The False Oath That Consumes Stone and Timber

Pesikta Rabbati 22:1

Curated by Arthur·Told by Maggid·

"You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold guiltless one who takes His name in vain." It is written, "I counsel you, keep the king's command, and that in regard of the oath of God" (Ecclesiastes 8:2). Rabbi Levi said: "keep the king's command" - the mouth of the King of kings of kings, the Holy One, the mouth that said to us "I am the LORD your God" (Exodus 20:2), that I will keep; "and in regard of the oath of God," "you shall have no other gods before Me" (Exodus 20:3), "the oath of God," "you shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain." It is written: "Will you not fear Me, says the LORD, will you not tremble before Me, who have placed the sand as a boundary for the sea, an everlasting decree it cannot pass?" (Jeremiah 5:22). The Holy One said: I decreed a decree upon the sea; did it pass over My decree and say, I will rise and flood the whole world? God forbid, it did not, but kept My decree, as it is written, "I broke My boundary upon it and set bars and doors and said, This far you may come and no farther" (Job 38:10-11). And these matters are an a fortiori argument: if the sea, which was created singly, kept My decree, you who are many - how much more should you keep My decree. "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain." A noblewoman asked Rabbi Yose, saying: why is the lamed taller than all the letters? He said to her: because it is a herald, and the way of a herald is to stand in a high place and proclaim. How many of the Words did Israel hear directly from the Almighty? Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi said: two Words; and the Rabbis say: Israel heard all the Words from the mouth of the Almighty. After all the Words, what is written? "They said to Moses, You speak with us and we will hear, but let not God speak with us lest we die" (Exodus 20:16). The whole Torah is six hundred thirteen commandments, yet the numerical value of "Torah" comes only to six hundred eleven; Moses spoke to us; "I am" and "You shall have no other" Moses did not speak to us. "You shall not take." Rabbi Zeira said: if Scripture speaks of a false oath, it already said, "You shall not swear by My name falsely" (Leviticus 19:12); what then does "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain" teach? That you should not take upon yourself authority for which you are not fit. Rabbi Menahem said in the name of Rabbi Mani: never run after authority. Why? "What will you do in the end thereof, when your neighbor has put you to shame?" (Proverbs 25:8) - tomorrow they come and ask you questions; how will you answer them? And whoever takes authority upon himself in order to derive benefit from it is like an adulterer who derives benefit from the body of a woman. Rabbi Abahu said: I am called holy and you are called holy; if you do not have all the qualities that are in Me, do not take authority upon yourself. Another interpretation: "You shall not take in vain" - that you not be one who wears phylacteries and wraps himself in a prayer shawl and goes about committing transgressions. Rabbi Yannai said: phylacteries require a clean body. Why did Israel not hold fast to them? Because of the deceivers. It happened that a man was carrying his money on Friday at dusk and saw a man praying with phylacteries on his head. He said: there is no one with whom to deposit this money but this man, who is wrapped in the commandments of his Creator. He deposited it with him. When the Sabbath went out, the man denied it. He said: I did not trust you, but the holy Name on your head. He wrapped himself in his prayer shawl, stood, and prayed in that place, saying before Him: Master of the world, I did not trust you but Your holy Name upon his head. While he was still praying he rested and died there. Elijah, may he be remembered for good, revealed himself to that man and said: go, tell that man's wife the sign that was between us - that on the night of Passover we ate leaven, and on the night of the great fast we ate from a certain heretic's food; give me the deposit. She tested it and gave it. When he came home, he began to beat her. She said: why do you beat me? The sign that was between us he gave me, so I gave it to him. He said: since we have been exposed, let us return to our packs. From here they said: do not trust a convert until twenty-two generations. Another interpretation: "You shall not take." Rabbi Simon said: if it speaks of a false oath, it is already said, "You shall not swear by My name falsely"; what does "You shall not take in vain" teach? This is a true oath that is also in vain. Rabbi Hunia in the name of Rabbi Shmuel bar Nahman: twenty-four councils in the south were destroyed over a true oath that was in vain. Hezekiah said: even if one says of an olive that it is an olive and of a fig that it is a fig, that is a vain oath. Rabbi Simon said: an oath is not administered to one who runs after taking oaths. The matter of Bar Telamyon supports the Rabbis: it happened that a man deposited a hundred dinars with Bar Telamyon. He went to ask for them, and Bar Telamyon said: what you deposited with me I returned to your hand. The man said: come, I will make you swear. What did Bar Telamyon do? He took a reed, hollowed it out, put those dinars inside, and went leaning on it. When he entered the synagogue, he said: hold this reed in your hand and I will swear to you - my lord, that good which he deposited with me I returned to your hand. The man, in his anger, threw the reed to the ground, and the dinars scattered; he began to gather them. Bar Telamyon said: gather, gather - you are gathering only what is yours. It is written: "the oath of the LORD shall be between them both" (Exodus 22:10); if the one who imposes the oath imposes it falsely, it falls upon him. Rabbi Simon said: why do they administer an oath to a man and set before him inflated wineskins and blow shofars? To say: yesterday these were full of sinews and bones, and now they are empty of all; so whoever swears falsely to his fellow will in the end go out empty of all his possessions. It is written: "I will bring it forth, says the LORD of hosts, and it shall enter the house of the thief and the house of him who swears falsely by My name, and it shall lodge in his house and consume it, both its timber and its stones" (Zechariah 5:4). Rabbi Abba bar Kahana said: things that fire does not burn, the false oath consumes; the way of fire is to consume wood, but stones? Here it consumes both its timber and its stones. It was taught: every prohibition with no action is not punished by lashes, except for the one who substitutes a sacrifice, who swears, and who curses his fellow by the Name. Rabbi Yohanan in the name of Rabbi Meir: it is written, "the LORD will not hold guiltless," hence the earthly court flogs and so cleanses. Why do Israel pray and are not answered? Rabbi Yehoshua ben Levi in the name of Rabbi Pinhas ben Yair: because they do not know the secret of the Ineffable Name. But in the time to come they will swear and fulfill, as it is said, "and you shall swear, As the LORD lives, in truth, in justice, and in righteousness" (Jeremiah 4:2).

Themes

SpeechCommandmentsDivine Justice

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