BLASPHEMY (Gr. blasphemia). To reproach or to bring a railing accusation against any one is bad enough (Jude 9), but to speak lightly or carelessly of God is a mortal sin.

The third commandment, "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God" (Exod 20:7), was observed so meticulously by the Jews that they would not speak the sacred name (Jehovah) at all, and so no one knows today for certain how it was pronounced.

God prescribed that in Israel the punishment for blasphemy would be death by stoning (Lev 24:10-16).

Naboth was falsely charged with blasphemy and was stoned to death (1 Kings 21:10-13), as was Stephen (Acts 6:11).

Stoning was also in the minds of those who charged Jesus with blasphemy (Matt 9:3; 26:65; Luke 5:31; John 10:33); what Jesus said about himself would have been blasphemy were it not true.

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