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Chapter 1: What does the 9th Commandment mean by 'bearing false witness'?
Don't lie. This is something we learn at a very early age. Lies are bad. Lies erode trust. Lies can cause harm. Don't lie. Not lying is so important we think this is what the ninth command is. Do not lie. But interestingly, that isn't actually the command.
The way we normally summarize the meaning of the ninth commandment is we flatten it out. Don't lie. But instead, it's you will not bear false witness against your neighbor. Do not bear false witness. What does that mean? This is a fixed little phrase used to refer specifically to legally or publicly making a declaration.
So bear false witness is specifically about twisting or manipulating the truth in a communal legal setting. It's really specific. And honestly, it kind of sticks out alongside these more general commands. Don't kill, don't steal. Why is it so specific?
The biblical authors have this conviction that when truth is misrepresented in the one place where the truth is the most at stake in a public way, it results in violence towards the most vulnerable. Because who tends to suffer, get the most taken advantage of when people bend the truth in legal settings? Often it's people who are in vulnerable social and economic positions.
Chapter 2: How is 'false witness' relevant in legal and communal contexts?
In this series, we talk about how the Ten Commandments are words of wisdom that lead to life and flourishing. And we often see this when we flip over the command into a positive. And so flip over, do not bear false witness. And what do we get?
Hold up and celebrate and reinforce the value of truth telling in our public setting. That is what's at stake in the ninth command. Do not bear false witness.
That's what's on the docket today. Thanks for joining us. Here we go. Hey, Tim.
Hello, John Collins. Hello. We are looking at the Ten Commandments. We are nearing almost the end.
Chapter 3: What case studies illustrate the implications of the 9th Commandment?
We are at command number nine of the ten. Nine of ten is today. That's today. As we've gone through them, we have been trying to discern what is the, not just the meaning or implication of each of the ten commands, but what is the value underneath them? What's the deeper value and the deeper wisdom? And...
In a way, we're trying to learn from Rabbi Jesus about how he saw expansive, deep, divine wisdom in the commandments. He even quoted from the Ten Commands and saw things in them that we may not normally see. So, we're going to take that same approach today. looking at the ninth command, which is about lying and truth-telling. That's the topic addressed here.
Chapter 4: Why is truth-telling emphasized in the 9th Commandment?
And we're going to find it's actually a major theme in the laws elsewhere in the Torah, but also in the narratives and poems. Lying and truth-telling is a big deal in the Bible.
Can we situate ourselves where we're at in the 10? That's great. The 10 have formed a shape in my mind. Good.
Chapter 5: How does the concept of 'Sheker' relate to false witness?
Yeah, great. Because we've talked about the beginning, one through four, our relationship with God.
Which is no idols, no other gods, don't carry the name of God in vain, and then remember the Sabbath.
And then five becomes this hinge. How you treat your parents is in some way how you relate to God. But then it's a shift on how you treat other humans.
So command six through ten are all really specifically focused on me and my neighbor. Don't kill, don't commit adultery, don't steal. How I relate to my neighbor's life, their spouse, and their stuff. Six, seven, and eight. Six, seven, and eight. Number nine, you will not bear false witness against your neighbor.
And then number 10, then having brought up the word neighbor is going to be you will not desire your neighbor's house.
or your neighbor's wife or and it gives a list of all these things that belong to your neighbor so yeah six through ten are all bound together very clearly and specifically about how you relate to your neighbor and this one number nine specifically is bearing false witness against you will not bear false witness against your neighbor
So we're talking here about whether or not I live in my community as someone who values the truth and protect the truth and help prevent faults. representation of the truth in my community. That matters. That's a part of neighborly flourishing. So maybe the easiest way in is how to translate this command. It's really interesting. So there are
Other words for lie, the main one in Hebrew is kazav, it's the verb. That would be more general. Don't lie. Why isn't it just... Don't tell lies. Yeah, lo tixov, don't lie.
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Chapter 6: What role do vulnerable communities play in the discussion of false witness?
But instead it's bearing false witness, which is a specific kind of lying. The word bear witness actually points to a really specific social situation, namely standing in a court before judges or maybe a jury. So here in the command, it's ta'aneh. It's from the Hebrew verb anah, which just means to like answer or respond.
Hmm.
Like it's a real common phrase in Hebrew to say, and he answered saying, and then to begin a quote.
Okay. Like in a book, it's like, and he said.
Yeah. So when you anah, you are responding verbally to something that somebody said or did to you.
Would this be the word in the Psalms where I cried out to God and he answered me?
Oh, yes.
Yeah? Yeah.
Okay. Yeah, regularly. And then when you have this verb anah with a certain preposition marking the object, the bait preposition. The bait preposition? Yeah, it's the letter bait. What does that even mean? Oh, yeah. Okay. So in English, prepositions... are themselves... Let's pretend I don't know what a preposition is. Oh, got it.
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Chapter 7: How does false witness lead to communal violence?
Here I am. Anybody around, bear witness about me. Whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? Did I defraud anybody? Who have I oppressed? Whose hand have I taken a bribe from to blind my eyes? So he's essentially saying, look, I've done right by you all.
And if there's anybody who thinks I've done wrong against them, and then he uses this phrase, bear witness, and then the bait preposition connected to the word me. Okay. So literally what he says is, respond to me. Yeah. But when he then brings up all of these, whose ox have I taken? Whose donkey have I taken? He's asking them to bring a legal charge. Hmm.
And he knows that nobody can because he's done right by them. So how you bring an official charge or bear witness in a public way to represent a claim about somebody, you use this phrase, bearing witness.
Because literally this phrase you could say is, say against me.
Say about me.
Or say about me.
Respond, yeah, with regard to me.
Okay. And we would use the phrase bear witness because it's usually in a setting of make an accusation that we can all decide if it's true or not.
Yeah, that's right. Yeah. Here's a couple other examples. Isaiah 59 says, Our transgressions, O God, are multiplied before you. Our sins bear witness about us.
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Chapter 8: What is the broader significance of the 9th Commandment for modern society?
A God.
Yeah.
And they're inanimate.
But in fact, it's a statue. Yeah, okay. Yeah. That's a checker. All right. This is my favorite one. All right. It's a riddle from Proverbs 25. This is so good. Clouds and wind, but no rain. A man who boasts about a gift of sheker. It's a riddle. That's a riddle? Yeah. Clouds and wind, but no rain. A man who boasts about a gift of sheker.
So clouds and wind mean rain should be coming.
Yeah.
So it's making me anticipate the rain. But then if the rain doesn't come, then that was just a huge disappointment. And the sign that the rain was coming actually wasn't really a sign.
Yeah, yeah, that's right.
The sign was a checker, I guess, in a way.
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