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Deuteronomy 5:20

Old Testament Law (Torah) ASV (1901)

What does Deuteronomy 5:20 say?

The American Standard Version records this verse as: “Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbor.” Read the surrounding verses and the named sources below before drawing broader conclusions.

The verse

Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbor.
Deuteronomy 5:20 — American Standard Version

Context — Deuteronomy 5

American Standard Version (1901) — public domain. Click any verse for its study page.
17Thou shalt not kill.
18Neither shalt thou commit adultery.
19Neither shalt thou steal.
20Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbor.
21Neither shalt thou covet thy neighbor`s wife; neither shalt thou desire thy neighbor`s house, his field, or his man-servant, or his maid-servant, his ox, or his ass, or anything that is thy neighbor`s.
22These words Jehovah spake unto all your assembly in the mount out of the midst of the fire, of the cloud, and of the thick darkness, with a great voice: and he added no more. And he wrote them upon two tables of stone, and gave them unto me.
23And it came to pass, when ye heard the voice out of the midst of the darkness, while the mountain was burning with fire, that ye came near unto me, even all the heads of your tribes, and your elders;
← Deuteronomy 5:19Deuteronomy 5:21 →
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What do historical commentaries say?

Barnes' Notes
Albert Barnes (1798–1870) · Notes on the Whole Bible · 19th-century historical commentary
“Compare Exodus 20:0 and notes. Moses here adopts the Ten Words as a ground from which he may proceed to reprove, warn, and exhort; and repeats them, with a certain measure of freedom and adaptation. Our Lord Mark 10:19 and Paul Ephesians 6:2-3 deal similarly with the same subject. Speaker and hearers recognized, however, a statutory and authoritative form of the laws in question, which, because it was familiar to both parties, needed not to be reproduced with verbal fidelity. Deuteronomy 5:12-15 The exhortation to observe the Sabbath and allow time of rest to servants (compare Exodus 23:12) is pointed by reminding the people that they too were formerly servants themselves. The bondage in…”
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Wesley's Explanatory Notes
John Wesley (1703–1791) · Explanatory Notes upon the New Testament and Old Testament notes · 18th-century historical commentary
“Neither shalt thou bear false witness against thy neighbour - Have you not been guilty of evil - speaking? Of needlessly repeating the real fault of your neighbour? If I see a man do an evil thing, and tell it to another, unless from a full and clear conviction, that it is necessary to mention it just then, for the glory of God, the safety or good of some other person, or for the benefit of him that hath done amiss; and unless I then do it only so far, as is necessary to these ends, that is evil - speaking. O beware of this! It is scattering abroad arrows, fire - brands, and death. Deuteronomy 5:21”
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Treasury of Scriptural Knowledge
R. A. Torrey and contributors · The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge · Cross-reference reference work
“Deu 19:16-21; Exo 20:16, Exo 23:1; Kg1 21:13; Pro 6:19, Pro 19:5, Pro 19:9; Mal 3:5 Deuteronomy 5:21”
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Related study paths

Read Deuteronomy 5 in contextBrowse Hebrew word studiesOpen this verse in the study reader

Sources and verification