Commandment #9: "ana seqer ed"
It's Hebrew for "bear false witness," obviously.
Remember that time when Moses went up on the mountain and came down with ten major rules? Yeah? You do?
Okay, but do you remember when everyone constantly sucked at following these rules?
Yeah? Oh.
Well…here we are.
Commandment #9 is a simple one:
“Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.”
Exodus 20:16
Don’t make lies about your neighbor. Easy enough, right?
Or is it?
“Bear false witness,” or “ana seqer ed,” isn’t as simple as it seems.
First:
We have to talk about a very specific repeated occurrence that happened to the Israelite people. When they were slaves in Egypt, not all that long ago from when the Commandments were passed down, they had no rights. That may seem like it’s an obvious statement, but when I say they didn’t have rights, that means that they couldn’t fight back. It means, my dear reader, that if Dave the Egyptian said that Bob the Israelite stole his loaf of bread, Bob the Israelite couldn’t defend his honor. It means that Bob had to accept his punishment despite not stealing anything.
Not only did it dehumanize the Israelites to the point of not being able to speak up, fight back, or defend themselves, it dehumanized them to the Egyptians, who truly believed that they were rebel-scum. It means that the Egyptians could easily take advantage of the Israelites however they saw fit.
This is not a new train of thought, by any means. These are facts that have plagued any society who has ever dealt with any kind of slavery (and by any society, I mean all societies, because every single society in all of human existence had slaves).
Second:
We have to discuss how perverse that is, not just to people, but to God. One of his names, Jehovah Mekoddishkem (wow, what a mouthful), means the Lord who sanctifies you and/or makes you holy.
It is plainly written, throughout the entirety of the Torah and New Testament, that God is a God of justice. He is one who demands righteousness from those who follow Him and someone who expects righteousness and good deeds from those who don’t.
“What’s the point, Reverend Doc?”
The point is that God doesn’t like anyone gaining high ground of any situation while simultaneously shoving someone down.
God is Jehovah Mekoddishkem, and He wants justice for those treated unrighteously.
Now that we have that out of the way, let’s talk about “ana seqer ed” and what it meant to the Israelites:
Bear, or “ana,” means to speak, testify or dwell on something.
False, or “seqer,” means to lie, deceive or find disappointment. This word specifically comes from the word “saqar,” a verb translated as cheating or tricking.
Witness, or “ed,” means evidence or testimony. This word comes from the root “ud” meaning to repeat or testify multiple times.
The definitions of these words sound a little Law & Order-ish, wouldn’t you agree?
That’s because they are.
God gave this commandment for two main reasons:
To show the Israelites that He was aware of how they had been inhumanely treated, and,
To give the Israelites their humanity back.
This humanity was given back by not only being seen, but also by God giving them basic rules in a court of law. This court, no matter if it was just two neighbors squabbling about a fence line, meant that they had the power to squabble.
But to use that squabbling in a way that brought honor to God.
And how do you honor God during a squabble?
Be. Truthful.
Don’t speak lies to your neighbor or about your neighbor.
Don’t testify and deceive your neighbor multiple times.
And, on the flip side, don’t dwell when someone lies and spreads false testimony about you.
God gave the freedom back to the Israelites, not just to live life as free people, but to live as law-abiding citizens, rather than beaten down slaves.
It’s a bit cooler than just saying “don’t bear false witness,” wouldn’t you agree?
Go read with confidence. Thanks for being here.
