TRV
Translation
King James Version
And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.
Complete Jewish Bible
Do not swear by my name falsely, which would be profaning the name of your God; I am ADONAI.
Berean Standard Bible
You must not swear falsely by My name and so profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.
American Standard Version
And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, and profane the name of thy God: I am Jehovah.
World English Bible Messianic
“‘You shall not swear by my name falsely, and profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.
Geneva Bible (1599)
Also yee shall not sweare by my name falsely, neither shalt thou defile the name of thy God: I am the Lord.
Young's Literal Translation
`And ye do not swear by My name to falsehood, or thou hast polluted the name of thy God; I am Jehovah.
In the KJVVerse 3,294 of 31,102
Study This Verse
Commentary on Leviticus 19 verses 11–18
11 ¶ Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another.
12 And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.
13 Thou shalt not defraud thy neighbour, neither rob him: the wages of him that is hired shall not abide with thee all night until the morning.
14 Thou shalt not curse the deaf, nor put a stumblingblock before the blind, but shalt fear thy God: I am the LORD.
15 Ye shall do no unrighteousness in judgment: thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, nor honour the person of the mighty: but in righteousness shalt thou judge thy neighbour.
16 Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people: neither shalt thou stand against the blood of thy neighbour: I am the LORD.
17 Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thine heart: thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour, and not suffer sin upon him.
18 Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge against the children of thy people, but thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself: I am the LORD.
We are taught here,
I. To be honest and true in all our dealings, Lev 19:11. God, who has appointed every man's property by his providence, forbids by his law the invading of that appointment, either by downright theft, You shall not steal, or by fraudulent dealing, "You shall not cheat, or deal falsely." Whatever we have in the world, we must see to it that it be honestly come by, for we cannot be truly rich, nor long rich, with that which is not. The God of truth, who requires truth in the heart (Psa 51:6), requires it also in the tongue: Neither lie one to another, either in bargaining or common converse. This is one of the laws of Christianity (Col 3:9): Lie not one to another. Those that do not speak truth do not deserve to be told truth; those that sin by lying justly suffer by it; therefore we are forbidden to lie one to another; for, if we lie to others, we teach them to lie to us.
II. To maintain a very reverent regard to the sacred name of God (Lev 19:12), and not to call him to be witness either, 1. To a lie: You shall not swear falsely. It is bad to tell a lie, but it is much worse to swear it. Or, 2. To a trifle, and every impertinence: Neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God, by alienating it to any other purpose than that for which it is to be religiously used.
III. Neither to take nor keep any one's right from him, Lev 19:13. We must not take that which is none of our own, either by fraud or robbery; nor detain that which belongs to another, particularly the wages of the hireling, let it not abide with thee all night. Let the day-labourer have his wages as soon as he has done his day's work, if he desire it. It is a great sin to deny the payment of it, nay, to defer it, to his damage, a sin that cries to heaven for vengeance, Jam 5:4.
IV. To be particularly tender of the credit and safety of those that cannot help themselves, Lev 19:14. 1. The credit of the deaf: Thou shalt not curse the deaf; that is, not only those that are naturally deaf, that cannot hear at all, but also those that are absent, and at present out of hearing of the curse, and so cannot show their resentment, return the affront, nor right themselves, and those that are patient, that seem as if they heard not, and are not willing to take notice of it, as David, Psa 38:13. Do not injure any because they are unwilling, or unable, to avenge themselves, for God sees and hears, though they do not. 2. The safety of the blind we must likewise be tender of, and not put a stumbling-block before them; for this is to add affliction to the afflicted, and to make God's providence a servant to our malice. This prohibition implies a precept to help the blind, and remove stumbling-blocks out of their way. The Jewish writers, thinking it impossible that any should be so barbarous as to put a stumbling-block in the way of the blind, understood it figuratively, that it forbids giving bad counsel to those that are simple and easily imposed upon, by which they may be led to do something to their own prejudice. We ought to take heed of doing any thing which may occasion our weak brother to fall, Rom 14:13; Co1 8:9. It is added, as a preservative from these sins, but fear thou God. "Thou dost not fear the deaf and blind, they cannot right themselves; but remember it is the glory of God to help the helpless, and he will plead their cause." Note, The fear of God will restrain us from doing that which will not expose us to men's resentments.
V. Judges and all in authority are here commanded to give verdict and judgment without partiality (Lev 19:15); whether they were constituted judges by commission or made so in a particular case by the consent of both parties, as referees or arbitrators, they must do no wrong to either side, but, to the utmost of their skill, must go according to the rules of equity, having respect purely to the merits of the cause, and not to the characters of the person. Justice must never be perverted, either, 1. In pity to the poor: Thou shalt not respect the person of the poor, Exo 23:3. Whatever may be given to a poor man as an alms, yet let nothing be awarded him as his right but what he is legally entitled to, nor let his poverty excuse him from any just punishment for a fault. Or, 2. In veneration or fear of the mighty, in whose favour judges would be most frequently biased. The Jews say, "Judges were obliged by this law to be so impartial as not to let one of the contending parties sit while the other stood, nor permit one to say what he pleased and bid the other be short; see Jam 2:1-4.
VI. We are all forbidden to do any thing injurious to our neighbour's good name (Lev 19:16), either, 1. In common conversation: Thou shalt not go up and down as a tale-bearer. It is as bad an office as a man can put himself into to be the publisher of every man's faults, divulging what was secret, aggravating crimes, and making the worst of every thing that was amiss, with design to blast and ruin men's reputation, and to sow discord among neighbours. The word used for a tale-bearer signifies a pedlar, or petty chapman, the interlopers of trade; for tale-bearers pick up ill-natured stories at one house and utter them at another, and commonly barter slanders by way of exchange. See this sin condemned, Pro 11:13; Pro 20:19; Jer 9:4, Jer 9:5; Eze 22:9. Or, 2, In witness-bearing: Neither shalt thou stand as a witness against the blood of thy neighbour, if his blood be innocent, nor join in confederacy with such bloody men as those described," Pro 1:11, Pro 1:12. The Jewish doctors put this further sense upon it: "Thou shalt not stand by and see thy brother in danger, but thou shalt come in to his relief and succour, though it be with the peril of thy own life or limb;" they add, "He that can by his testimony clear one that is accused is obliged by this law to do it;" see Pro 24:11, Pro 24:12.
VII. We are commanded to rebuke our neighbour in love (Lev 19:17): Thou shalt in any wise rebuke thy neighbour. 1. Rather rebuke him than hate him for an injury done to thyself. If we apprehend that our neighbour has any way wronged us, we must not conceive a secret grudge against him, and estrange ourselves from him, speaking to him neither bad nor good, as the manner of some is, who have the art of concealing their displeasure till they have an opportunity of a full revenge (Sa2 13:22); but we must rather give vent to our resentments with the meekness of wisdom, endeavour to convince our brother of the injury, reason the case fairly with him, and so put an end to the disgust conceived: this is the rule our Saviour gives in this case, Luk 17:3. 2. Therefore rebuke him for his sin against God, because thou lovest him; endeavour to bring him to repentance, that his sin may be pardoned, and he may turn from it, and it may not be suffered to lie upon him. Note, Friendly reproof is a duty we owe to one another, and we ought both to give it and take it in love. Let the righteous smite me, and it shall be a kindness, Psa 141:5. Faithful and useful are those wounds of a friend, Pro 27:5, Pro 27:6. It is here strictly commanded, "Thou shalt in any wise do it, and not omit it under any pretence." Consider, (1.) The guilt we incur by not reproving: it is construed here into a hating of our brother. We are ready to argue thus, "Such a one is a friend I love, therefore I will not make him uneasy by telling him of his faults;" but we should rather say, "therefore I will do him the kindness to tell him of them." Love covers sin from others, but not from the sinner himself. (2.) The mischief we do by not reproving: we suffer sin upon him. Must we help the ass of an enemy that has fallen under his burden, and shall we not help the soul of a friend? Exo 23:5. And by suffering sin upon him we are in danger of bearing sin for him, as the margin reads it. If we reprove not the unfruitful works of darkness, we have fellowship with them, and become accessaries ex post facto - after the fact, Eph 5:11. It is thy brother, thy neighbour, that is concerned; and he was a Cain that said, Am I my brother's keeper?
VIII. We are here required to put off all malice, and to put on brotherly love, Lev 19:18. 1. We must be ill-affected to none: Thou shalt not avenge, nor bear any grudge; to the same purport with that Lev 19:17, Thou shalt not hate thy brother in thy heart; for malice is murder begun. If our brother has done us an injury, we must not return it upon him, that is avenging; we must not upon every occasion upbraid him with it, that is bearing a grudge; but we must both forgive it and forget it, for thus we are forgiven of God. It is a most ill-natured thing, and the bane of friendship, to retain the resentment of affronts and injuries, and to let that word devour for ever. 2. We must be well-affected to all: Thou shalt love thy neighbour as thyself. We often wrong ourselves, but we soon forgive ourselves those wrongs, and they do not at all lessen our love to ourselves; and in like manner we should love our neighbour. Our Saviour has made this the second great commandment of the law (Mat 22:39), and the apostle shows how it is the summary of all the laws of the second table, Rom 13:9, Rom 13:10; Gal 5:14. We must love our neighbour as truly as we love ourselves, and without dissimulation; we must evidence our love to our neighbour in the same way as that by which we evidence our love to ourselves, preventing his hurt, and procuring his good, to the utmost of our power. We must do to our neighbour as we would be done to ourselves (Mat 7:12), putting our souls into his soul's stead, Job 16:4, Job 16:5. Nay, we must in many cases deny ourselves for the good of our neighbour, as Paul, Co1 9:19, etc. Herein the gospel goes beyond even that excellent precept of the law; for Christ, by laying down his life for us, has taught us even to lay down our lives for the brethren, in some cases (Jo1 3:16), and so to love our neighbour better than ourselves.
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 11–18. Public domain.
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Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
Leviticus 19:12 is a foundational command within the Holiness Code, prohibiting both the false invocation of God's name in an oath and the broader act of profaning His sacred character. This verse underscores the absolute sanctity of God's name, which represents His very being, authority, and covenant fidelity. It calls God's people to a life of unwavering truthfulness and profound reverence, recognizing that any misuse or dishonoring of His name is a direct affront to His divine holiness, the ultimate basis for the command declared in the concluding "I am the LORD."
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Leviticus 19:12 employs several potent literary devices to convey its profound message. The most prominent is Parallelism, specifically a form of synonymous or amplifying parallelism, where the two negative commands ("ye shall not swear by my name falsely" and "neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God") reinforce and expand upon a singular core concept: the absolute sanctity and reverence due to God's name. While "swearing falsely" is a specific act of dishonor, "profaning" encompasses a broader range of actions and attitudes that treat God's name as common or defiled, creating a cumulative effect that emphasizes the comprehensive nature of the prohibition. Another significant device is Divine Self-Attestation, exemplified by the recurring phrase "I am the LORD" (אֲנִי יְהוָה). This is a powerful rhetorical device used throughout the Holiness Code to establish the divine origin and authority of the commands, grounding them in God's unchanging character and covenant relationship with Israel. Finally, Metonymy is at play, where "name" (of God) stands in for God's entire being, character, reputation, and presence. To swear by or profane God's "name" is to swear by or profane God Himself, highlighting the profound personal connection between God and His revealed identity.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Leviticus 19:12 is a cornerstone for understanding the profound theological significance of God's name and the call to holiness for His people. It reveals that God's name is not merely a label but a representation of His very essence, His divine character, and His covenant fidelity. To honor God's name is to acknowledge His absolute sovereignty, His truthfulness, and His unique identity as the one true God. Conversely, to profane it, whether through false oaths or irreverent conduct, is to assault His holiness and undermine the very foundation of the covenant relationship. This command underscores that true worship extends beyond ritual to encompass every word and action, demanding integrity, truthfulness, and a deep reverence for the One who is "I AM." It teaches that God's people are called to reflect His character in their speech and lives, thereby hallowing His name before the world. This command resonates deeply with the broader biblical narrative of God's revealed name and His desire for His people to bear His name worthily.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Leviticus 19:12 carries timeless relevance for believers today, extending far beyond the ancient practice of formal oaths. It challenges us to cultivate a profound reverence for God's name, not just in our formal religious expressions but in the mundane details of our daily lives. This means guarding our speech, ensuring that our "yes" is truly yes and our "no" is no, and avoiding any casual or flippant use of God's name in exclamations or curses. More deeply, it calls us to live lives that consistently honor and reflect the character of the God whose name we bear as His children. When our actions are deceitful, unjust, or unholy, we inadvertently profane His name, bringing dishonor to the very One we claim to serve. Conversely, when we live with integrity, truthfulness, and a genuine desire to please Him, our lives become a testament to His holiness, hallowing His name in a world that desperately needs to see His truth and light. This command serves as a powerful reminder that our words and deeds are not merely our own, but they either uphold or diminish the honor of the God we worship.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
What is the primary difference between "swearing by my name falsely" and "profaning the name of thy God"?
Answer: While both actions dishonor God's name, they refer to distinct but related transgressions. "Swearing by my name falsely" refers specifically to perjury—making a false oath or promise while invoking God's name as a witness or guarantor. This is a direct lie that attempts to involve God in deception. "Profaning the name of thy God," on the other hand, is a broader concept. The Hebrew word chalal implies treating something sacred as common, defiled, or unworthy of respect. This can include blasphemy, casual or irreverent use of God's name in exclamations or curses, or even living a lifestyle that contradicts God's holy character, thereby bringing dishonor to His reputation. So, false swearing is a specific act of profaning, but profaning encompasses a much wider range of behaviors that diminish the sacredness of God's name and the reverence due to the Lord God.
Why is God's "name" so important in the Bible, particularly in this verse?
Answer: In ancient Near Eastern thought, a "name" was much more than a mere label; it represented the very essence, character, authority, and presence of an individual. To speak of God's name is to speak of God Himself in His revealed nature. When God reveals His name as YHWH (the LORD), He is revealing His self-existence, His covenant faithfulness, and His unique identity. Therefore, to swear by God's name is to invoke His very being as a witness, and to profane His name is to treat His divine character with contempt or disrespect. This verse underscores that God's name is holy because He Himself is holy, and it must be treated with the utmost reverence as a reflection of His supreme majesty and truthfulness. It is through His name that God makes Himself known and by which His people are called to worship Him (Psalm 8:1).
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Leviticus 19:12 finds its ultimate fulfillment and deepest meaning in Jesus Christ, who perfectly embodies the truth and holiness that this command demands. Jesus, as the Word made flesh, is the very embodiment of truth (John 14:6), and His life was a flawless testament to the Father's holiness, never once profaning God's name but always hallowing it through His perfect obedience and righteous character. He did not need to swear oaths because His every word was truth itself, fulfilling the spirit of the law He taught in the Sermon on the Mount, where He called His disciples to let their "yes be yes and their no be no." Furthermore, the name of Jesus itself is the name above all names, to which every knee will bow and every tongue confess, demonstrating the supreme reverence due to God's name made manifest in the Son. Through Christ, believers are given a new heart and the indwelling Spirit, enabling them to truly honor God's name not merely by avoiding false oaths, but by living lives transformed by His grace, reflecting His holiness, and bringing glory to His name in all they do, thereby becoming a holy priesthood who proclaim the excellencies of Him who called them out of darkness into His marvelous light (1 Peter 2:9). In Christ, we are empowered to truly "hallow" God's name in every aspect of our existence, a fulfillment of the very prayer He taught us (Matthew 6:9).