Exodus 20:7

Exodus 20:7

Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

a. The same exact wording is found in Deuteronomy 5:11.

1. “Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain…”

a. take [5375 * nasa’] [Gesenius: to lift, bear up, carry, take, to lift, lift up, to bear, carry, support, sustain, endure, to take, take away, carry off, forgive, to be lifted up, be exalted, to lift oneself up, rise up, to be borne, be carried, to be taken away, be carried off, be swept away, to lift up, exalt, support, aid, assist, to desire, long (fig.)

to carry, bear continuously, to take, take away,

to lift oneself up, exalt oneself, to cause one to bear (iniquity), to cause to bring, have brought.]

b. vain [7723 * shav’] [Gesenius: emptiness, vanity, falsehood, emptiness, nothingness, vanity,  emptiness of speech, lying, worthlessness (of conduct)]

c. Leviticus 18:21 “…neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.”

1). profane [2490 * chalal] [Gesenius: to profane, defile, pollute, desecrate, begin, to profane oneself, defile oneself, pollute oneself,  ritually, sexually, to be polluted, be defiled,  to profane, make common, defile, pollute, to violate the honour of, dishonor, to violate (a covenant), to treat as common, to profane the name of God), to let be profaned, to begin, to be begun, to wound (fatally), bore through, pierce, bore, to pierce, to be slain, to wound, pierce, to be wounded.]

d. The same Hebrew word used in Leviticus 18:21 for “profane”, is translated ‘pollute’ in Ezekiel 39.

1). Ezekiel 39:7 So will I make my holy name known in the midst of my people Israel; and I will not let them pollute my holy name any more: and the heathen shall know that I am the LORD, the Holy One in Israel.

a). pollute [2490 * chalal] [Gesenius: to profane, defile, pollute, desecrate, begin, to profane, oneself, defile oneself, pollute oneself, ritually, sexually, to be polluted, be defiled, to profane, make common, defile, pollute, to violate the honour of, dishonor, to violate (a covenant), to treat as common, to profane (name of God), to let be profaned…]

e. The enemies of God take His name in vain.

1). Psalm 139:20 For they speak against thee wickedly, and thine enemies take thy name in vain.

2). I can’t get away from a sense of conviction if I sit inside a theater or in my living room and hear God’s name being taken in vain. I should not participate in that by continuing to watch the show.

2. “…for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.”

a. guiltless [5352 * naqah] [Gesenius: to be empty, be clear, be pure, be free, be innocent, be desolate, be cut off, to be empty, be clean, be pure, to be cleaned out, be purged out, to be clean, be free from guilt, be innocent, to be free, be exempt from punishment, to be free, be exempt from obligation

to hold innocent, acquit, to leave unpunished.]