Exodus 20:16 (YLT)

Passage

`Thou dost not answer against thy neighbour a false testimony.

Nearby Context

Exodus 20:14 `Thou dost not commit adultery.

Exodus 20:15 `Thou dost not steal.

Exodus 20:16 `Thou dost not answer against thy neighbour a false testimony.

Exodus 20:17 `Thou dost not desire the house of thy neighbour, thou dost not desire the wife of thy neighbour, or his man-servant, or his handmaid, or his ox, or his ass, or anything which <FI>is<Fi> thy neighbour's.'

Exodus 20:18 And all the people are seeing the voices, and the flames, and the sound of the trumpet, and the mount smoking; and the people see, and move, and stand afar off,

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "thou", "dost", "answer", "against", "neighbour", "false", and "testimony". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "thou" and "dost", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 15's "Thou dost not steal..." into verse 17's "Thou dost not desire the house of...", so "thou" and "dost" belong inside that flow. In Exodus context, the local focus is covenant, worship, and faithfulness.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "thou" and "dost" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.