146False Report

nasa shema shav — Hebrew

“Thou shalt not raise a false report” (Exodus 23:1). The modern reader hears ‘don’t lie.’ The Hebrew says more. Nasa is to lift and carry; shema is the thing heard; shav is empty, without substance. The offense is picking up a report that has nothing under it and carrying it on. It happens before any trial — before a single witness is sworn. And the verse goes straight on: “put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.” The raised report is the first step toward false testimony. A man does not have to invent the story to be charged with it; he only has to lift it and pass it along unweighed.

The Root

nasa (H5375) — to lift, to carry, to take up. Paired with shema (H8088) — a report, a thing heard. Paired with shav (H7723) — empty, vain, without substance; falsehood.

Shares a Root With

nasa (H5375) — 16. Forgive 84. Lift the face 122. Bear Iniquity

One verb, four legal motions: to lift a charge away (Forgive), to bear the liability of a charge (Bear Iniquity), to lift a face in partiality (Lift the face), and here to lift an empty report and carry it.

The Courtroom Word

A pre-trial offense — lifting an unverified report and carrying it before any court has weighed it.

Its Role in the Court

The false report is the charge that attaches before testimony is ever given. Its whole fault is weight: the thing heard had nothing in it, and it was lifted anyway. Exodus joins it at once to joining hands with the wicked as an unrighteous witness, and to following a multitude to wrest judgment (23:2) — the report raised, then the crowd, then the court corrupted. The same verb that lifts a charge off the guilty in Forgive here lifts an empty word onto the innocent. Nasa runs both directions; Torah names which one is lawful.

Proof Texts

Exodus 23:1 “Thou shalt not raise a false report: put not thine hand with the wicked to be an unrighteous witness.” The report raised, the witness corrupted.

Exodus 23:2 “Thou shalt not follow a multitude to do evil; neither shalt thou speak in a cause to decline after many to wrest judgment.” Where the raised report leads.

Psalm 15:3 “He that backbiteth not with his tongue, nor doeth evil to his neighbour, nor taketh up a reproach against his neighbour.” Nasa again — the reproach not taken up.

Proverbs 17:4 “A wicked doer giveth heed to false lips; and a liar giveth ear to a naughty tongue.” The ear that receives it.

In Plain Terms

Raising a false report means picking up something heard — with nothing behind it — and passing it on. The offense comes before any trial. A person does not have to start the story to be guilty of it; carrying it unchecked is enough.

Bring It Home

‘I didn’t start it, I just shared it.’ Torah answers that line before anyone says it: thou shalt not raise — lift — an empty report. The same verb that lifts a debt off the guilty in forgiveness here lifts a hollow word onto the innocent. One carrying clears a man. The other buries him.

Courtroom Roles

The raiser (the carrier) lifts an unweighed report and passes it on.
The neighbour (the accused) charged in the street before any court sits.
The multitude (the crowd) that follows the report and wrests judgment.

Where It Sits

IThere Is a Court

IIThe Court Runs on One Code

IIIYou Are Named on the Docket

IVThe Acquittal

VYour Life Is the Testing

VIIt Is All Entered as Evidence

VIIThe Bench Convenes

Movement VI — It Is All Entered as Evidence. Word, deed, and blood — every step of the walk is deposed and filed. Nothing falls off the record.