The Hidden Violation Among the Observant
When people discuss the challenges of living according to the Torah, the conversation often centers on aspects such as observing the Sabbath or adhering to dietary guidelines. But the Torah commands that are the hardest to keep, and the most frequently broken, are the ones involving speech.
It’s a tragic irony. The very thing that sets humanity apart, our ability to speak, is the same tool we use to tear others down. Yet speech is sacred. YaHuWaH used it to speak the universe into being. “By the Word of YaHuWaH the heavens were made” (Tehillim/Psalm 33:6). And still, with this powerful gift, many who claim to walk in the covenant misuse their mouths daily, causing damage that can’t always be repaired.
Why Is Lashon Hara So Serious?
The Hebrew term Lashon Hara (לשון הרע) means “evil tongue.” But it’s not just lying or slandering, it includes speaking the truth with the intent to shame, harm, or ruin someone’s reputation. It is different from defamation (motzi shem ra, putting out a bad name), which involves falsehood. Lashon Hara is telling the truth, but doing so in a way that violates the Torah by harming another. That’s why it’s so deceptive. People often justify it by saying, “Well, it’s true,” forgetting that truth used as a weapon is still sin.
YaHuWaH warns us in Wayyiqra/Leviticus 19:16:
Do not go slandering among your people. Do not stand against the blood of your neighbour. I am YaHuWaH.
The phrase “do not stand against the blood of your neighbor” connects directly to tale-bearing. Why? Because slander can kill. It can assassinate a person’s character, destroy reputations, sow division in families, and even push people into despair.
The damage caused by money or theft can often be reversed, and things can be restored. But words are like arrows: once released, they cannot be recalled. The harm they do extends far beyond what we ever intended.
Tale-Bearing and Torah
Tale-bearing is described in Wayyiqra/Leviticus 19:16 and again in 25:17:
“You shall not go up and down as a tale-bearer among your people…”
“You shall not wrong one another…”
This includes any form of gossip, even about things that are technically true. The Torah makes very few allowances for revealing damaging information, and one of the only exceptions is in a court of law, when a righteous ruling depends on accurate testimony.
But in day-to-day life, our mouths are meant to build, not to destroy.
The Torah’s Protective Fence Around Speech
Here are just a few of the commands that surround the issue of speech and interpersonal respect:
Do not stand by idly when a life is in danger (Lev. 19:16)
Do not wrong anyone in speech (Lev. 25:17)
Do not bear a grudge or take revenge (Lev. 19:18)
Do not shame a fellow Yisraelite (Lev. 19:17)
Do not curse anyone (Lev. 19:14)
Do not place a stumbling block before the blind (Lev. 19:14)
Love the stranger (Deut. 10:19)
Do not wrong a stranger in speech (Ex. 22:20)
All of these commands deal with one thing: protecting the dignity of others. Every person in the covenant is sacred. And when we dishonor someone with our words, we dishonor the One who made them in His image.
The Root of Lashon Hara: Pride and Hidden Hatred
Lashon Hara rarely comes out of nowhere. It is often the fruit of jealousy, insecurity, unresolved conflict, or secret hatred, exactly what Leviticus 19:17 warns us about:
Do not hate your brother in your heart. Reprove your neighbor, for certain, and bear no sin because of him.
When we speak against someone instead of going to them in love and truth, we’re violating Torah. Slander is often the coward’s substitute for righteous confrontation. Rather than resolving things with humility, people twist words in secret. And that’s not the fruit of the Ruach haQodesh, it’s the fruit of the flesh.
We Will Be Judged by Our Words
Yahusha Messiah gave a chilling warning in Mattithyahu/Matthew 12:36–37:
But I say to you that for every idle word men speak, they shall give an account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you shall be declared righteous, and by your words you shall be declared unrighteous.
If we truly believe this, then every post, comment, message, and conversation must be weighed with trembling. We must return to a place of awe for YaHuWaH’s Name and reverence for His people. The way we speak about others, especially those of the covenant, reveals whether we walk in His Ruach or not.
Final Word: Let Your Tongue Be Set-Apart
Ya’aqob (James) says in 3:9–10:
With it we bless our Elohim and Father, and with it we curse men, who have been made in the likeness of Elohim. Out of the same mouth proceed blessing and cursing. My brothers, this should not be so.
Let us repent where we have failed. Let us forgive those who have spoken evil against us. And let us be set-apart in our speech, guarding our tongues as fiercely as we guard our Sabbath.
Because the greatest test of set-apartness might not be what we eat or how we rest, but how we speak.