What Does Leviticus 19:12 Mean in the King James?
And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
God’s name is his nature, so a false oath does more than lie: it makes that nature answer for the lie.
THE MEANING
When you swear falsely by God’s name, you attach the name, shem (שֵׁם), nature, to words that betray it. The verse holds the lie and the profaning together: the name is made common when it is used to give falsehood borrowed authority. “I am the LORD” sets God’s own character as the measure of what that name carries.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that invoking God’s name can make a false claim trustworthy; it exposes that use as profaning the very nature invoked.
THE ROOT
וְחִלַּלְתָּ
ve-ḥillalta
GROWS FROM
חלל
ḥ-l-l
To profane, pollute, or treat as common.
“profane” in this verse is ve-ḥillalta. The root shows profaning as making something set apart ordinary or common. Paired with swearing falsely, it reveals how invoking God’s name to shelter a lie handles that name as though it carried no distinct weight.
ALSO GROWS
ḥol: Common, ordinary
חֹל
This branch makes the movement visible: the name is treated as something ordinary when it is used to support falsehood.
ḥillul: Profanation, desecration
חִלּוּל
This noun names the act prohibited here, linking false use of the name with its being treated as common.
THE PATTERN
Invoking God’s name binds speech to the truth and character that name represents.
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.These are the things that ye shall do; Speak ye every man the truth to his neighbour; execute the judgment of truth and peace in your gates:But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth, neither by any other oath: but let your yea be yea; and your nay, nay; lest ye fall into condemnation.THE THREAD
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.Both verses use שֵׁם (shem, name), which carries the sense of the nature invoked. Exodus makes the consequence explicit: treating that name as empty leaves the speaker accountable.
This reading is from Selah Verse.
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