YaHuWaH
The Name Above
All Names
"You do not bear false witness against your neighbour."
This 9th Commandment in Exodus 20:16 has to do with not bringing false testimony against your neighbour. It is important that YaHuWaH's children give an honest testimony concerning what they have seen or heard when a brother or sister's actions are called into question.
In order for justice to be served, each case must be adjudicated according to the eyewitness testimony. Even in our courts of law, witnesses are made to swear that their testimony will be "the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth." Such an oath is designed to dissuade the temptation of giving false information to the judges. It does not guarantee it, but it promotes and encourages a righteous outcome.
So it is paramount in the kingdom of YaHuWaH that His people give an honest testimony concerning what they have seen or heard when a brother's actions are called into question. Intentionally bringing false information or lying about what the witness knows or saw can result in the innocent being punished and the guilty being freed from obligations or retribution.
This is a crucial issue in the relationship between YaHuWah and His people: nobody is allowed to testify falsely against their neighbour. When a crime is committed or someone in the community is harmed, the Torah provides instructions and guidelines so that justice can be administered and the truth can be looked into and found. However, one witness's account is insufficient to reach a conviction.
Deuteronomy Chapter 19 Verse 15
"One witness is not enough to convict a man accused of any crime or offence he may have committed. A matter must be established by the testimony of two or three witnesses."
With the testimony of at least two witnesses, the truth can usually be discerned when they are questioned separately.
If a witness is proven to be lying, the Torah has a righteous answer for this:
Deuteronomy Chapter 19 Verse 16 - 21
"If a malicious witness takes the stand to accuse a man of a crime, the two men involved in the dispute must stand in the presence of YaHuWaH before the priests and the judges who are in office at the time. The judges must make a thorough investigation, and if the witness proves to be a liar, giving false testimony against his brother, then do to him as he intended to do to his brother. You must purge the evil from among you. The rest of the people will hear of this and be afraid, and never again will such an evil thing be done among you. Show no pity: life for life, eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot."
How just and righteous our Almighty Creator is!
