Perjury
Webster's Dictionary [1]
(1): ( v.) At common law, a willfully false statement in a fact material to the issue, made by a witness under oath in a competent judicial proceeding. By statute the penalties of perjury are imposed on the making of willfully false affirmations.
(2): ( v.) False swearing.
Charles Buck Theological Dictionary [2]
Is the taking of an oath, in order to tell or confirm a falsehood. This is a very heinous crime, as it is treating the Almighty with irreverence; denying, or at least discarding his omniscience; profaning his name, and violating truth. It has always been esteemed a very detestable thing, and those who have been proved guilty of it, have been looked upon as the pests of society.
See OATH.
Holman Bible Dictionary [3]
Leviticus 19:12 Exodus 20:7 Exodus 20:16 Deuteronomy 19:16-21 Numbers 30:2Oaths
Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible [4]
Perjury See Crimes and Punishments, § 5 .
Cyclopedia of Biblical, Theological and Ecclesiastical Literature [5]
is the willful taking of an oath in order to tell or to confirm anything known to be false. This is evidently a very heinous crime, as it is treating the Almighty with irreverence; denying, or at least disregarding his omniscience; profaning his name, and violating truth. By the Mosaic law, perjury was strictly prohibited as a most heinous sin against God; to whom the punishment of it is left, and who in Exodus 20:7 expressly promises that he will inflict it, without ordaining the infliction of any punishment by the temporal magistrate; except only in the case of a man falsely charging another with a crime, in which case the false witness was liable to the same punishment which would have been inflicted on the accused party if he had been found guilty; but this not, indeed, as the punishment of perjury against God, but of false testimony. Perjury, therefore ( שְׁבֻעִת שֶׁקֶר , "false swearing"), was prohibited by the Hebrews in a religious point of view ( Exodus 20:7; Leviticus 19:12; comp. Matthew 7:33; Zechariah 8:17), but in the law only two sorts of perjury are noticed: 1, false testimony in judicial proceedings; 2, a false assurance, confirmed by an oath, that one has not received or found a piece of property in question ( Leviticus 5:1; Leviticus 6:2 sq.; Proverbs 29:24). A sin-offering is provided for both (comp. Plaut. Rud. 5:3, 21), and in the latter case satisfaction for the injury, with increase (comp. Hebenstreit, De sacrifcio a perjuro ojn- endo, Lips. 1739). Among the ancient Romans, also, the punishment of perjury was left with the gods (Cic. Leg. 2:9), and no official public notice was taken of the perjured man, save by the censor ( Genesis 7:18; comp. Cic. Off. 3:31; Rein, Rom. Criminalrecht, p. 795 sq.). On the contrary, the Talmud not only notices the subject at greater length, but ordains more severe penalties for perjury: scourging and full reparation when any serious injury has been done (Mishna, Maccoth, 2:3 sq.; Shebuoth, 8:3). It also determines in special cases the value of the sin-offering to be presented ( Shebuoth, 4:2; v. 1; comp. further Zenge and Stemler, De Jurejur. Sec. Discipl. Hebr. p. 57 sq.). (See Oath).
