Deuteronomy 5:11

5:11 You must not make use of the name of the Lord your God for worthless purposes, ¹  for the Lord will not exonerate anyone who abuses his name that way. ² 

Deuteronomy 20:20

20:20 However, you may chop down any tree you know is not suitable for food, ³  and you may use it to build siege works ⁴  against the city that is making war with you until that city falls.

Deuteronomy 23:25

23:25 When you go into the ripe grain fields of your neighbor you may pluck off the kernels with your hand, ⁵  but you must not use a sickle on your neighbor’s ripe grain.

Deuteronomy 28:30

28:30 You will be engaged to a woman and another man will rape ⁶  her. You will build a house but not live in it. You will plant a vineyard but not even begin to use it.

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¹ tn Heb “take up the name of the Lord your God to emptiness”; KJV “take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” The idea here is not cursing or profanity in the modern sense of these terms but rather the use of the divine Name for unholy, mundane purposes, that is, for meaningless (the Hebrew term is שָׁוְא) and empty ends. In ancient Israel this would include using the Lord’s name as a witness in vows one did not intend to keep.

² tn Heb “who takes up his name to emptiness.”

³ tn Heb “however, a tree which you know is not a tree for food you may destroy and cut down.”

⁴ tn Heb “[an] enclosure.” The term מָצוֹר (matsor) may refer to encircling ditches or to surrounding stagings. See R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel, 238.

⁵ sn For the continuation of these practices into NT times see Matt 12:1-8; Mark 2:23-28; Luke 6:1-5.

⁶ tc For MT reading שָׁגַל (shagal, “ravish; violate”), the Syriac, Targum, and Vulgate presume the less violent שָׁכַב (shakhav, “lie with”). The unexpected counterpart to betrothal here favors the originality of the MT.