Bearing Up
For I have heard the slander of many, terror is on every side; while they took counsel together against me, they schemed to take away my life. Psalm 31:13 NASB
Slander– Perhaps a pun will help us remember the seriousness of slander. The Hebrew word, dibbâ, seems to be derived from the verb dābab (to move gently or glide over). But from the same root comes the word dōb, the Syrian bear.
When deprived of its cubs this animal is a dangerous creature (II Sam 17:8; cf. Prov 17:12); at times it roars out in frustration (Isa 59:11). On occasion they attacked people (cf. Amos 5:19); once they attacked in fulfillment of Elijah’s curse on people who were insolent toward God (II Kgs 2:24).
The bear is used as a metaphor for the activity of both the wicked and of God. In the former use it denotes the wicked as essentially bestial—cruel, insensitive, self-seeking, and without a spiritual consciousness (Prov 28:15; cf. other passages where the wicked are described as bestial: Ps 22:12ff.; Dan 7:1–8). [1]
Perhaps we should consider slander with the same caution we would have encountering the Syrian bear. Don’t mess with this. If you do, you will soon feel its teeth and claws. Even asleep, dibbâ is a life-threatening animal. At least David says so. In his poem, dibbâ schemes to take away his life (nepeš).
Once again we are in the middle of a divine drama. Life is not supposed to be lived in terror over the whispering (another sense of dābab) of others. Imagine what it would be like to try to survive in a society where no one could be trusted, where every other person could be a spy, where everything you do might be suspect. You don’t have to imagine too much. We have plenty of modern examples of societies just like this. Places where the secret police observe and report even the smallest potential infractions and suddenly, you are whisked away in the middle of the night. The threat is everywhere. There is no safe place in such a world.
Amazingly, David is king, yet he feels powerless against these plots. Perhaps the true hallmark of power is its vulnerability. From those who have we can take. There is a good reason the Greeks said a man with few possessions has little worry. David is the victim of the upset cosmic order, and just like Job, he cries out for God to reconcile and vindicate. David’s use of the term (māgôr) is a reminder of the same verbiage in Job. “Job rejects the implied charge of secret sin, avowing his innocency and claiming that he would see God in the flesh; therefore his slanderers should fear judgment (Job 19:29).”[2] The word is stronger than “fear” (yārēʾ) since it involves horror, alarm and panic. Those who plot against him are not satisfied with humiliation. They want him dead.
Isn’t that the real objective of slander? To kill its victim. To permanently remove the object of its scorn. Slander doesn’t just cast doubt on someone. It attempts the murder of character. In fact, one of the synonyms of slander is precisely that: character assassination. Have you thought of dibbâ as attempted murder? Perhaps you’re more guilty than you once believed.
Topical Index: slander, dibbâ, bear, dōb, murder, Psalm 31:13
[1]Stigers, H. G. (1999). 396 דָּבַב. In R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer, Jr. & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament(177).
Murder with the tongue. Yeshua dealt with this when He addressed murder in the heart in the Sermon on the Mount. Proverbs gets into the problems with the tongue more than once, too. We can think speech is merely rhetorical, but if we consider that life itself is a collective experience where we are all tied together and needing the approbation of others, then speech, as one of the primary ways we give that approbation (or its opposite; slander and accusation) actually does convey life or death. The wise man had it right when he said that “Death and life are in the power of the tongue” (Prov. 18:21).
We can curse ourselves, too, in many ways without knowing it and our own bodies will conform to what our ears (or inner ears) hear. (How many times have we talked ourselves down, thinking it is humility when it is actually talking smack about God’s finest creation?) Also, many a doctor’s office can carry the power of a witch doctor’s voodoo when you are told that you have “only X amount of time to live”. Since when did mortals get to pronounce that, I would like to ask??? But when we listen, and agree, our bodies conform, do they not?
We need to learn how to get into the business of speaking life over ourselves and those around us: speaking hope and love and faith instead of harshness, despair and accusation. As we experience this agreement with life through the speech of our tongues, our lives and the lives of those around us will come to believe the truth of that experience; will come to believe that God has called us to that life, and has given us the power to speak that life along with Him, too. May we repent for failing of that sacred trust by lips that have scalded and accused and doubted and, yes, spoken death instead of life. And may we forgive ourselves and others and seek the forgiveness of God, too, for those words of death and doubt and so absolve ourselves from the power of those curses, is my earnest desire.
Laurita…I always appreciate reading your posts. You so consistently share your life’s journey and the collective wisdom you have accumulated over the years. I often quote some of the one liners from your posts (always giving you the credit,)…ie “talking smack about God’s finest creation.” I love that one! Thanks again for sharing some of your acquired wisdom with us at TW. I think you, (and Skip, of course,) bring a rippling effect to this site as the words of wisdom are passed along.
Dear Judi, I love all y’all so much!
As long as it remains clear that all the mess is mine and all the glory is His, we are good to go!
Amen!! ?
Such an excellent word Laurita. I’m glad you brought it home in regards to how we speak to and about ourselves. Powerful words to me. Thank you. We honor or dishonor the nature and character of God by our words! So much of the time we are our own worst enemy. It reminds me that our lives can be the lives of perpetual worship by the the fruit of our lips ! Shalom!
So true Laurita,and along with slander the other killer ,”unbelief”.Yeshua himself could do not many mighty works in his home area due to unbelief. He also said will I find faith on earth when I return. It’s should be unnerving that he thought this . It should give us pause.Is chaos the ruler of our faith or in the midst of chaos is faith the ruler of our hearts. Doesn’t unbelief produce a slanderous society? Faith can’t be this elusive feeling we have now and then when things go right. Faith should be such a substantial element to all we think or do .Without it I can’t even love others right at times when I lack it.
I can really relate to what you’re saying Lucille. You said “maybe I am more guilty than I once believed “. I think God in his mercy and kindness covers us for a season until we are able to face up to what we have done in life. It’s like we wake up. In order to grow in him we must sometimes deal with issues that have caused us and others great misery. He is such a kind and compassionate father. He has not dealt with us after our sins nor rewarded us according to our iniquities. As David said “if you, oh Lord, should mark iniquities, oh Lord, who would stand, but there is forgiveness with you that you may be feared”. Good stuff!
Could you Skip give an example of when you thought something was a case of slander? Are you thinking of something in the news or on the internet or something personal that has happened to you? When is it slander? Slander is saying something false about another person, right? Lying about another person.
What if you see very quickly that the person you are dealing with is on the psychopathy spectrum? And you point it out to warn the person who is dealing with him or her. Should we be silent? Is that character assasination?
Over 30 years ago when I first started working at a language school in Japan, one of our colleagues was an American who was not liked by the other teachers who were also male. I did take the train with him once and he was very rude when he asked someone to move over. I met him at the place where he lived to talk because he said he was a Christian and had been with YWAM based in Hawaii. He shared how he was out talking to prostitutes in their training. Anyway, suddenly he quit and moved to a city 3 hours away by train. I heard he had lady problems. There he met a Japanese lady at a language school and married in an extremely short period of time after meeting her. I visited them once to talk about business but I left thinking I never wanted to see him again and that she really didn’t know who she married. I never ever thought that he would end up killing her. I just thought he was a difficult person. Another colleague showed me the newspaper article about the murder. She had gone to the States to get divorce papers signed. He confessed to what he had done to a relative. He was a thalidomide baby but I believe the mental damage was done after birth that caused his personality disorder.
If you see that a person is on the psychopathy spectrum, is it slander to say so? I guess that’s my main question. Is assessing a person’s mental state slander if you have reason to believe by looking at his or her actions that there is cause for concern like lying or the pity play or anger issues or their attitude about work and money? (Martha Stout, ‘The Sociopath Next Door’ talks about the pity play.)