Exodus 23:1

World English Bible (2000)

"You shall not spread a false report. Don't join your hand with the wicked to be a malicious witness.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

לֹ֥א תִשָּׂ֖א שֵׁ֣מַע שָׁ֑וְא אַל־תָּ֤שֶׁת יָֽדְךָ֙ עִם־רָשָׁ֔ע לִהְיֹ֖ת עֵ֥ד חָמָֽס׃

Transliteration

Not tiśśā šēmaʿ šāwe not-tāšet yādĕkā with-rāšāʿ to-hĕyōt ʿēd ḥāmās

Grammar Details

• *tiśśā*: qal imperfect 2nd person masculine singular - lift/carry/take up
• *šēmaʿ*: noun masculine singular construct - report/rumor
• *šāwe*: noun masculine singular - falsehood/emptiness/vanity
• *tāšet*: qal imperfect 2nd person masculine singular - put/place/set
• *yādĕkā*: noun feminine singular construct with 2nd person masculine singular suffix - your hand
• *rāšāʿ*: adjective masculine singular - wicked/evil person
• *hĕyōt*: qal infinitive construct - to be/become
• *ʿēd*: noun masculine singular - witness
• *ḥāmās*: noun masculine singular - violence/wrong/injustice

Word Meanings

• *tiśśā*: lift up/carry/raise/bear/take
• *šēmaʿ*: report/rumor/hearsay
• *šāwe*: falsehood/emptiness/worthlessness/vanity
• *tāšet*: put/place/set/join
• *ḥāmās*: violence/wrong/injustice/malicious

Referenced Verses

• Ps 101:5 : 5 I will silence whoever secretly slanders his neighbor. I won't tolerate one who is haughty and conceited.
• Ps 35:11 : 11 Unrighteous witnesses rise up. They ask me about things that I don't know about.
• Exod 20:16 : 16 "You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.
• Prov 19:5 : 5 A false witness shall not be unpunished. He who pours out lies shall not go free.
• Exod 23:7 : 7 "Keep far from a false charge, and don't kill the innocent and righteous: for I will not justify the wicked.
• Lev 19:11 : 11 "'You shall not steal. "'You shall not lie. "'You shall not deceive one another.
• Lev 19:16 : 16 "'You shall not go up and down as a slanderer among your people. "'You shall not endanger the life of your neighbor. I am Yahweh.
• Deut 5:20 : 20 "Neither shall you give false testimony against your neighbor.
• Deut 19:16-21 : 16 If an unrighteous witness rise up against any man to testify against him of wrongdoing, 17 then both the men, between whom the controversy is, shall stand before Yahweh, before the priests and the judges who shall be in those days; 18 and the judges shall make diligent inquisition: and, behold, if the witness is a false witness, and has testified falsely against his brother; 19 then you shall do to him as he had thought to do to his brother: so you shall put away the evil from the midst of you. 20 Those who remain shall hear, and fear, and shall henceforth commit no more any such evil in the midst of you. 21 Your eyes shall not pity; life [shall go] for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot.
• Matt 26:59-61 : 59 Now the chief priests, the elders, and the whole council sought false testimony against Jesus, that they might put him to death; 60 and they found none. Even though many false witnesses came forward, they found none. But at last two false witnesses came forward, 61 and said, "This man said, 'I am able to destroy the temple of God, and to build it in three days.'"
• Matt 28:14-15 : 14 If this comes to the governor's ears, we will persuade him and make you free of worry." 15 So they took the money and did as they were told. This saying was spread abroad among the Jews, and continues until this day.
• Luke 3:14 : 14 Soldiers also asked him, saying, "What about us? What must we do?" He said to them, "Extort from no one by violence, neither accuse anyone wrongfully. Be content with your wages."
• Luke 19:8 : 8 Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, "Behold, Lord, half of my goods I give to the poor. If I have wrongfully exacted anything of anyone, I restore four times as much."
• Acts 6:11-13 : 11 Then they secretly induced men to say, "We have heard him speak blasphemous words against Moses and God." 12 They stirred up the people, the elders, and the scribes, and came against him and seized him, and brought him in to the council, 13 and set up false witnesses who said, "This man never stops speaking blasphemous words against this holy place and the law.
• Rom 3:8 : 8 Why not (as we are slanderously reported, and as some affirm that we say), "Let us do evil, that good may come?" Those who say so are justly condemned.
• Eph 4:25 : 25 Therefore, putting away falsehood, speak truth each one with his neighbor. For we are members of one another.
• 2 Tim 3:3 : 3 without natural affection, unforgiving, slanderers, without self-control, fierce, no lovers of good,
• 1 Pet 3:16 : 16 having a good conscience; that, while you are spoken against as evildoers, they may be disappointed who curse your good way of life in Christ.
• Rev 12:10 : 10 I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, "Now is come the salvation, the power, and the Kingdom of our God, and the authority of his Christ; for the accuser of our brothers has been thrown down, who accuses them before our God day and night.
• Ps 120:3 : 3 What will be given to you, and what will be done more to you, you deceitful tongue?
• Prov 6:19 : 19 a false witness who utters lies, and he who sows discord among brothers.
• Prov 10:18 : 18 He who hides hatred has lying lips. He who utters a slander is a fool.
• Prov 12:17 : 17 He who is truthful testifies honestly, but a false witness lies.
• Prov 17:4 : 4 An evildoer heeds wicked lips. A liar gives ear to a mischievous tongue.
• 2 Sam 16:3 : 3 The king said, "Where is your master's son?" Ziba said to the king, "Behold, he is staying in Jerusalem; for he said, 'Today the house of Israel will restore me the kingdom of my father.'"
• 2 Sam 19:27 : 27 He has slandered your servant to my lord the king; but my lord the king is as an angel of God. Do therefore what is good in your eyes.
• 1 Kgs 21:10-13 : 10 Set two men, base fellows, before him, and let them testify against him, saying, 'You cursed God and the king!' Then carry him out, and stone him to death." 11 The men of his city, even the elders and the nobles who lived in his city, did as Jezebel had sent to them, according as it was written in the letters which she had sent to them. 12 They proclaimed a fast, and set Naboth on high among the people. 13 The two men, the base fellows, came in and sat before him. The base fellows testified against him, even against Naboth, in the presence of the people, saying, "Naboth cursed God and the king!" Then they carried him out of the city, and stoned him to death with stones.
• Ps 15:3 : 3 He who doesn't slander with his tongue, nor does evil to his friend, nor casts slurs against his fellow man;
• Ps 27:12 : 12 Don't deliver me over to the desire of my adversaries, for false witnesses have risen up against me, such as breathe out cruelty.
• Prov 19:9 : 9 A false witness shall not be unpunished. He who utters lies shall perish.
• Prov 19:28 : 28 A corrupt witness mocks justice, and the mouth of the wicked gulps down iniquity.
• Prov 21:28 : 28 A false witness will perish, and a man who listens speaks to eternity.
• Prov 24:28 : 28 Don't be a witness against your neighbor without cause. Don't deceive with your lips.
• Prov 25:18 : 18 A man who gives false testimony against his neighbor is like a club, a sword, or a sharp arrow.
• Prov 25:23 : 23 The north wind brings forth rain: so a backbiting tongue brings an angry face.
• Jer 20:10 : 10 For I have heard the defaming of many, terror on every side. Denounce, and we will denounce him, [say] all my familiar friends, those who watch for my fall; perhaps he will be persuaded, and we shall prevail against him, and we shall take our revenge on him.
• Matt 19:18 : 18 He said to him, "Which ones?" Jesus said, "'You shall not murder.' 'You shall not commit adultery.' 'You shall not steal.' 'You shall not offer false testimony.'