3rd Commandment:
לֹא תִשָּׂא אֶת שֵׁם ה' אֱלֹקיךָ לַשָּׁוְא כִּי לֹא יְנַקֶּה ה' אֵת אֲשֶׁר יִשָּׂא אֶת שְׁמוֹ לַשָּׁוְא
You shall not take the name of the L‑rd your G‑d in vain; for the L‑rd will not hold him guiltless that takes His name in vain.
What does blasphemy mean?
The commandment not to use God's name in vain is found in the Third Commandment for Protestants and Jews, and the Second Commandment for Catholics. It instructs believers not to misuse the name of God, which includes using it in a manner that is empty, worthless, or for false purposes. This can involve making false oaths, blasphemy, or using God's name to justify wrongful actions. The commandment emphasizes the importance of treating God's name with reverence and not using it to advance personal agendas or trivialize its significance.
You can appreciate why some think of blasphemy as the same as profaning God or desecrating God.
The terms "profane" and "desecrate" have distinct meanings. "Profane" refers to treating something sacred with irreverence or disrespect, often by using it in a secular or inappropriate context. "Desecrate," on the other hand, specifically involves the act of violating or damaging something sacred, often through destructive, blasphemous, or sacrilegious actions. While both involve disrespect towards the sacred, desecration is a more active and damaging violation. It involves taking possession of something holy and sacred and damaging it by using it for something evil and detestable to Adonai.
לְחַלֵל (leḥalel) is desecrate in Hebrew. The root of the Hebrew word לְחַלֵל (leḥalel) is ח-ל-ל (ḥ-l-l). The word חִילּוּל (ḥillul), meaning desecration or defilement, is built off that root. That root is in the Hebrew for blasphemy -- חִלוּל הַשֵׁם. Leḥalel (לְחַלֵל) appears in the Old Testament and is often translated as "to profane" or "to desecrate."
Here are examples of desecration and blasphemy. The first is the "Abomination of desolation" found in the Book of Daniel.
Daniel 5:1-4 --Belshazzar the king made a great feast for a thousand of his lords, and drank wine in the presence of the thousand.
While he tasted the wine, Belshazzar gave the command to bring the gold and silver vessels which his [a]father Nebuchadnezzar had taken from the temple which had been in Jerusalem, that the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines might drink from them.
Then they brought the gold vessels that had been taken from the temple of the house of God which had been in Jerusalem; and the king and his lords, his wives, and his concubines drank from them.
They drank wine, and praised the gods of gold and silver, bronze and iron, wood and stone
We know how that worked out for Belshazzar and the Babylonian kingdom.
Another is found in the Book(s) of Maccabees, which is an Apocryphal writing not in the Tenach. Maccabees I & II describe the pagan sacrifices which the 2nd century BC Greek king Antiochus IV Epiphanes performed when he replaced the daily temple offering with a pig. This is where the holiday of Hanukkah comes from.
Here are two other stories in the Tanakh related to desecration:
In Ezekiel 22 the Temple is desecrated by King Manasseh through idolatrous practices. Ezekiel 22.26 reads - "Her priests robbed My Torah and profaned My holy things;
In 2 Chronicles we find an example of taking Adonai's name and using it without authority.
2 Chronicles 33:4-6 -- He built altars in the temple of the Lord, of which the Lord had said, “My Name will remain in Jerusalem forever.” In both courts of the temple of the Lord, he built altars to all the starry hosts. He sacrificed his children in the fire in the Valley of Ben Hinnom, practiced divination and witchcraft, sought omens, and consulted mediums and spiritists. He did much evil in the eyes of the Lord, arousing his anger.
In the New Testament, in John 10, Jesus is accused of blasphemy by Jewish leaders when Jesus attended the Festival of Dedication, also known as Hanukkah, as described in John 10:22. This festival commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem after it was desecrated by Antiochus IV Epiphanes, the Greek Hellenistic king who ruled the Seleucid Empire. Jesus used the occasion to declare His identity as the Messiah and the Son of God.
John 10:32-36 -- The Jews picked up stones again to stone him. 32 Jesus answered them, “I have shown you many good works from the Father; for which of them are you going to stone me?” 33 The Jews answered him, “It is not for a good work that we are going to stone you but for blasphemy, because you, being a man, make yourself God.” 34 Jesus answered them, “Is it not written in your Law, ‘I said, you are gods’? 35 If he called them gods to whom the word of God came—and Scripture cannot be broken— 36 do you say of him whom the Father consecrated and sent into the world, ‘You are blaspheming,’ because I said, ‘I am the Son of God’? 37 If I am not doing the works of my Father, then do not believe me; 38 but if I do them, even though you do not believe me, believe the works, that you may know and understand that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.”
It is interesting to me personally how the Bible relates the concepts of "Blasphemy Against the Holy Spirit," knowing one by his fruit and the sign of Jonah.
Here are verses I am referring to:
Matthew 12:22-42 --
22 Then a demon-oppressed man who was blind and mute was brought to him, and he healed him, so that the man spoke and saw. 23 And all the people were amazed, and said, “Can this be the Son of David?” 24 But when the Pharisees heard it, they said, “It is only by Beelzebul, the prince of demons, that this man casts out demons.” 25 Knowing their thoughts, he said to them, “Every kingdom divided against itself is laid waste, and no city or house divided against itself will stand. 26 And if Satan casts out Satan, he is divided against himself. How then will his kingdom stand? 27 And if I cast out demons by Beelzebul, by whom do your sons cast them out? Therefore they will be your judges. 28 But if it is by the Spirit of God that I cast out demons, then the kingdom of God has come upon you. 29 Or how can someone enter a strong man's house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? Then indeed he may plunder his house. 30 Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters. 31 Therefore I tell you, every sin and blasphemy will be forgiven people, but the blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven. 32 And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven, either in this age or in the age to come.
A Tree Is Known by Its Fruit
33 “Either make the tree good and its fruit good, or make the tree bad and its fruit bad, for the tree is known by its fruit. 34 You brood of vipers! How can you speak good, when you are evil? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. 35 The good person out of his good treasure brings forth good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure brings forth evil. 36 I tell you, on the day of judgment people will give account for every careless word they speak, 37 for by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”
The Sign of Jonah
38 Then some of the scribes and Pharisees answered him, saying, “Teacher, we wish to see a sign from you.” 39 But he answered them, “An evil and adulterous generation seeks for a sign, but no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. 40 For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth. 41 The men of Nineveh will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for they repented at the preaching of Jonah, and behold, something greater than Jonah is here. 42 The queen of the South will rise up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it, for she came from the ends of the earth to hear the wisdom of Solomon, and behold, something greater than Solomon is here.
For what it's worth...I was taught very little about blasphemy in my temple. I don't remember a discussion or sermon specifically on blasphemy. Here is something from a credible Jewish source on the subject of Blasphemy:
There is something VERY interesting in that explanation concerning the Tetragrammaton and a puzzling definition for blasphemy given in the Mishnah (Sanhedrin 7: 5). The penalty of stoning for the blasphemer applies only where he used the Tetragrammaton with which to curse God by this name: “Let the Tetragrammaton curse the Tetragrammaton.” This would make the whole offense impossible in practice, to say nothing of the extreme psychological difficulty involved in the whole idea of requesting God to curse Himself.
That explanation reminds me of a well known debate concerning Jesus in the New Testament. The Jewish leaders debated about Jesus concerning a "house divided" in Mark 3:23-30. In this passage, Jesus was accused by the Jewish leaders of casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub. Jesus responded with a parable, stating that a kingdom divided against itself cannot stand, implying that if Satan were casting out Satan, his kingdom would be divided and unable to stand. This argument was used by Jesus to refute the claim that His power came from an evil source.
The Ultimate Desecration/Blasphemy To Come
The ultimate desecration will come about as Daniel prophesied. The "abomination of desolation" is a prophetic concept mentioned in the Book of Daniel and referenced by Jesus in the New Testament. Daniel's prophecy (Daniel 11:31) describes a future desecration of the temple, like that was historically fulfilled by Antiochus Epiphanes in 167 B.C. when he erected a statue of Zeus in the Jerusalem temple and offered swine on the altar, defiling the holy place. Jesus later referred to this prophecy as a future event in Matthew 24:15, suggesting a similar desecration would occur, which some interpret as the Roman destruction of the temple in 70 A.D.
In the New Testament, Jesus references the "abomination of desolation" in Matthew 24:15 during the Olivet Discourse. He mentions the prophecy spoken of by the prophet Daniel, indicating a future event where something highly detestable would stand in the holy place, signaling those in Judea to flee to the mountains. This event is associated with "End-times."
Matthew 24:15-21 -- “So when you see the abomination of desolation spoken of by the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place (let the reader understand), then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains. Let the one who is on the housetop not go down to take what is in his house, and let the one who is in the field not turn back to take his cloak. And alas for women who are pregnant and for those who are nursing infants in those days! Pray that your flight may not be in winter or on a Sabbath. For then there will be great tribulation, such as has not been from the beginning of the world until now, no, and never will be.
In 2 Thessalonians 2:3-4 the Apostle Paul writes of this desecration performed by the "man of sin" or "lawlessness" who will oppose and exalt himself above all that is called God or is worshiped, and will sit in the temple of God, proclaiming himself to be God. This aligns with the prophetic theme of the "abomination of desolation," which Jesus also mentions in Matthew 24:15, referring to a future desecration of the holy place.
When the ultimate evil, the anti-Messiah, performs the ultimate desecration of the temple in Jerusalem and declares himself Adonai, the world has big problems ahead, like we have never seen before! Of course in order for this to happen there needs to be a third temple!
The act of desecration of Adonai's Holy Place can't happen in a way that Jews will be decieved without the temple that Jews believe will be built with the coming of the Messiah AS Jews believe. That being the case, surely Satan would use all his methods to keep Jews from reading and understanding the New Testament. Satan wouldn't want Jews to be forewarned about his plans of deception and the real blasphemy Satan has in store for the world in the third temple that Jews are so looking forward to.
While Jews do believe in the Messiah's coming, and many religious Jews think that it will be sooner than later based on the times and what we see in the world, they don't see the story ending this way.
Sadly, tragically, according to the New Testament, the Jews won't recognize the blaspheming Antichrist and stone him. They will accept him. Then, they will come to know him by his fruits! Woe to the people on earth! In the meantime, it's best to keep ALL THE 10 Commandments including #3!
Conclusion
My personal sense of blasphemy is that it is worse than profanity. It is the most extreme case of desecration. In addition, it involves an action, an act, of "taking" (robbing) something very holy to Hashem, such as His name or Temple, and using without authorization for a purpose that is "in vane." In other words, for a purpose that is detestable to Adonai.
My personal sense of blasphemy is that it is worse than profanity. It is the most extreme case of desecration. In addition, it involves an action, an act, of "taking" (robbing) something very holy to Hashem, such as His name or Temple, and using without authorization for a purpose that is "in vane." In other words, for a purpose that is detestable to Adonai.
Proverbs 6:16-19 list seven things that are detestable to Adonai:
- Haughty eyes: A feeling of pride and looking down on others
- A lying tongue: Speaking falsehoods with the intention to deceive others
- Hands that shed innocent blood: Cold-blooded murder
- A heart that devises wicked schemes: Thinking or conceiving evil against any individual or group for personal benefit or other misguided objectives
- Feet that are quick to rush into evil: Enjoying evil
- A false witness who pours out lies: Perjury
- A person who stirs up conflict in the community: Dissension among brothers
Doing any of these detestable things in and of themselves would not constitute "Blasphemy," in my opinion. By the same token, if one where to do them in Adonai's name by claiming His authority to do them, that would constitute Blasphemy.