Lashon HaRa (Evil Speech)
לשון הרע
Lashon in Hebrew, Strong’s # H3956
law-shone'; or לָשֹׁן lâshôn; also (in plural) feminine לְשֹׁנָה lᵉshônâh; from H3960; the tongue (of man or animals), used literally (as the instrument of licking, eating, or speech), and figuratively (speech, an ingot, a fork of flame, a cove of water):— babbler, bay, evil speaker, language, talker, tongue, wedge.
Ra in Hebrew, Strong's #7451
rah; from H7489; bad or (as noun) evil (natural or moral):—adversity, affliction, bad, calamity, displease(-ure), distress, evil((-favouredness), man, thing), + exceedingly, × great, grief(-vous), harm, heavy, hurt(-ful), ill (favoured), + mark, mischief(-vous), misery, naught(-ty), noisome, + not please, sad(-ly), sore, sorrow, trouble, vex, wicked(-ly, -ness, one), worse(-st), wretchedness, wrong. (Including feminine raaah; as adjective or noun.)
Lashon ha’ra (the “ha” means “the”) is speech (even if it is true) that disparages or diminishes another person. It is especially egregious because it is a complete disregard for the well-being of another person, through the use of speech. It is being indifferent to the image of God in another person by tarnishing the character of that person.1 Speech is important to the Holy One. He describes Himself as having “spoken” the world into existence. Misuse of speech is a severe offense because it is a reflection of God’s image that we carry or bear of His Name (His character). Misusing this gift of speech diminishes our divine spark within. Using speech to hurt another of God’s image-bearers (or His Land, or His Covenant) will not go unattended to by God.
Hebrew language teacher Chaim BenTorah notes that the word “Ra” is itself a root word (roots are three letters, when there are only two letters in a word, you can double the final letter, so Ra would be Ra’a). He says:
“Ultimately it is ra’a which is worshipping another god. Generally, that other god is oneself. This results in believing that what is right is anything you believe is right. After all, you are your own god and you get to set your own standards. Note that this is opposite to the word tov which we render as good but actually means to be in harmony with something or someone. Plain and simple, anything that is not in harmony with God is evil (Ra).”2
1Skip Moen
2Chaimbentorah.com
