Lord's name in vain

[nobspeople]

Growing up, adults around me said saying 'G*d D**n' was taking the Lord's name in vain.
Later in life, it was suggested to me that anytime you say God without it being respectful is taking the name in vain.

For discussion: What does taking the lord's name in vain actually mean and how do you do it (or refrain from doing it)?

[1213]

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For discussion: What does taking the lord's name in vain actually mean and how do you do it (or refrain from doing it)?

I have understood it means you use it without good reason.

[nobspeople]

...
For discussion: What does taking the lord's name in vain actually mean and how do you do it (or refrain from doing it)?

I have understood it means you use it without good reason.

So would this entail using it out of reverence or respect?

[Difflugia]

For discussion: What does taking the lord's name in vain actually mean and how do you do it (or refrain from doing it)?

In short, it means speaking God's name without taking it seriously, usually in the context of taking an oath. A common example would be lying and then saying, "may Yahweh strike me down if I'm lying," or, "as Yahweh lives, I'm not lying." It also applies if one treats a supplication to Yahweh lightly enough that it's treated as hyperbole, like asking Yahweh to damn (condemn to hell) the hammer that just struck your thumb. Asking in earnest for Yahweh to condemn someone that wronged you may be offensive for other reasons, but it's not taking His Name in vain.

At some point, it became Jewish religious practice to ensure compliance with the various laws by adding an extra layer of security. "Don't boil a kid in its mother's milk," was observed as never cooking with meat and milk at the same time, for example. In the same vein, "don't say Yahweh's Name in vain," was observed by never saying the Name at all. Our circumlocutions of saying "God," "the Lord," or "the Father" are modern remnants of this. In fact, it's been integrated so successfully that people have come to think of the word "God" as God's name such that asking "God" to condemn something is seen as breaking the commandment against using HIs Name in vain, though by definition (and by design of the Jewish leaders from whom we've inherited the practice), it isn't.

[Miles]

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I've always thought "in vain" meant in an irreverent, blasphemous, or at least disrespectful manner.


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[1213]

...
For discussion: What does taking the lord's name in vain actually mean and how do you do it (or refrain from doing it)?

I have understood it means you use it without good reason.

So would this entail using it out of reverence or respect?

I am not sure what you mean. But, I mean, if my every third word would be “God”, without it really having anything to do what I am telling, it would be using the word in vain. For example, if I would shout “oh God” pointlessly, then I think it is in vain.

[nobspeople]

...
For discussion: What does taking the lord's name in vain actually mean and how do you do it (or refrain from doing it)?

I have understood it means you use it without good reason.

So would this entail using it out of reverence or respect?

I am not sure what you mean. But, I mean, if my every third word would be “God”, without it really having anything to do what I am telling, it would be using the word in vain. For example, if I would shout “oh God” pointlessly, then I think it is in vain.

Yes.
That was what I was meaning.
Thanks for the response

[Difflugia]

I've always thought "in vain" meant in an irreverent, blasphemous, or at least disrespectful manner.

The usage has changed a bit since the Victorian English of the KJV, but "vain" and "vanity" originally referred to emptiness (from the Latin vanus, "empty" or "false"), rather than misplaced pride as they now do. A "vain" person was one that put on airs while being "empty" of real value. There are still remnants of the old usage; consider the phrase, "she tried in vain to open the pickle jar." There, the "trying" is "in vain," or void of results.

The Hebrew word translated "in vain" refers to empty speech in the sense of falsehood. Leaving shawe untranslated, Exodus 20:7 literally reads: "Do not lift the name of Yahweh your God to shawe, for Yahweh will not clear him that lifts his name to shawe." I would paraphrase that as, "Do not solemnly invoke Yahweh's name for a lie."

[Miles]

I've always thought "in vain" meant in an irreverent, blasphemous, or at least disrespectful manner.

The usage has changed a bit since the Victorian English of the KJV, but "vain" and "vanity" originally referred to emptiness (from the Latin vanus, "empty" or "false"), rather than misplaced pride as they now do. A "vain" person was one that put on airs while being "empty" of real value. There are still remnants of the old usage; consider the phrase, "she tried in vain to open the pickle jar." There, the "trying" is "in vain," or void of results.

The Hebrew word translated "in vain" refers to empty speech in the sense of falsehood. Leaving shawe untranslated, Exodus 20:7 literally reads: "Do not lift the name of Yahweh your God to shawe, for Yahweh will not clear him that lifts his name to shawe." I would paraphrase that as, "Do not solemnly invoke Yahweh's name for a lie."

That may have been, but as we know language changes and in doing so can reflect quite different meanings; those that no longer carry old definitions but new ones that resonate with the contemporary reader. Such is the case with the word "vain" and in particular the phrase "in vain."

Recognizing that the meaning of "vain" has changed, "vain," in conjunction with "in" now means

In vain
"in an irreverent or blasphemous manner: you shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain — Deuteronomy 5:11"
Source: Merriam Webster Dictionary

"in vain
b. in an improper or irreverent manner
to take God's name in vain
Source: Collins Dictionary

take somebody’s name in vain
​to show a lack of respect when using somebody’s name or when talking about them
to take the Lord's name in vain
Source:Oxford Dictionary

And this meaning aptly fits the current usage of "vain" when preceded by the preposition "in" in books such as the Bible, where we find . . . (date of copyright)

RSV (1971)
“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes his name in vain.

KJ21 (1994)
“Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh His name in vain.

AMP (2015)
“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain [that is, irreverently, in false affirmations or in ways that impugn the character of God]; for the Lord will not hold guiltless nor leave unpunished the one who takes His name in vain [disregarding its reverence and its power].

NKJV (1982)
“You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain, for the Lord will not hold him guiltless who takes His name in vain.

BRG (2012)
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain; for the Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain.

WYC (2001)
Thou shalt not take in vain the name of thy Lord God, for the Lord shall not have him guiltless, that taketh in vain the name of his Lord God. (Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain, for the Lord shall not hold guiltless he who taketh the name of the Lord his God in vain.)

TLV (2015)
“You must not take the Name of Adonai your God in vain, for Adonai will not hold him guiltless that takes His Name in vain.

JUB (2020)
Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain for the LORD will not hold guiltless anyone that takes his name in vain.

So when we read verses about taking the Lord's name taken in vain in the Bible it means using it "in an irreverent or blasphemous manner" because no other definition of "in vain" fits the context---something even contemporary dictionaries recognize (see above).



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[Difflugia]

So when we read verses about taking the Lord's name taken in vain in the Bible it means using it "in an irreverent or blasphemous manner" because no other definition of "in vain" fits the context---something even contemporary dictionaries recognize (see above).

If that's true, then modern Bibles are mistranslating the Hebrew. Shawe is never used to mean "irreverent or blasphemous," but always to mean "empty" (in the sense of "empty promises") or "false."