.
That thy days may be long upon the land - Filial respect is the ground of national permanence (compare Jeremiah 35:18-19; Matthew 15:4-6; Mark 7:10-11). The divine words were addressed emphatically to Israel, but they set forth a universal principle of national life Ephesians 6:2.
Exodus 20:13-14
Matthew 5:21-32 is the best comment on these two verses.
Exodus 20:15
The right of property is sanctioned in the eighth commandment by an external rule: its deeper meaning is involved in the tenth commandment.
Exodus 20:17
As the sixth, seventh, and eighth commandments forbid us to injure our neighbor in deed, the ninth forbids us to injure him in word, and the tenth, in thought. No human eye can see the coveting heart; it is witnessed only by him who possesses it and by Him to whom all things are naked and open Luke 12:15-21. But it is the root of all sins of word or deed against our neighbor James 1:14-15.
Clarke's Notes on the Bible
THE THIRD COMMANDMENT
Against false swearing, blasphemy, and
irreverent use of the name of God.
Verse Exodus 20:7. Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain] This precept not only forbids all false oaths, but all common swearing where the name of God is used, or where he is appealed to as a witness of the truth. It also necessarily forbids all light and irreverent mention of God, or any of his attributes; and this the original word לשוא lashshav particularly imports: and we may safely add to all these, that every prayer, ejaculation, c., that is not accompanied with deep reverence and the genuine spirit of piety, is here condemned also. In how many thousands of instances is this commandment broken in the prayers, whether read or extempore, of inconsiderate, bold, and presumptuous worshippers! And how few are there who do not break it, both in their public and private devotions! How low is piety when we are obliged in order to escape damnation, to pray to God to "pardon the sins of our holy things!"
Even heathens thought that the names of their gods should be treated with reverence.
Παντως μεν δη καλον επι ηδευμα, θεων ονοματα μη χραινειν ῥᾳδιως, εχοντα ὡς εχουσιν ἡμων ἑκαστοτε τα πολλα οἱ πλειστοι καθαροτητος τε και ἁγνειας τα περι τους θεους.
"It is most undoubtedly right not easily to pollute the names of the gods, using them as we do common names but to watch with purity and holiness all things belonging to the gods."
The Lord will not hold him guiltless, c. — Whatever the person himself may think or hope, however he may plead in his own behalf, and say he intends no evil, &c. if he in any of the above ways, or in any other way, takes the name of God in vain, God will not hold him guiltless - he will account him guilty and punish him for it. Is it necessary to say to any truly spiritual mind, that all such interjections as O God! my God! good God! good Heavens! &c., &c., are formal positive breaches of this law? How many who pass for Christians are highly criminal here!
