To tell you the truth there are times a lie is needed

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Exodus 20:16 You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.

 

Good Monday morning friend:

 

One of the commitments that I am going to make to you is that when I learn something new about the interpretation of a verse or a word in a verse, I am going to pass that right on to you in the Bible Verse of the Day.

 

So, here we go! This verse is from the Ten Commandments that were given to Moses by the Lord. The simplest way to say this verse would be to say that we are not supposed to lie. Have you ever watched the daytime Judge Shows. Virtually every show is filled with testimony that has an abundance of lies. One person says that it was an apple the other says that it was a banana. There is absolutely no way to confuse an apple with a banana, because of the shape. Yet each will not give way. My tendency is to believe that both are lying!

 

I knew of someone years ago that would look people right in the eyes and with no sense of responsibility would lie with the greatest of ease. I would get so irritated with that behavior that I chose to have as little to do with the person as possible. I did not want to be accused of contributing to the lie.

 

The problem that we have with this Commandment is that there are times when a lie would seem to be necessary. If I was protecting someone from another who wanted to harm them and the person seeking to do harm asked me if I knew where the person was, the Commandment seems to say that I have to reveal the location of the person who would be in danger. Or, is there another way to understand what the word “False,” means!

 

My friend there are two words that are connected to the word “false” that are not in the translation of this verse, but in other verses the same word is translated differently. For example in Psalm 119:78 we read: “May the arrogant be put to shame for wronging me without cause….” The word ”False” in Exodus 20 verse 16 is the same Hebrew word that is translated “Without cause,” in Psalm 119:78.

 

It would certainly seem to me that I am allowed to tell a lie if the reason for the lie results in good being done.

 

The problem is not with the Hebrew or Greek, it is in the translation into our language, which is primarily English. Remember this, the Bible is not confusing, the translations of the Hebrew and Greek are what often cause the confusion.

In deference to the translators I will say this. If all of the significant flavors of the Hebrew and Greek words were included in the English translations of the Bible, we would probably have to have a wheelbarrow to carry our Bible to Church. The men and women who labor faithfully in the translation effort are doing the best they can with the limited space available to them.

 

 

But there is help available. If you would like to get a better understanding of what the Hebrew and Greek words actually mean, contact me at: revterryscreativeministries@yahoo.com and I can help you to the best of my ability with a word and also refer you to a book that is readily available for your own personal use.

 

Until tomorrow, may God’s Word enrich your life today!