[3] God himself is presented as swearing by his own name ("As surely as I live …") to guarantee the certainty of various events foretold through the prophets.
The word here translated as "in vain" is שוא (shav' 'emptiness', 'vanity', 'emptiness of speech', 'lying'), while 'take' is נשא nasa' 'to lift', 'carry', 'bear', 'take', 'take away' (appearing in the second person as תשא).
[5] Some have interpreted the commandment to be against perjury,[6] since invoking God's name in an oath was considered a guarantee of the truth of a statement or promise.
In the Hebrew Bible, as well as in the Ancient Near East and throughout classical antiquity more generally, an oath is a conditional self-curse invoking deities that are asked to inflict punishment on the oath-breaker.
For example, a narrative in the Book of Numbers describes how such an oath is to be administered by a priest to a woman suspected of adultery, with the expectation that the accompanying curse will have no effect on an innocent person.
[10] Such oaths may have been used in civil claims, regarding supposed theft, for example, and the commandment is repeated in the context of honest dealings between people in Leviticus 19:12.
[20] Maimonides thought the commandment should be taken as generally as possible, and therefore he considered it forbidden to mention God's name unnecessarily at any time.
Jewish scholars referred to this as motzi shem shamayim lavatalah, "uttering the Name of Heaven uselessly.
"[27] According to the Applied New Testament Commentary, appeals to authorities to validate the truth of a promise had expanded in Jesus's day, which was not in line with the original commandment.
The Gospel of John relates an incident where a group attempts to stone Jesus after he speaks God's name.
[32] Jesus says that he is the Messiah, and makes parallels between himself and the "Son of Man" referred to by the prophet Daniel, which evokes an emphatic response that he has blasphemed (broken the commandment) and deserves death.
[39] It must not be abused by careless speech, false oaths, or words of hatred, reproach or defiance toward God, or used in magic.
The sentiment behind this commandment is expressed in the Lord's Prayer, which begins, "Our Father who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name."
And again, the Lord God hath commanded that men should not murder; that they should not lie; that they should not steal; that they should not take the name of the Lord their God in vain; that they should not envy; that they should not have malice; that they should not contend one with another; that they should not commit whoredoms; and that they should do none of these things; for whoso doeth them shall perish.The prophet and president of the Church Spencer W. Kimball told the following story to inspire believers: President Kimball underwent surgery many years ago, he was wheeled from the operating room to the intensive care room.
When human testimony fails, people appeal to God as witness, as the only one able to bring hidden things to light and know what is in the heart.
With regard to the casual use of God's name, Calvin summarized, "remember that an oath is not appointed or allowed for passion or pleasure, but for necessity."
He wrote that the frequency of casual use of the name of God has dulled the public conscience but that the commandment, with its penalty, still stands.