Exodus 20:16
New International Version
“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

New Living Translation
“You must not testify falsely against your neighbor.

English Standard Version
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Berean Standard Bible
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

King James Bible
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

New King James Version
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

New American Standard Bible
“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

NASB 1995
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

NASB 1977
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Legacy Standard Bible
“You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Amplified Bible
“You shall not testify falsely [that is, lie, withhold, or manipulate the truth] against your neighbor (any person).

Christian Standard Bible
Do not give false testimony against your neighbor.

Holman Christian Standard Bible
Do not give false testimony against your neighbor.

American Standard Version
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

Aramaic Bible in Plain English
You shall not testify a false testimony against your neighbor.

Brenton Septuagint Translation
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

Contemporary English Version
Do not tell lies about others.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

English Revised Version
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.

GOD'S WORD® Translation
"Never lie when you testify about your neighbor.

Good News Translation
"Do not accuse anyone falsely.

International Standard Version
"You are not to testify falsely against your neighbor.

JPS Tanakh 1917


Literal Standard Version
You do not answer [with] a false testimony against your neighbor.

Majority Standard Bible
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

New American Bible
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

NET Bible
"You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

New Revised Standard Version
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

New Heart English Bible
"Do not give false testimony against your neighbor.

Webster's Bible Translation
Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor.

World English Bible
“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

Young's Literal Translation
'Thou dost not answer against thy neighbour a false testimony.

Additional Translations ...
Audio Bible



Context
The Ten Commandments
15You shall not steal. 16You shall not bear FALSE witness against your neighbor. 17You shall not covet your neighbor’s house. You shall not covet your neighbor’s wife, or his manservant or maidservant, or his ox or donkey, or anything that belongs to your neighbor.”…

Cross References
Matthew 19:18
"Which ones?" the man asked. Jesus answered, "'Do not murder, do not commit adultery, do not steal, do not bear false witness,

Luke 3:14
Then some soldiers asked him, "And what should we do?" "Do not take money by force or false accusation," he said. "Be content with your wages."

Exodus 23:1
"You shall not spread a false report. Do not join the wicked by being a malicious witness.

Exodus 23:7
Stay far away from a false accusation. Do not kill the innocent or the just, for I will not acquit the guilty.

Leviticus 19:11
You must not steal. You must not lie or deceive one another.

Leviticus 19:18
Do not seek revenge or bear a grudge against any of your people, but love your neighbor as yourself. I am the LORD.

Deuteronomy 5:20
You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.


Treasury of Scripture

You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor.

Exodus 23:6,7
Thou shalt not wrest the judgment of thy poor in his cause…

Leviticus 19:11,16
Ye shall not steal, neither deal falsely, neither lie one to another…

Deuteronomy 19:15-21
One witness shall not rise up against a man for any iniquity, or for any sin, in any sin that he sinneth: at the mouth of two witnesses, or at the mouth of three witnesses, shall the matter be established…

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Bear Neighbor Neighbour Testimony Witness
Exodus 20
1. The ten commandments are spoken by Jehovah
18. The people are afraid, but Moses comforts them
21. Idolatry is forbidden
23. Of what sort the altar should be














(16) Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour.--Our fourth duty to our neighbour is not to injure his character. Our great poet has said--

"Who steals my purse, steals trash,

But he who filches from me my good name,

Robs me of that which not enriches him,

Yet leaves me poor indeed,"--

Thus indicating the fact that calumny may injure a man more than robbery. False witness is, of course, worst when given in a court of justice; and this offence has generally been made punishable by law. It was peculiar to the Hebrew legislation that it not only forbade and punished (Deuteronomy 19:16-20) false testimony of this extreme kind, but denounced also the far commoner, yet scarcely less injurious, practice of spreading untrue reports about others, thus injuring them in men's esteem. The ninth commandment is broad enough in its terms to cover both forms of the sin, though pointing especially to the form which is of the more heinous character. Lest its wider bearing should be overlooked, the Divine legislator added later a distinct prohibition of calumny in the words. "Thou shalt not raise a false report" (Exodus 23:1).

Verse 16. - Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour. False witness is of two kinds, public and private. We may either seek to damage our neighbour by giving false evidence against him in a court of justice, or simply calumniate him to others in our social intercourse with them. The form of the expression here used points especially to false witness of the former kind, but does not exclude the latter, which is expressly forbidden in Exodus 23:1. The wrong done to a man by false evidence in a court may be a wrong of the very extremest kind - may be actual murder (1 Kings 21:13) More often, however, it results in an injury to his property or his character. As fatal to the administration of justice, false witness in courts has been severely visited by penalties in all well-regulated states. At Athens the false witness was liable to a heavy fine, and if thrice convicted lost all his civil rights. At Rome, by a law of the Twelve Tables, he was hurled headlong from the Tarpeian rock. In Egypt, false witness was punished by amputation of the nose and ears (Records of the Past, vol. 8. p. 65). Private calumny may sometimes involve as serious consequences to individuals as false witness in a court. It may ruin a man; it may madden him; it may drive him to suicide. But it does not disorganise the whole framework of society, like perjured evidence before a tribunal; and states generally are content to leave the injured party to the remedy of an action-at-law. The Mosaic legislation was probably the first wherein it was positively forbidden to circulate reports to the prejudice of another, and where consequently this was a criminal offence.

Parallel Commentaries ...


Hebrew
You shall not
לֹֽא־ (lō-)
Adverb - Negative particle
Strong's 3808: Not, no

bear
תַעֲנֶ֥ה (ṯa·‘ă·neh)
Verb - Qal - Imperfect - second person masculine singular
Strong's 6030: To answer, respond

FALSE
שָֽׁקֶר׃ (šā·qer)
Noun - masculine singular
Strong's 8267: Deception, disappointment, falsehood

witness
עֵ֥ד (‘êḏ)
Noun - masculine singular construct
Strong's 5707: A witness, testimony, a recorder, prince

against your neighbor.
בְרֵעֲךָ֖ (ḇə·rê·‘ă·ḵā)
Preposition-b | Noun - masculine singular construct | second person masculine singular
Strong's 7453: Friend, companion, fellow


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OT Law: Exodus 20:16 You shall not give false testimony against (Exo. Ex)
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