One of the original Ten Commandments in Scripture instructs those who believe in God to refrain from taking His name in vain. That instruction is found in Exodus 20:7 and is repeated in Deuteronomy 5:11. Here’s how the verses appear (with minor exceptions) in most English Bible translations.
Exodus 20:7 You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that takes his name in vain.
Deut. 5:11 “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.
What most people don’t
realize is that these two verses, as printed in most English translations, are
actually in violation of this very commandment!
What follows will explain why this is
true. First, let’s look at some of the terms in these verses. The word “take”
comes from the Hebrew word nasa’. It means lift up (I’ll bet you didn’t know the US space
program was Hebrew in its origin.). As is shown by its definition below, it’s
used in a wide variety of ways in Scripture.
5375. aDcÎn nasa}, naw-saw´; or hDsÎn nacçah
(Psalm 4: 6 (7)), naw-saw´; a primitive root; to lift, in a great variety of applications,
literal and figurative, absol. and rel.: —accept, advance, arise, (able to,
(armor), suffer to) bear(-er, up), bring (forth), burn, carry (away), cast,
contain, desire, ease, exact, exalt (self), extol, fetch, forgive, furnish,
further, give, go on, help, high, hold up, honorable (+ man), lade, lay, lift (self)
up, lofty, marry, magnify, x needs, obtain, pardon, raise (up), receive,
regard, respect, set (up), spare, stir up, + swear, take (away, up), x utterly,
wear, yield.
Given the context it would
seem to make more sense to say, “You shall not lift up (in the sense of
exalting or worshipping) The LORD your God in vain.” This was actually a
problem for the nation of Israel at several points in its history. This context
is the giving of The Law at Mount Sinai. It involved God telling His people
what He expects from
them. God first states:
Ex. 20:2 I am the LORD your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, out
of the house of bondage.
Ex. 20:3 You shall have no other gods before Me.
Ex. 20:4 You shall not make for yourself any graven image, or any
likeness of any thing
that is in heaven
above, or that is in
the earth beneath, or that is in the water under the earth:
Ex. 20:5 You shalt not bow down yourself to them, nor serve them:
for I the LORD your God am a jealous God, visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the
children unto the third and fourth generation of them that hate Me;
Ex. 20:6 And showing mercy unto thousands of them that love Me,
and keep My commandments.
Thus, the context is
respect for Him as God. He alone is to be worshipped and obeyed. There are to
be no other gods before Him (or besides Him). Such things have no place among
His people. He is to be our first priority.
The next issue is
that of vanity. You shall not lift up His name in vain. But what does this
mean? The Hebrew term is shav’. It means to rush over, in the sense of desolating, evil,
ruin, morally useless, as idolatry, deceptively, falsely, lying, in vain. To be
vain means to have no real value or significance, worthless, empty, idle,
hollow, without force or effect, futile, fruitless, unprofitable. The name of
God is to have none of these aspects associated with it.
7723. aVwÎv shav}, shawv; or wÅv shav,
shav; from the same as 7722 in the sense of desolating;
evil (as destructive), literally (ruin) or morally (especially guile);
figuratively idolatry (as false, subjective), uselessness (as deceptive,
objective; also adverbially, in vain. -- false(-ly), lie, lying, vain, vanity.
7722. awøv show},
sho; or (feminine) hDawøv showtah, sho-aw´; or hDaøv shoah,
sho-aw´; from an unused root meaning to rush
over; a tempest; by implication, devastation.
Essentially, this really
means we are to have great respect for the name of God. We are to treat it with
great reverence, recognizing it is the very name of The One who created us and
who sustains us in each moment of life. These are God’s own instructions. It
reveals what He desires of us.
Here are some additional
verses to show how this word, shav, is translated:
Deut.
5:20 Neither shall you bear false
witness against your neighbor.
Job 35:13 Surely God will not hear vanity, neither will the Almighty regard it.
Psa.
127:1 Except the LORD build the house, they labor in vain
that build it: except the LORD keep the city, the watchman wakes but in vain.
Psa.
139:20 For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.
Is.
1:13 Bring no more vain
oblations; incense is an abomination to Me; the new moons and sabbaths, the
calling of assemblies, I cannot endure; away with it, it is iniquity, even the solemn meeting.
God goes so far as to
state the results if we do this. “…for the LORD will not hold him guiltless who
lifts up His name in vain.” The concept of being guiltless comes from the
Hebrew word naqah. It means to be or to make clean. This cleanness is not the same
as the term used for ritual purity, so it has a different connotation. It
implies being “clean” from guilt, being blameless, or to go unpunished.
5352. h∂qÎn naqah,
naw-kaw´; a primitive root; to be (or make) clean (literally or figuratively); by implication (in an
adverse sense) to be bare, i.e.
extirpated: —acquit x at all, x altogether, be blameless, cleanse,
(be) clear(-ing), cut off, be desolate, be free, be (hold) guiltless, be (hold) innocent, x by no means, be quit, be (leave) unpunished, x utterly, x wholly.
As such, as stated by God Himself, no person who
treats His name with disrespect or dishonor will have that disrespect or
dishonor ignored. There will be consequences. God Himself will hold them accountable.
This is an indication of just how seriously He takes this matter.
There are some additional
passages that speak to this same issue. The first one is Leviticus 19.12. It
talks about swearing, taking an oath, using His name falsely. Falsely is the
Hebrew term sheqer. It means a sham – something that is deceitful, false, vain, or
wrong. It also talks about profaning His name. The word is chalal. It means to profane a person, to break
one’s word. In English, to profane is to make common, not sacred. It literally
meant “before the temple” originally.
Lev. 19:12 And you shall not swear by My name falsely, nor shall
you profane the name of your God: I am the LORD.
8267. r®q‰v sheqer, sheh´-ker; from 8266; an untruth; by implication, a sham (often adverbial): —without a cause,
deceit(-ful), false(-hood, -ly), feignedly, liar, + lie, lying, vain (thing), wrongfully.
8266. rAqÎv shaqar, shaw-kar´; a primitive root; to cheat, i.e. be
untrue (usually in
words): —fail, deal falsely, lie.
2490. lAlDj chalal, khaw-lal´; a primitive root (compare 2470); properly,
to bore, i.e. (by implication) to wound, to dissolve; figuratively, to profane
(a person, place or thing), to break (one’s word), to begin (as if by an “opening wedge”);
denom. (from 2485) to play (the flute):
—begin (x men began), defile, x break, defile, x eat (as common things),
x first, x gather the grape thereof, x take inheritance, pipe, player on
instruments, pollute, (cast as) profane (self), prostitute, slay (slain),
sorrow, stain, wound.
In the 24th
chapter of Leviticus we have two more verses. These deal with cursing God and
blaspheming the name of God. The one who curses God shall bear his sin
(literally - penalty). The one who blasphemes God is to be stoned to death.
Both are pretty serious events. The definitions are once again given so you can
see what these things mean.
Lev. 24:15 “Then you shall speak to the children of Israel,
saying: ‘Whoever curses his God shall bear his sin.
Lev. 24:16 And whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD
shall certainly be put to death. All the congregation shall certainly stone
him, the stranger as well as him who is born in the land. When he blasphemes
the name, he shall be put to death.
The word for curse is qalal. It means to make light of, trifling,
vile, etc. The word is translated as contempt, despise, esteem lightly, etc.
Blaspheme is from the Hebrew word naqab. It means to puncture or perforate, or
to libel. Libel means to expose a person to public criticism or ridicule, to
injure their reputation.
7043. lAl∂q qalal, kaw-lal´; a primitive root; to be (causatively,
make) light, literally (swift, small, sharp, etc.) or figuratively (easy,
trifling, vile, etc.):
—abate, make bright, bring into contempt, (ac-)curse, despise, (be) ease(-y, -ier), (be a, make, make somewhat, move,
seem a, set) light(-en, -er, -ly, -ly afflict, -ly esteem, thing), x
slight(-ly), be swift(-er), (be, be more, make, re-)vile, whet.
5344. bAqÎn naqab, naw-kab´; a primitive root; to puncture, literally (to perforate, with
more or less violence) or figuratively (to specify, designate, libel): —appoint, blaspheme, bore, curse,
express, with holes, name, pierce, strike through.
Violation
of The Commandment
Having laid the groundwork,
we can now move on to the real problem involved with the commandment, in Exodus
20.7 and Deuteronomy 5.11, about taking God’s name in vain. What follows is
most important. So
you’ll see dramatically just how big a problem exists in most English
“translations” of these texts I’ll insert them again. This is pretty much how
they will appear, with the exception of the added emphasis:
Exodus 20:7 You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that takes his name in vain.
Deut. 5:11 “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.
Now I’ll supply the
corrected versions of these two passages, actually translating them as the
Hebrew text has it written. God’s personal name is found twice in each of them.
Exodus 20:7 “You shall not lift up the name of YAHWEH, your God, in vain, for YAHWEH will not hold him guiltless who lifts up His name in vain.
Deut. 5:11 “You shall not lift up the name of YAHWEH your God in vain, for YAHWEH will not hold him guiltless who lifts up His name in vain.
Do you see the horrendous
error involved? Do you recognize the name of God, YAHWEH, has been removed from every Bible that uses “the LORD” in
place of His written name? His precious and holy eternal name, revealed in
Exodus 3:15 as such (See Name of God Revealed.), has been replaced with something that
cannot possibly be a proper and correct translation of hDwøh◊y YHWH,
YAHWEH. The meaning of the Hebrew
has nothing to do with the concept of a sovereign (lord).
It’s appalling to recognize
the very commandment of God itself is being violated by every such mis-translation the text. This error is found in the
majority of the English Bible translations on the market today. This is not
merely an oversight. Click on the link to Serious Bible Errors. There you’ll find documentation from the
prefaces and introductions of several Bible translations describing their
intentional choice to honor the traditions of men rather than to honor the Word and the
name of YAHWEH, by using a substitution in place of His name.
Millions of people are
being deceived every hour of every day and night as they read such erroneous material.
YAHWEH will not hold them guiltless who treat His precious name with such
disrespect and dishonor. Because of this there are countless numbers of people
who simply do not know the proper personal name of YAHWEH.
If they do not know His name how can
they worship “in His name”? How can they heal the sick “in His name”? How can
they baptize “in His Name”? Indeed, how can they do anything “in His name”?
Obviously, if you don’t know the name you cannot, and will not, use it.
And it’s not just His name. The Personal Name of The Messiah, Jesus, is also incorrectly and improperly translated.
There has never been a letter “J” in Hebrew. Yet The Messiah was most
definitely Hebrew. There was no Letter “J” in the English language until
approximately 1516 A.D. So the name, Jesus, cannot be correct. Indeed, in
Hebrew His name is virtually identical to that of Joshua – correctly, Yahoshua.
The Messiah’s name is, properly, YAHUSHUA, meaning YAHWEH is salvation, or
YAHWEH saves. The details are provided elsewhere on this site.
Having identified the
problem with this commandment and the failure of church leaders, publishers,
teachers, pastors, and a multitude of Christians to identify it and correct it,
I urge you to look at what YAHUSHUA said concerning the religious leaders of
His own time, over 2000 years ago.
Matt. 15:8 This people draws nigh unto me with their mouth, and honors Me with their lips; but their heart is far from me. 9 And in vain do they worship Me, teaching as doctrine rules made by men.’”
Mark
7:6 He answered and said unto them, Well has Esaias prophesied of you
hypocrites, as it is written, This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. 7 Howbeit in
vain do they worship Me, teaching for doctrines the commandments of men. 8 For laying aside the
commandment of God, you hold the tradition of men, as
the washing of pots and cups: and many other such like things you do. And He
said to them, Full well you
reject the commandment of God, that you may keep your own tradition.
What would He say today? I believe He’d say the
exact same thing, to the exact same group, the religious leaders. But He might
also say these things to us as individuals who claim to follow Him. Brothers
and sisters in The Messiah, we have a very serious problem to confront. I urge
you to do everything in your power to help correct this awful mess.
How big is the problem? There are 6520 places
in the Old Testament alone where YAHWEH has been replaced with “The LORD”. (See also God In English Translations) And that doesn’t even touch the New Testament
situation. Every place where this has been done is a violation of the
commandment of YAHWEH! Removing His name from Scripture is effectively
equivalent to blasphemy, and the punishment is stoning to death.
This problem can and should be corrected. It
won’t be easy, because tradition has been ingrained into the hearts and minds
of millions. Publishers and translators will fight hard for their position on
this. But we must challenge them to correct these errors. YAHWEH’s reputation
is at stake. YAHUSHUA‘s reputation is at stake. We dare not do less than our
best to set the record straight.
It’s time to restore the name YAHWEH,
to the Word of YAHWEH.
It’s time to honor YAHWEH by
worshipping in His actual name:
YAHWEH