Quote:
Originally Posted by missourimary
But the Commandment was not "thou shalt not lie". It was "Thou shalt not bear false witness against thy neighbor." We often paraphrase it and add a bit in doing so. The same with not cursing. "Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain" doesn't mean not saying certain four letter words. That is a more of our society, not a Biblical command.
Now, saying that, I must add that it is not a good idea to lie (or to curse). But the Ten Commandments aren't exactly worded as we are wired to think sometimes.
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The principle I was going for was a little more broad especially in the second post. As to the original subject, there can be a conflict between "commandments", the Jews understood that and had a hierarchy of importance.
A type of, but not quite, situational ethics.