In one episode of Seinfeld, George Costanza instructs his friend with these words: “Jerry, just remember. It’s not a lie if ‘you’ consider it.” Does George have some extent here? Of course he’s being intentionally deceptive—but what if I actually consider something to be true, though it’s falsehood, am I lying?
The Scripture speaks very clearly that bearing false witness is improper. It made the ten Commandments. And Jesus referred to Satan as the daddy of lies. It’s pretty clear that the Bible isn’t pro-lying. But what exactly does it mean by “telling a lie”?
Rahab was not honest when she hid spies in her home, but her act was considered to be morally upright. How will we square this with what the Bible says about not bearing false witness? Is it ever okay to lie? And what’s a lie, anyway?
What sorts of lies will we discover?
Do you remember the Smurfs? Do you remember their language? No, I don’t mean that they were dropping expletives—I mean that they used the word “smurf” to explain about one million various things. It might be used as a verb, a noun, an adjective, and, who knows, perhaps even it was an expletive. You could smurf anything.
The word “lie” is analogous to the word “smurf.” It has a big selection of uses.
- A fabrication is what a man does when he opens up the hood on his automobile and pretends like he knows what he’s .
- A bold-faced lie is when everybody knows you’re lying, but you only keep going anyway.
- A deceive children shouldn’t be only whenever you tell them that Santa Claus is real but in addition whenever you say, “That man has a boo-boo,” when the medical staff are putting him right into a body bag.
- An emergency lie is whenever you tell an untruth to guard a wife from her deranged husband.
- Bluffing is whenever you’re attempting to sell your hand of cards as a winner despite the fact that you’re holding an off-suited 2-3-6-9 and an old Topps baseball card checklist that by some means got into the deck.
- Puffery is when JC Penney says that that is “the most important sale of the yr.”
- Exaggeration is what your dad does when he tells you about that fish he almost caught.
- Perjury is whenever you lie under oath.
- You may also lie by omission whenever you omit just a few necessary details that may change the story entirely.
- You may also lie by misleading someone, like in the event you gave a reference for a lazy friend and said, “you’ll be lucky to get him to be just right for you.”
I could go on and on. As you’ll be able to see, there are several categories for lying. Augustine divided them into eight categories:
- Lies in religious teaching
- Lies that harm others and help nobody
- Lies that harm others and help someone
- Lies told for the pleasure of lying
- Lies told to “please others in smooth discourse”
- Lies that harm nobody and that help someone materially
- Lies that harm nobody and that help someone spiritually
- Lies that harm nobody and that protect someone from “bodily defilement”[1]
These are listed so as of seriousness. It’s not that something isn’t a lie in the event you consider it—but slightly, there are more serious types of lying. Hold onto this thought. We’ll come back to it in a moment. Before we introduce some ethical quandaries, let’s have a look at how the word is defined in each Hebrew and Greek.
Definition of Lie in Hebrew and Greek
There is absolutely one fundamental word in Greek to explain a lie. The term is pseudos and refers to that which is fake or deceiving. You’ve probably heard it thrown around, even in English. For example, “pseudoscience” is fake science. The base meaning is that of deception. It presents itself as something that’s real, authentic, and corresponding with reality, however it is definitely something else.
In Hebrew, there are various words which discuss with lying.
- Ramah means to deceive, and it is usually related to speech or deceptive business practices. For example, Jacob’s sons weren’t honest with Shechem and Hamor because they’d defiled Dinah.
- Saqar also points to deception, which is said to breaking guarantees and commitments. You said you’d go to the pool with me at 3 pm, but you lied and never showed up.
- Kahas is a term that points to relationships and an undependable person. Like, you never show up on the pool whenever you say you might be.
- Saw is one other common word often translated as “empty” or “vain.” It’s the concept of presenting something as real that may be a fraud. For example, you grab a Sharpie and sign a baseball card, then attempt to sell it on eBay as if it’s an authentic autograph.
- Nasa is what Eve accused the serpent of—lying to guide her astray. The fisherman employs this method when he hides the hook and dangles the worm in front of the fish.
It could be helpful for us to return to how the Hebrews had several different words for “lying” as an alternative of just one. But even still, none of them are held up nearly as good practices.
Situations Where Lying Is Condemned
The Bible unequivocally condemns lying in its various contexts. Proverbs 6:16-19 lists lying among the many seven things the Lord detests, highlighting its severity. And in Revelation 21:8, liars are amongst those destined for the second death, grouping them with murderers and idolaters. The destiny of liars shouldn’t be a very good one.
Lying can be condemned in legal and social contexts. The ninth commandment, “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16), was to be central to the material of Hebrew society. This is why the Proverbs speak often of the danger of false balances. And this was certainly one of the things that the prophets spoke so strongly against (just have a look at how Amos talks about this). Without truth, a society will crumble. This is why, within the New Testament, Paul connects lying to the old man and truth-telling to the one who has been redeemed by Christ.
This unequivocal stance on lying and the unchanging nature of God’s character makes for an interesting ethical discussion.
Does the Bible Ever Condone Lying?
There are actually just a few instances in Scripture where the Bible doesn’t seem even to contemplate something a “lie,” which we’d consider as such. If you extend that definition too far, you’ll have God encouraging Samuel to inform a lie. Consider 1 Samuel 16:2-3, here God instructs Samuel to be a bit covert—not telling the complete truth of his intentions—when he goes to anoint Saul as king.
Similarly, some have really been tripped up over Jesus telling his brothers that he wasn’t going to Jerusalem after which turning around and doing exactly what he said he wasn’t going to do. How is that this not a lie? Well, for one, he might need just modified his mind. That’s not likely a lie. But it can have more to do with the way through which the brothers wanted him to go. He wasn’t going their way, however it didn’t mean he wouldn’t go in any respect.
But there may be one story that may really trip us up: Rahab and the spies. She is clearly rewarded for her behavior. When they asked her concerning the spies, she flat-out lied. You cannot get round her saying, “I have no idea where they went,” when she knew precisely where they were. To try to flee this reality you’ll have to spin your individual yarn to accomplish that.
The Bible clearly rewards Rahab for her lying.
How Do We Answer This Conundrum?
Part of the reply is to return to Augustine. And also to know Hebrew thought. I’m going to open up a can of worms after which just sort of leave it there, though. There is within the OT (and NT) clearly an ordering of sins. As a fast example, notice that Jesus uses this argumentation when He picks grain on the Sabbath (Mt 12:1-8). Or when he heals someone on the Sabbath (Mt. 12:9-14). Something similar is occurring here.
You can break a lesser commandment if it means adhering to a greater commandment. But also consider what Jesus says in these sections. As he often does, he goes back to the problems of the center. It is out of the overflow of the center that the mouth speaks.
Think about why we’d lie. We deceive impress people, to get what we wish, to flee consequences, and to maintain the peace. Sometimes, we’d even lie for false intimacy, obscuring the reality with a purpose to slot in. Or we might need grow to be so accustomed to lying that it’s now a calloused habit, and we’re as entrenched as George Costanza in untruth. In such a case we’d say that it’s not false because I feel my very own lie.
When Jesus confronted the religious leaders he had some pretty sharp words for them. On one such occasion, he said, “You are of your father the devil, and your will is to do your father’s desires. He was a murderer from the start and has nothing to do with the reality because there isn’t a truth in him. When he lies, he speaks out of his own character, for he’s a liar and the daddy of lies.”
The only way Satan could be the daddy of lies is by knowing the reality so well. What separates the devil from truth shouldn’t be information but a blissful embracing of the reality. It was true of the religious leaders, and it will possibly be true of us as well. Lying shouldn’t be an issue of data. It is an issue of knowing the reality but not liking it. Lying is an try to change reality; and that’s to consider the age old lie that we’re the middle of reality, we’re self-sufficient, and that we’re on top of things.
That is why in the event you have a look at all of those definitions of “lying,” you may say that Rahab was a liar. But have a look at what is occurring in her heart. Hebrews 11 tells us. It was a heart of religion that believed in point of fact. Her heart was true as she spoke words to deceive evil people. The issue is the center. Her words and actions correspond to reality.
What Is the Biblical Definition of a Lie?
I actually have framed all of those inquiries to get us so far. How, then, might we define a lie? A lie is once we knowingly say or do something that doesn’t correspond to reality with the intention to harmfully deceive or with the intention of exalting ourselves. The heart is central to defining a lie.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lie
Photo Credit: ©GettyImages/stevanovicigor
Mike Leake is husband to Nikki and father to Isaiah and Hannah. He can be the lead pastor at Calvary of Neosho, MO. Mike is the creator of Torn to Heal and Jesus Is All You Need. His writing house is http://mikeleake.net and you’ll be able to connect with him on Twitter @mikeleake. Mike has a latest writing project at Proverbs4Today.
