"Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor" () (Exodus 20:16) is one of the Ten Commandments,The number varies between religions."Counting the Ten Commandments", Bible Study Magazine, October 31, 2014Exodus 20:1-21, Deuteronomy 5:1-23, Ten Commandments, New Bible Dictionary, Second Edition, Tyndale House, 1982 pp. 1174-1175 widely understood as moral imperatives in Judaism and Christianity.Posner, Richard A., How Judges Think, Harvard University Press, 2008, p. 322; Ten Commandments, New Bible Dictionary, Second Edition, Tyndale House, 1982 pp. 1174-1175Bromiley, Geoffrey W., The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, 1988, p. 117Williams, J. Rodman, Renewal theology: systematic theology from a charismatic perspective, 1996 p.240; Making moral decisions: a Christian approach to personal and social ethics, Paul T. Jersild, 1991, p. 24
The Book of Exodus describes the Ten Commandments as being spoken by God, inscribed on two stone tablets by the finger of God, broken by Moses, and rewritten by Yahweh on a replacement set of stones hewn by Moses.
The command against false testimony is seen as a natural consequence of the command to "love your neighbour as yourself". This moral prescription flows from the command for holy people to bear witness to their deity. Offenses against the truth express by word or deed a refusal to commit oneself to moral uprightness: they are fundamental infidelities to God and, in this sense, they undermine the foundations of covenant with God.
Ancient understanding
The Hebrew Bible contains a number of prohibitions against false witness, lying, spreading false reports, etc.Exodus 20:16, Deuteronomy 5:20, Exodus 23:1-2, Proverbs 19:5, Isaiah 29:20-22 For a person who had a charge brought against them and were brought before a religious prosecution, the charge was considered as established only on the evidence of two or three sworn witnesses. In cases where false testimony was suspected, the religious judges were to make a thorough investigation, and if false testimony were proven, the false witness was to receive the punishment he had intended to bring on the person falsely accused.Deuteronomy 19:17-19 For example, since murder was a capital crime, giving false testimony in a murder case was subject to the death penalty. Those eager to receive or listen to false testimony were also subject to punishment.Proverbs 21:28
False witness is among the six things God hates, king Solomon says. False testimony is among the things that defile a person, Jesus says.
The witness who hid what he had seen or what he knew bore his iniquity; if he realized his guilt, he had to confess his sin, brought to the Lord a female lamb or goat from the flock (or two turtledoves or two pigeons, or a tenth of an ephah of fine flour) for a sin offering as his compensation for the sin he committed.
The lying witness is a deceitful man, who mocks at justice. He is like a war club, or a sword, or a sharp arrow. ″A false witness will not go unpunished.″ King Solomon says. ″A false witness will perish″ if he does not repent.
The narrative in 1 Kings 21 describes a case of false testimony. King Ahab of Israel tried to convince Naboth the Jezreelite to sell him the vineyard Naboth owned adjacent to the king's palace. Ahab wanted the land to use as a vegetable garden, but Naboth refused to sell or trade the property to Ahab saying, "The forbid that I should give up to you what I have inherited from my fathers!"1 Kings 21:4 (JPS) Ahab's wife Jezebel then conspired to obtain the vineyard by writing letters in Ahab's name to the elders and nobles in Naboth's town instructing them to have two scoundrels bear false witness claiming that Naboth has cursed both God and the king. After Naboth was subsequently stoned to death, Ahab seized possession of Naboth's vineyard. The text describes the as very angry with Ahab, and the prophet Elijah pronounces judgment on both Ahab and Jezebel.1 Kings 21:20-23
The narrative in 2 Samuel 1 also contains a narrative which is often interpreted as false testimony.Commentary on 2 Samuel 1, The NIV Study Bible. 1995. Barker, Kenneth, Burdick, Donald; Stek, John; Wessel, Walter; Youngblood, Ronald, eds. Zondervan. Grand Rapids, MI, USA The 1 Samuel narrative had described Saul as killing himself by falling on his own sword after having been wounded by the Philistines on Mount Gilboa and being in a situation with no hope of victory or escape.1 Samuel 31 However, 2 Samuel tells of an Amalekite, who was probably on Mount Gilboa to strip the dead of their possessions, appearing to David with Saul's crown and royal arm band and giving testimony that he had himself killed king Saul. David immediately ordered that the Amalekite be put to death, saying, "Your blood be on your head, for your own mouth has testified against you, saying, 'I have killed the 's anointed.'"2 Samuel 1:16 ESV The truth of the Amalekite's testimony did not need to be determined for the sentence to be carried out: either the Amalekite had killed King Saul, or he had given false testimony to David regarding Saul's death. Both crimes were seen as equally deserving of the death penalty.
The ancient understanding of false testimony not only includes testifying with false words, but also failing to come forward with relevant testimony in response to a public charge. "If a person sins because he does not speak up when he hears a public charge to testify regarding something he has seen or learned about, he will be held responsible."Leviticus 5:1 NIV
Jewish doctrine Jewish law enumerates 613 Mitzvot or commandments, including several commandments related to honest testimony as related to judicial procedure.
Maimonides (the Rambam) further explained that if false testimony was calculated to occasion a monetary loss, the court should inflict a monetary loss of equal value on the false witness. Likewise, if the false testimony was calculated to result in death, the false witness is to suffer the same kind of death.The Commandments Vol. 1 p. 193 as quoted and discussed in Teaching Mitzvot: Concepts, Values, and Activities by Bruce Kadden, 2003, p. 107. In Sefer Hachinuch, one who fails to testify when one is aware of evidence is compared to one who stands idly by the blood of one's neighbor.The Commandments Vol. 2 p. 77 as quoted and discussed in Teaching Mitzvot: Concepts, Values, and Activities by Bruce Kadden, 2003, p. 107. The severity of breaking the ninth commandment is reflected in a midrash:
New Testament doctrine According to the New Testament, Jesus explains that obedience to the prohibition against false testimony from the ten commandments is a requirement for eternal life.Matthew 19:18, Mark 10:19, Luke 18:20 According to Jesus, false testimony comes from the sinful desires of the heart and makes people unclean.Matthew 15:18-19
The New Testament narrative also describes several occasions where people testify falsely against Jesus and his disciples. When Jesus was on trial before the Sanhedrin, the chief priests were looking for evidence to justify putting Jesus to death, and the narrative in Matthew's Gospel states that many false witnesses () came forward.Matthew 26:59-61 Jesus remained silent until the high priest charged him under oath to answer whether Jesus is "the Christ, the Son of God". Jesus answered affirmatively.Matthew 26:63-64
The Acts of the Apostles describes the disciple Stephen being seized and brought before the Sanhedrin. Those who opposed Stephen persuaded false witnesses to testify that Stephen was guilty of blasphemy against Moses and against God. Stephen used the occasion of his trial to remind the Sanhedrin of the Old Testament testimony of rebellion, idolatry, and persecution of the prophets that culminated in the murder of Jesus. The crowd was so angry that Stephen was stoned to death.Acts 6-7Commentary on Acts 6-7, The NIV Study Bible, Zondervan (1995)
The New Testament depicts the Apostles as being appointed as true witnesses to the ministry and resurrection of Jesus Christ.Acts 1 The Apostle Paul uses the Old Testament prohibition of false testimony to describe his fear of God if found to be a false witness about God regarding the resurrection.
In , Paul lists a number of the ten commandments which can be summed up in the saying "You shall love your neighbor as yourself". The Textus Receptus and the King James Bible include "You shall not bear false witness", but this commandment is missing from some early manuscripts containing Romans 13 and the Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges suggests that it is "perhaps to be omitted, on documentary evidence".Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges on Romans 13, accessed 30 September 2016
Some of those who belonged to the synagogue of the Freedmen and of the Cyrenians, and of the Alexandrians, and of those from Cilicia and Asia came upon Stephen and seized him and brought him before the council and set up false witnesses against him. These false witnesses said: "This man never ceases to speak words against this holy place (Temple of Jerusalem) and the law, for we have heard him say that this Jesus of Nazareth will destroy this place (Stephen said that the temple of Jesus′ body had been destroyed by others but raise it up by Him in three days, according with what Jesus had said ) and the customs that Moses delivered to us."(Stephen said what Jesus had said namely He had come to fulfil the Law of Moses and the Prophets) And gazing at him, all who sat in the council saw Stephen′ s face was like the face of an angel.
Many testified falsely against Jesus, but their statements did not agree. At last two witnesses said they had heard Him saying He would destroy that temple and in three days built another, not made with hands, (He really had meant the resurrection of His body, as a temple of the Holy Spirit, destroyed by others but raise it up by Him). Yet even about this their testimony did not agree.
Eastern Orthodox view The Eastern Orthodox Christian is expected to uphold truth, at all times and in all places, without exception. Slander and gossip are equally evil, and the initial speaker is responsible for any further damage caused as the report is spread. Unless there is a compelling reason to speak ill of someone, as is the case of protect oneself or others against harm, it is not permissible even if the account be true. Saint Dorotheus of Gaza said, "You may well know about the sin, but you do not know about the repentance."Dorotheos of Gaza, Discourses and Sayings, trans. Eric P. Wheeler (Kalamazoo, MI: Cistercian Publications, 1977), p. 135
Roman Catholic doctrine The Roman Catholic Church interprets the command against "false witness" more broadly than the Jewish historical context of perjury, and considers it as a broad prohibition against misrepresenting the truth in one's relation with others. This commandment enjoins truthfulness and respect for other's good name, even the dead. It prohibits detraction (true faults), calumny (false faults), gossip, rash judgment, lying, and the violation of secrets.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (§2469) states, "...The virtue of truth gives another his just due. Truthfulness keeps to the just mean between what ought to be expressed and what ought to be kept secret: it entails honesty and discretion. In justice, "as a matter of honor, one man owes it to another to manifest the truth."