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Taking the Lord’s Name in Vain
Why this commandment doesn’t mean what you think it means.
Growing up as I did in the Southern Baptist tradition, I was introduced very early to the notion of taking the Lord’s name in vain.
I understood from a young age that this commandment was important; that “taking the Lord’s name in vain” involved using any name of God as a swear word. This, of course, included not only “God,” but also “Jesus,” “Christ,” and even “Lord.”
But what does it really mean to take the Lord’s name in vain? Does it really mean what everyone thinks it means?
THE TEN COMMANDMENTS
The list of the Ten Commandments is found in the Bible in Exodus chapter 20 and Deuteronomy chapter 5.
Exodus 20:7a/Deuteronomy 5:11a (KJV) — Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.
The more modern NIV uses a slightly different translation that hits the point home more clearly:
You shall not misuse the name of the Lord your God.
“Misuse” makes the meaning pretty clear. Don’t swear with, or otherwise corrupt, God’s name.
WHAT IS GOD’S NAME?
For many modern people, God’s name is simply “God.” But that wasn’t the case for the ancient Israelites. For them, God had a literal name, just like you and I do. His name was Yahweh.
This name is used hundreds of times in Jewish scriptures, from Genesis through Malachi. The reason you’ve never seen it in your Old Testament is because the phrase “the Lord” is used in place of it.
So when the writers of the 10 Commandments said, “Don’t take the Lord’s name in vain,” they meant, explicitly, “Yahweh.” Don’t take Yahweh’s name in vain.
This creates problems, then, if one wishes to interpret the Third Commandment as a proscription against swearing with God’s name. Who, after all, when they stub their toe, will scream out “Yahweh!”?
But any other word we use for God — like Lord, Jesus, Christ, or even the word God itself — isn’t actually God’s name. So why should it be considered breaking the commandment to swear with, or otherwise misuse such a word?
