BEARING false witness is shown in the Bible to have been as devastatingly effective as it was completely unfair, a fact which shows the necessity of such an imperative rule as that ordained by Moses in the commandment, "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbour" (Ex. 20:16). By demanding that men accuse Naboth falsely of blasphemy, the notorious Queen Jezebel brought about Naboth's death to satisfy the whim of her husband, Ahab (see I Kings 21:7-14); while similar and equally invalid accusations found in the New Testament brought about the murder of Stephen, the first Christian martyr (see Acts 6:11-13), and contributed directly to the crucifixion of Jesus himself (see Mark 14:55-59).
The book of Deuteronomy (see 5:20) not only records substantially the wording of the ninth commandment as set down in Exodus but extends the application of this law, ruling that if the giving of false witness were proved in any case, the perjuror was to receive the same penalty which he had sought to bring upon the man who was on trial, "Then shall ye do unto him, as he had thought to have done unto his brother" (19:19). In an obvious effort to assure honest testimony, especially when the life of the accused might be endangered, the book of Deuteronomy laid down the law that no man could be condemned to death on the word of a single individual but that either two or three witnesses were required in such cases (see 17:6; also John 8: 17).
In the Beatitudes, Christ Jesus blesses those who have to endure false accusations for his sake, assuring them that rejoicing and abounding gladness await them, together with great rewards in heaven, implying that the stand they are so boldly taking is comparable to that taken by the prophets of the Old Testament period (see Matt. 5:11, 12). Then, in addition, we find that the Master broadens the scope of the ninth commandment, going far beyond the condemnation of false witness and counseling his hearers not even to judge one another in any degree, lest they themselves be judged in return (see Matt. 7:1).
