Chayeh Sarah, A Ten Commandments’ Teaching Moment

You shall not take the name of the Lord, your God, in vain, for the Lord will not hold blameless anyone who takes His name in vain.

exodus 20:7

the prohibition of using god’s name in vain is one of the most puzzling of the ten commandments. the torah portion chayeh sarah, however, may assist in one’s understanding of why an individual would evoke god’s name.

in the portion, sarah dies and abraham then decides for find a wife for his son isaac. “and abraham said to his servant, the elder of the house, who was in charge of all he had, ‘place you hand under my thigh, and i’ll have you swear by yhwh [god], god of the skies, god of the earth, that you won’t take a wife for my son from the daughters of the canaanite among whom i live, but you’ll go to my land and my birthplace and take a wife for my son, for isaac.'” genesis 24:2-4, friedman, commentary on the torah translation. after some discussion, “… the servant placed his hand under his lord abraham’s thigh and swore to him about this thing.” genesis 24:9. in the discussion, abraham expressly dictated that isaac was not to leave canaan.

for abraham, isaac’s matrimony and progeny presented as an existential moment; isaac was to abraham’s role of being a father of this developing great nation. due to this, abraham chose to evoking god’s name. the evocation created a greater assurance of a mission accomplished.; after all, the master of the universe was now tied to its success.

this moment was one of “inclusion”. a mere employer-employee task became much more. with the master of the universe’s involvement, abraham, during the mission’s course, could legitmately pray to god for success. in american society, we somewhat carry this notion with us on a daily basis. those handling currency can look at their bill and see “in god we trust”. one’s ability to employ mere paper and assigning value was something that someone felt necessary to assign the phrase.

in an aside, abraham’s obsessive concerns over the mission were proven to be well founded. isaac’s future wife rebekah had brother laban. after there was an agreement for a betrothal, laban, along with rebekah’s mother, requested that rebekah be held back for a few days, or ten and that after that she would depart. genesis 24:55. abraham’s servant wisely refused this request. laban, as the torah tells in later chapters, deceives isaac’s son jacob and caused him to marry his older daughter leah rather than his intended rachel.

in sum, chayeh sarah illustrates the evocation of god’s name at an appropriate moment. some commitments or promises rise far beyond mere day to day happenings. further, the employment of god’s name in such a transaction likewise brings an avenue for prayer. as such, it provides that one does not have to pray to the individual doing the task but rather to the master of the universe for success.

be well!!