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38 Hope of Israel Mail Bag

THE THIRD COMMANDMENT Second, let us consider the word “vain”:

The Third Commandment is understood to mean that we Strong’s #7723: “shav.” Meaning desolating, vain,
should not swear or curse using God’s name, YEHOVAH. uselessness, lie, lying, vanity, as well as falsehood,
It certainly does mean this. We can break the 3rd. Com- emptiness, nothingness and even used figuratively of
mandment through profanity (using YEHOVAH in blas- idolatry.
phemy and cursing), frivolity (using YEHOVAH in a
superficial, stupid way), and hypocrisy (claiming Basically, the Third Commandment means a lot more
YEHOVAH but acting in a way that disgraces Him). But is than meets the eyes or ears than to just not swear in the
that all that we get out of this commandment? Examining name of God, YEHOVAH. It means as well to not des-
the Scriptures, what additional meanings does the expres- olate, bring to nothing, bear falsely, take away God’s
sion “taking God’s name in vain” have? name, YEHOVAH.

Nowhere in the Scriptures is there a prohibition against Now let us look in those same 10 Commandments to
writing or pronouncing His name. There are, however, in- see if we can find this same Hebrew word, “shav”
structions to not blaspheme or take the name in vain. <7723>, but translated differently in the English trans-
lations:
Let us see within the 10 Commandments such reference.
Most tend to go to Exodus chapter 20 for the 10 Com- [Exodus 20:16] Thou shall not bear false <7723> wit-
mandments but not too many make reference to the book ness against thy neighbour.
of Deuteronomy. The Third Commandment reads slightly
different, not in English but in the Hebrew, in the book of [Deuteronomy 5:20] Neither shalt thou bear false
Deuteronomy. I suggest we take the sum of both accounts, <7723> witness against thy neighbour.
Exodus and Deuteronomy, for a complete understanding
of this, the Third Commandment. It reads: Here we have the very same Hebrew word, “shav”
<7723>, translated as “FALSE”!
[Exodus 20:7] Thou shalt not take <5375> the name of
Yahweh thy God in vain <7723>; for Yahweh will not In the English translations of the Old Testament, where
hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain <7723>. you see the term “the LORD or GOD (all capitals), it
should say YHVH (or YEHOVAH). By the way, His
[Deuteronomy 5:11] Thou shalt not take <5375> the Name appears in Scripture way over 6,000 times!
name of Yahweh thy God in vain <7723>: for Yahweh
will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain Now what has been done to God’s name, YEHOVAH?
<7723>. It has been FALSIFIED! It has been taken out of the
way and from the hearer’s ears and the reader’s eyes,
The numbers next to the words within this symbol, “<>”, lifted out of the translations, thereby making it vain, a
are their reference number to the Strong’s Exhaustive lie and brought to naught and of no effect -- except as
Concordance. revealed by God’s spirit to man that something is miss-
ing.
First, let us consider the word “take” used in the verses:
As a conclusion the Third Commandment could easily
Strong’s #5375: “nasa” {naw-saw} or “nacah” (Ps. 4:6 be translated:
[7]). This word means different things like bare (up), lift
(up), take (away, up), swear, carry (away), regard, to cause “Thou shalt not falsify the name of Yahweh
to bring, and many others. [YEHOVAH] thy God: for Yahweh [YEHOVAH]

The Berean Voice November-December 2002