Lashon Hara

(16) Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people; neither shalt thou stand idly by the blood of thy neighbour: I am the LORD.

(16) לא תלך רכיל THOU SHALT NOT GO ABOUT AS A TALE BEARER — I say that because all those who sow discord between people and all who speak slander go into their friends' houses in order to spy out what evil they can see there, or what evil they can hear there so that they may tell it in the streets —they are called הולכי רכיל which it the same as הולכי רגילה, "people who go about spying"; espiement in O. F. A proof of my statement is the fact that we do not find anywhere the term רגיל used in Scripture except in connection with the expression הלך "to go". Examples are: the phrase here, לא תלך רכיל; (Jeremiah 6:28) "[They are all] walking as spies: they are brass and iron". But as for any other expressions for “slander”, the verb הלך is not used with them. Examples are (Psalms 101:5) "whoso privily slandereth his neighbour”; (Psalms 120:2) "false tongue"; (Psalms 12:4) "the tongue that speaketh proud things (slander)". For this reason I say that this expression (הולך רכיל) means "going about ומרגל, and spying out” (רגל = רכל), because the כ may interchange with ,ג since all letters the pronounciation of which are of the same place in the organs of speech may interchange with each other e. g., בי"ת with גימ"ל ,פ"א with כ"ף or with נו"ן ;קו"ף with זי"ן ;למ"ד with צד"י. And in a similar sense we have, (II Samuel 19:28) "He spied against thy servant [to my lord]” which implies, "he spied me out with subtly in order to speak evil about me to my lord״ (and thus וירגל comes to mean "to slander”). Similar is (Psalms 15:8): לא רגל על לשונו which means, "he has not spied out in order to have evil on his tongue”. Similarly the רוכל, the trader, is one who goes round and searches for (spies out) all kinds of merchandise, and so also the seller of perfumes which women use to make themselves nice, because he constantly goes about in the villages, he is called רוכל, which has the same meaning as רוגל. And its translation in the Targum לא תיכול קורצין, has the same meaning as (Daniel 3:8) "and they slandered (אכלו קורציהון) the Jews”; and as (Berakhot 58a) "he slandered him (אכל ביה קורצא בי מלכא) to the king”. It seems to me that people had the custom to eat a little snack in the house of him who listened to their slanderous words, and this served as the final confirmation that his (the slanderer's) statements were well founded and that he would maintain the truth of them. This "snack” was called אכילת קורצין, the word קורצא being connected in meaning with the root קרץ in (Proverbs 6:13) "He winketh (קורץ) with his eyes”, for it is the manner of all who go about slandering to wink with their eyes and to suggest their slanderous statements by innuendos in order that others who happen to hear them should not understand them.

(16) לא תלך רכיל, do not go around bearing tales (untrue ones). We find a similar verse in Daniel 3,8 “Chaldeans slandered the Jews.” Samuel II 22,14 ירעם משמים, G’d thundered forth from heaven, is also translated as אכלי, by Yonathan ben Uzziel, being the equivalent of the Hebrew רכיל in our verse, i.e. raising one’s voice.

(16) a talebearer from the word “your merchandise” [Ezekiel 28:16] and also “…with all powders of the merchant” [Song of Songs 3:6]. Here the word denotes a gossiper. Just as a merchant transmits things, buying them here and selling them there, so also does a gossiper transmit things, revealing to one what he heard from another.

(16) I am God Who sees all that you do in private.

(8) In cases of a skin affection be most careful to do exactly as the levitical priests instruct you. Take care to do as I have commanded them. (9) Remember what the LORD your God did to Miriam on the journey after you left Egypt.

(9) זכור את אשר עשה ה' אלהיך למרים REMEMBER WHAT THE LORD THY GOD DID UNTO MIRIAM — if you wish to guard yourself against being stricken with leprosy, do not speak slander! Remember what was done unto Miriam who spoke slander against her brother and was stricken with a leprous plague! (cf. Sifrei Devarim 275:1).

(2) Who is a talebearer (rachil)? One who carries things and goes from one to another and says, "So did x say, such and such did I hear about x." Even though it is the truth, he destroys the world. There is a much greater sin than this - and it is included in this negative commandment - and that is evil speech (lashon hara). And that is the one who speaks disparagingly about his fellow, even though it is true. But one who speaks falsely is called the producer of a bad reputation (motzi shem ra) about his fellow. But about this master of evil speech that sits and says, "X did so and so; so and so were his ancestors; so and so did I hear about him," and says disparaging things - about this one, the verse states (Psalms 12:4), "May the Lord cut off all flattering lips, every tongue that speaks arrogance."

(5) It is the same whether one speaks evil speech in front of his fellow (the subject of the evil speech) or not in front of him. And one who recounts things that, if they will be heard, cause damage to his fellow - to his body or to his property - or even will [just] upset him or frighten him; behold, this is evil speech. And if it said in front of three [listeners], the matter is already heard and [considered] known. And [so,] if one of the three recounts the thing another time, there is no evil speech in this - and that is when he does not intend to amplify it and reveal it more.

(17) Do not wrong one another, but fear your God; for I the LORD am your God.