Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour

Ancient understanding

The Hebrew Bible contains several prohibitions against false witness, lying, and spreading false reports. A charge was considered established only on the evidence of two or three sworn witnesses. If false testimony was suspected, religious judges conducted a thorough investigation, and if proven, the false witness received the punishment intended for the accused. For murder cases, false testimony was subject to the death penalty.

Those eager to receive or listen to false testimony were also punished. King Solomon listed false witness among six things God hates, and Jesus said false testimony defiles a person. A witness who hid what he saw or knew bore his iniquity and had to confess and bring a sin offering, such as a female lamb or goat, two turtledoves or pigeons, or fine flour. The lying witness is described as deceitful, mocking justice, and compared to a war club, sword, or sharp arrow.

Solomon stated that a false witness will not go unpunished and will perish if unrepentant. The narrative in 1 Kings 21 describes King Ahab of Israel wanting Naboth's vineyard; Jezebel conspired to have two scoundrels bear false witness that Naboth cursed God and the king, leading to Naboth's stoning and Ahab seizing the vineyard. God was angry, and Elijah pronounced judgment on Ahab and Jezebel.

New Testament doctrine

Jesus taught that following the rule against false testimony is necessary for eternal life. He said such testimony springs from sinful thoughts in the heart and defiles a person. In the New Testament, people gave false testimony against Jesus and his followers. During Jesus’ trial, many false witnesses came forward, but he stayed silent until the high priest asked if he was the Christ, the Son of God, and he answered yes.

Stephen was taken before the Sanhedrin, where false witnesses claimed he blasphemed Moses and God, leading to his stoning. The Apostles were chosen as true witnesses to Jesus’ ministry and resurrection. Paul feared being a false witness about God’s raising of the dead, referencing the Old Testament ban. In Romans 13, Paul lists commandments summed up as loving your neighbor.

The phrase “You shall not bear false witness” appears in the Textus Receptus and King James Bible, but some early manuscripts of Romans 13 omit it.

Roman Catholic doctrine

The Roman Catholic Church interprets the command against false witness broadly, as a prohibition against misrepresenting truth in relations with others. It enjoins truthfulness and respect for others' good name, even the dead, and prohibits detraction, calumny, gossip, rash judgment, lying, and violation of secrets. The Catechism states that truthfulness keeps the just mean between what ought to be expressed and kept secret, entailing honesty and discretion.

Truth is uprightness in human action and speech, guarding against duplicity, dissimulation, and hypocrisy. The disciple of Christ consents to live in the truth, abiding in his truth. Christians must follow Christ's example to bear witness to the truth and profess it without equivocation. Martyrdom is regarded as the supreme witness to the truth of the faith, bearing witness even unto death.

Disciples put on the new man, created after God's likeness, and put away falsehood, malice, guile, insincerity, envy, and slander.

Reformed doctrine

John Calvin taught that the commandment against false witness prohibits all calumnies, false accusations that injure a neighbor's good name, and any falsehood impairing his fortune. Christians must assert only truth with pure motives for maintaining a neighbor's good name and estate. Calvin asserted that God's intent extended to calumny and sinister insinuations that unjustly aggrieve neighbors, since perjury is already prohibited by the third commandment.

He argued that a good name is more precious than riches, and being robbed of it is as injurious as being robbed of goods. Matthew Henry taught that the prohibition concerns one's own and a neighbor's good name, forbidding speaking falsely, lying, equivocating, devising to deceive, speaking unjustly against a neighbor, bearing false witness judicially or extrajudicially, slandering, backbiting, tale-bearing, aggravating faults, and raising one's reputation at a neighbor's expense.

Did You Know?

• The Eastern Orthodox Christian is expected to uphold truth at all times and places without exception, and slander and gossip are equally evil.
• Martin Luther explained that the commandment prohibits public judgment and reproof of a neighbor, except for judges, parents, and preachers.
• Saint Dorotheus of Gaza said, 'You may well know about the sin, but you do not know about the repentance.'