The False Witness
Synopsis Deuteronomy 19:14-20:3 3/2/2018
Moses taught the people to not cheat and to not pervert the truth. He forbade them from moving ancient boundary markers. He also made a legal rule where a person could not be convicted on the basis of a single witness. Finally, in order to preserve the integrity of the process, he made the giving of false testimony a crime that was punished by giving the same punishment to the witness that would have been given to the accused if found guilty.
The False Witness
The ideal witness is one who has no self-interest. The ancients recognized that self-interest makes dubious testimony. And this isn’t merely an issue of maliciousness. Ancient wisdom recognized what modern science has proven: human beings interpret circumstances differently over time. Our true motives are often hidden from our conscious thought. This isn’t a choice, but a limitation of our brain’s capacity.
This is why, in the law of Moses, bearing witness was fraught with a downside. If a witness was found to be untruthful, that person was subject to judgement and punishment. The intent of the law is that a witness avoid offering any testimony that wasn’t absolutely certain.
Pure Speech
Two or three scrutinized witnesses make a claim true. This isn’t simply a juridical protection against a malicious person who wants to pervert justice for personal gain.
Yet if this God-given standard were the way of our ordinary speech, there would be no fraud, no calumny, no gossip, and no slander.
If the motive for my speech was the truth, my words would be few and lifegiving.
Lord, set a guard over my mouth. Keep a watchman over my lips.
“If I testify on my own behalf, my testimony cannot be verified.” John 5:35