The 9 Commandment

9. You shall not bear false witness against your neighbour.

In a Court of Law. The ninth commandment involves, first of all, judicial or courtroom matters. That is not its only sphere, but it is its primary one. The elders of a particular locale exercised jurisprudence in Israel. And the system was uncomplicated — there were no lawyers or fingerprints. What established truth was the testimony of witnesses (see, e.g., 1 Kings 21:13). Witnesses, therefore, could be responsible for life or death (Deut.17:6; 19:15; cf. Prov.25:18). In view of the seriousness of this matter, we see how the Lord seeks to safeguard the exercise of justice. One testimony is not enough, and the witnesses must throw the first stone (Deut.17:7). To stone someone with your own hands requires more courage than a few lying words! Someone unmasked for false witnessing had to receive to punishment the accused would have received (Deut.19:16-19).

All of these regulations serve to protect two things: (1) the accused from false witnesses and (2) the administration of ‘just’ justice.

God ordained the justice system for human welfare. To safeguard life (6th ), marriage (7th) and property (8th) you need legal institutions. The ninth commandment involves a crucial issue — the safeguarding of honor, life, marriage and property. Freedom vanishes and fear reigns with faulty justice systems. Where justice reigns, peace also reigns (Ps.72:1-3).

Forms of Untruthfulness. Obviously, the ninth commandment has in mind a much wider sphere than simply the judicial system. It forbids all forms of untruthfulness, all forms of lying (Eph.4:25). As such the ninth commandment aims at preserving the reputation, the good name, of the Israelite. That reputation is at risk both within and outside of the courtroom. A good name can be destroyed through:

(1) backbiting and gossip. Gossip need not include lying, but it does involve being untruthful. To say things that are true, but in the context of slander is deceitful. Here someone’s faults are described in minute detail, painting a false picture. It is a universal phenomena that we would rather here something bad, than good about our neighbor. Gossip can even come under the disguise of piety, either by giving the appearance of reluctance or by starting/ending the story with a trumpet of praise for the person. There is a big difference, Luther said, between knowing about sin and talking about sin;

(2) judging rashly. The disciples passed a blind man and asked Jesus who had sinned — the blind man or his parents (John 9:2). The media is great at making rash judgments — tearing apart a politician before the full story is known. Therefore Jesus said, ‘Judge not, that you be not judged.’ Now judgments are necessary in various situations. Judges, church leaders and all of us must evaluate matters as part of our God-given task. But too often we judge rashly. Who made you judge over us? We are not called to render a judgment in every situation.

(3) libel. Libel is lying openly and intentionally, lying when we know better. The Jews committed libel when they accused Jesus of saying something he didn’t really say. They changed the words he had said to the them: "I (Jesus said, ‘You’) will destroy this temple and I will raise it up." Libel often occurs by twisting someone’s ones words. Truth is in precision. This is a challenge in scientific research — the portrait is so easily tinted according to our tastes.

Who Is My Neighbor? The previous commandments involved neighbor, but here for the first time is he expressly mentioned. Is everyone our neighbor? In Israel, it was especially one’s fellow Israelite. In the New Testament, the neighbor is to be found first of all within the new people of God, the church (Rom.15:2; Jas.4:12; Eph.4:25). But we must include others. Recall the parable of the good Samaritan (Luk.10:25-37; cf. Rom.13:8-9; Tit.3:4). Our promises and pledges for protection must be kept for heretics and terrorists. "It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it (Eccl.5:5, NIV). Official who promise terrorists that they can leave unharmed, must keep their word. Joshua was supposed to kill the Gibeonites, residents of the pagan land of Canaan, but their envoys tricked him into believing they had come from a distant country to make a treaty with Israel. So Joshua made a treaty of friendship with them. When later Joshua discovered their deceit, he let them live otherwise God would have punished Israel for not keeping their sworn oath (Josh.9:1-27).

Lying Lives Deep. Lying comes very easily to us. As a result the verbal inflation rate is high: everything needs to be documented with invoices and receipts. We are not inherently trustworthy. One theologian (W. Aalders) thinks we do not take life seriously enough and make it into a game or a stage performance. Abraham Kuyper said that the world of fantasy is bigger and more interesting than the real world. Everyday life bores us. Gossip and deceit spices it up.

Why do we all fall for this game?We all stumble because of a little organ — the tongue. A bit in the horse’s mouth steers its whole body. A rudder directs a huge vessel. We can tame animals, but we cannot tame the tongue. Out of the same mouth proceeds blessing and cursing (Jas.3:2-10). The tongue is set afire by hell itself, James says, by the father of lies (John 8:44). Jesus said this to the Jews who were boasting that Abraham was their father. Through the fall into sin, man has not simply been defiled with the lie, but dominated by the lie. The truth of God is exchanged for the lie (Rom.1:25). The lie grips pagan nations. In one such nation, a girl was not to be told that she had pretty eyes or else the spirits would become jealous and hurt her. We try to preserve ourselves through lying.

No cure exists but radical conversion. That requires off to put off the old nature, under which the apostle Paul includes lying (Eph.4:22-25). For this we need the grace of God’s liberation from the bondage to lying — Christ is the way, the truth and life (John 14:6). Life with Christ removes the need to lie, the bondage to lying. Self-denial replaces self-preservation. But difficulties remain. Changes in behaviour are one thing. Changes in attitude are much different. You can speak the truth and still walk the lie.

Knowing how the lie lives deep in the human heart, the Bible understandably fulminates against false prophets. These prophets lead people back into idolatry and slavery, seducing them to surrender their freedom (Deut.13:1-18). There is always a constant struggle in the church to preserve truth.

Three Kinds of Lies. There are three classes of lies — the malicious, the jocular and the necessary.

(1) The malicious lie is the lie that has been discussed above — it is always a violation of the command.

(2) The jocular lie is the untruths we spout to amuse one another. This is not necessary lying because there is no intention to deceive. But sometimes elements of truth are mixed with untruth so that these elements cannot be distinguished (Prov.26:18-19). Here an intention to deceive and deride neighbor is disguised as humor. Then the joke becomes the lie.

(3) The lie of necessity. The Latin phrase is: lying (not against, but) for my neighbor’s benefit. Hiding the Jew in World War II is the classic example.

Should We Reject the Lie of Necessity? The church has throughout her history rejected the lie of necessity almost universally. Augustine argued that you may die bodily, but at least you won’t die in the soul. You shall love your neighbor as yourself. This is not achieved when we sacrifice our own eternal salvation to save the temporal life of our neighbour.

But the Bible contains some surprising examples of the lie of necessity. The midwives Shiphrah and Puah let the baby boys of Israel live after birth, contrary to Pharoah’s command. And yet they are spoken of as fearing God and as being blessed by God because of their attitude (see Exod.1:15-21). Rahab spoke falsehood in saying to the king of Jericho that she did not know where the spies were (Josh.2:4-6) and she is praised for her faith (Heb.11:31). Her faith was made complete by these works (Jas.2:25). These women performed a service to their neighbors by means of the lie of necessity.

But this lie must be distinguished from all lies for personal survival. Abraham and Isaac pretended their wives were their sisters in Egypt — this could have resulted in other men committing adultery with their wives (Gen.12:11-20; 20:2-18; 26:7-11). How about military deception? The Lord recommended such tactics in Joshua’s battle against Ai and in David’s fight against the Philistines (Josh.8:1-26; 2 Sam.5:22-25). Some argue that this is not lying, merely deception. We must speak the truth, they say, even if we deceive. Athanasius was asked by his pursuers, "Where is Athanasius?" He answered, "Athanasius is not far away; with a little effort you can find him." But one form of misleading is not better than the other. What is decisive is whether in particular circumstances we are permitted to mislead.

Dire Circumstances. But agreeing that the lying is sometimes permissible is dangerous. But it can also be dangerous to be silent when the Germans knock on the door locking for Jews. So the argument that we should remain silent rather than lie is weak. We must not condemn the lie of necessity — it’s a borderline situation, something we find in other commandments. Children are to obey their parents, except when their parents compel disobedience to the Lord. We are not to kill, except in self-defense. A lie of necessity, like these, is permitted, but only in dire circumstances — when life is at stake, either our neighbor’s or ours.

What is Courtesy, What is Pretense? There is also a fourth class of lies: the polite lie. This refers to signing off a letter, ‘sincerely yours’ or saying ‘Thank you’ to the question, "Have you had enough to eat" when really you would like more. But here we are not dealing with lying, but with customs of politeness. A lie intends to deceive, but we are not deceiving when we show respect to whom it is due or follow rules of etiquette. Politeness is something other than refined insincerity. But even etiquette can be corrupted. Politeness can become a lie. Pretense occurs in a common form when a Christian’s talk clashes with his walk, like the Pharisees who resemble whitewashed tombs (Matt.23;4,27).

Secrecy and Concealment. The ninth commandment forbids lying and thus requires us to love the truth and to speak and confess the truth uprightly. Sometimes this requires silence. Many jobs have a professional code of conduct, which require concealing truths: physicians, ministers, social workers, etc. A doctor may be confidential with certain diseases, but with others must divulge the information. In 1605, a plot was discovered in which some men were going to assassinate James I. Two Jesuit priests who had known of the plot because of their work in the confessional were executed for remaining silent. There’s a limit to the obligation of confidentiality. Tattle telling is necessary sometimes. Keeping silent is different from concealing the truth. We are true witnesses when we help our neighbor with our words, even when we have to oppose him.

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