We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
We use cookies to distinguish you from other users and to provide you with a better experience on our websites. Close this message to accept cookies or find out how to manage your cookie settings.
Introduction
The law of blasphemy is designated in the Tosefta as qilelat Ha-Shem, “cursing the name.” In other Tannaitic sources, however, it is usually termed euphemistically as birkat Ha-Shem, “blessing the Name,” indicating the reluctance of ancient Jews to couple the name of God with a curse. The law of blasphemy is marked by the use of Tetragrammaton (YHWH) as the second word in Gen. 2:16, “And the Lord God commanded …” Because the Tetragrammaton is the most unambiguous word in Scripture, there is no discrepancy in the rabbinic presentations of the seven Noahide laws. In all of them blasphemy is the second law.
In the Pentateuch the explicit reaction to the crime of blasphemy is addressed to the people of Israel. The crime seems to include both cursing God with the Tetragrammaton as well as cursing Him with other names:
And to the people of Israel you shall speak saying: any man who curses his God shall be put to death (mot yumat); all the congregation shall surely stone him (Lev. 24:15–16).
In the Talmud it is debated whether cursing God in general is the legal equivalent of the use of the Tetragrammaton in such a curse:
“When he curses his God” … this includes the use of the substitute names in the opinion of R. Meir. But the sages say only use of the Unique Name (Shem Hameyuhad) is punishable by death; use of other names is only the transgression of a prohibition (azharah).
The view of the sages is explicitly presented in the Mishnah: “The blasphemer (ha-megadef) is not liable for the death penalty until he enunciates (sheyifaresh) the Tetragrammaton.” Maimonides ruled that this applies to cursing the substitute name for the Tetragrammaton (Shem Adnut) as well as the literal name. This position seems to be in effect a middle ground between the two Talmudic views presented above.
The crime of blasphemy is applied to non-Jews by an extension of the passage in Lev. 24:15–16:
R. Meyaysha said that a Noahide who cursed (she-birekh) the Name using substitution (be-kinuyyim) is guilty and liable for the death penalty, according to the rabbis. For what reason? When Scripture states (Lev. 24:16), “the alien (ke-ger) is like the native-born (k'ezrah),” this applies to blaspheming the Name; but a gentile is guilty even for a substitution.
To save this book to your Kindle, first ensure [email protected] is added to your Approved Personal Document E-mail List under your Personal Document Settings on the Manage Your Content and Devices page of your Amazon account. Then enter the ‘name’ part of your Kindle email address below. Find out more about saving to your Kindle.
Note you can select to save to either the @free.kindle.com or @kindle.com variations. ‘@free.kindle.com’ emails are free but can only be saved to your device when it is connected to wi-fi. ‘@kindle.com’ emails can be delivered even when you are not connected to wi-fi, but note that service fees apply.
Find out more about the Kindle Personal Document Service.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Dropbox.
To save content items to your account, please confirm that you agree to abide by our usage policies. If this is the first time you use this feature, you will be asked to authorise Cambridge Core to connect with your account. Find out more about saving content to Google Drive.
