<P> In the Hebrew Bible itself, the commandment is directed against abuse of the name of God, not against any use; there are numerous examples in the Hebrew Bible and a few in the New Testament where God's name is called upon in oaths to tell the truth or to support the truth of the statement being sworn to, and the books of Daniel and Revelation include instances where an angel sent by God invokes the name of God to support the truth of apocalyptic revelations . 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 . </P> <P> The Hebrew לא תשא לשוא is translated as "thou shalt not take in vain". 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). The expression "to take in vain" is also translated less literally as "to misuse" or variants . Some have interpreted the commandment to be against perjury, since invoking God's name in an oath was considered a guarantee of the truth of a statement or promise . Other scholars believe the original intent was to prohibit using the name in the magical practice of conjuration . </P> <P> Hebrew Bible passages also refer to God's name being profaned by hypocritical behavior of people and false representation of God's words or character . Many scholars also believe the commandment applies to the casual use of God's name in interjections and curses (blasphemy). </P> <P> The object of the command "thou shalt not take in vain" is את ־ שם ־ יהוה אלהיך at - shem - YHWH elohik "this - same name of YHWH, thy elohim", making explicit that the commandment is against the misuse of the proper name Yahweh specifically . </P>

What is meant by using the lord's name in vain