Blasphemy: Definition, from Torah to the New Testament
1. Terms for Blasphemy
Within the Pentateuch and the wider Old Testament world, blasphemy was among the gravest sins, often linked to capital punishment. The biblical lexicon highlights the seriousness with four core Hebrew roots whose ranges overlap around the idea of reviling or cursing God.
gdp (to revile, hurl insults, slander): appears in contexts where the object is often God Himself (Num 15:30; 2 Kgs 19:6, 22; Isa 37:6, 23; Ezek 20:27; Ps 44:16). Cognates include the noun giddûp (Isa 43:28; 51:7; Zeph 2:8) and gĕdûpâ (Ezek 5:15).
nʾṣ (to despise, show contempt): used of Israel’s rebellion and of direct affronts to God’s holiness (Num 14:11, 23; Deut 31:20; 1 Sam 2:17; 2 Sam 12:14; Isa 1:4; 5:24; Ps 74:10, 18).
qll (to make light, to curse): frequently the antonym of kbd (to make weighty); can denote cursing God (Exod 22:28; Lev 24:15).
nqb (to pierce, bore; extended sense: to blaspheme/utter a curse): in Leviticus 24 the verb denotes pronouncing the divine Name in a curse (Lev 24:11, 16).
Taken together, these terms show that “blasphemy” is not merely careless speech; it is a willful disparagement of God’s honor, His Name, and His rule.
2. Definition of Blasphemy
In the broadest sense, blasphemy covers speech or action that maligns God or repudiates His authority. Narrowly and most precisely, it refers to speaking contemptuously of God, especially by uttering His Name in a curse. The classic locus is Leviticus 24:10–23, where nqb (“pronounce”) and qll (“curse”) converge: the blasphemer pronounces the Name in a cursing formula—an explicit, verbal repudiation of Israel’s Creator-King. Because the Old Testament’s central claim is the sovereignty of the Creator over His people, blasphemy strikes at the heart of covenant faith and thus belongs among “high-handed” sins (cf. Num 15:30–31). Jewish tradition even extended the prohibition beyond Israel, treating it among the seven Noahic laws.
In short: to blaspheme is to assault God’s honor, typically by speech, in a way that repudiates His character and covenant.
3. Blasphemy in Leviticus 24
3.1 Narrative context
Leviticus 24:10–23 appears immediately after instructions concerning the lampstand and the bread of the Presence (Lev 24:2–9), underscoring that God’s Name and presence are not confined to the sanctuary but also govern the community’s life. When a fight breaks out, a man of mixed parentage “pronounces the Name in a curse” (nqb + qll). The case is brought for divine adjudication, establishing precedent for Israel’s judges: the offense is capital (Lev 24:16).
3.2 The Name and the act
The text clarifies that uttering YHWH’s Name within a curse constitutes blasphemy. Early Jewish interpretation (m. Sanh. 7:5) treated nqb and qll as two facets of a single act: to pronounce the Name in provocation. This sharpened the tradition of reverent avoidance—substituting Adonai in public reading to prevent misuse of the Tetragrammaton (cf. Exod 20:7).
3.3 Communal contamination and atonement
Leviticus 24:14 commands the hearers to lay hands on the offender before execution. Hearing blasphemy incurs contagion; the ritual transfers guilt back to the perpetrator. The lex talionis section that follows (Lev 24:17–21) frames the penalty as proportionate to the offense—though here the offense is uniquely theological. Among the Torah’s “hard cases,” this episode (like Num 9; 15; 27) required direct inquiry from God, highlighting its gravity.
4. Blasphemy in Later Judaism
4.1 Legal refinement
Rabbinic discussion tightened the capital offense to uttering the divine Name itself (m. Sanh. 7:5). Targumic paraphrase of Leviticus 24 distinguishes between reviling a substitute title (guilt incurred, but unspecified penalty) and pronouncing the Name (death). While debates emerged about alternative titles, the official capital case remained tied to the Tetragrammaton.
4.2 Cultural practice: rending garments
Hearing blasphemy obligated a sign of grief and protest—the tearing of garments—seen already when officials hear the Assyrian taunts (2 Kgs 18:37) and in responses to communal unbelief (Num 14:6). Later halakhah codified the obligation to rend garments upon hearing blasphemy, reflecting communal zeal for God’s honor.
4.3 Broader category: acts of blasphemy
Beyond legal precision, Jewish tradition recognized acts that insulted God: idolatry (the golden calf), profaning temple vessels (Belshazzar), arrogant defiance of God’s people (Goliath, Sennacherib). These illustrate a cultural blasphemy—conduct that scorns God’s presence, authority, or people—even when the legal threshold of pronouncing the Name was not crossed.
5. The New Testament and Blasphemy
The New Testament retains the Old Testament’s concern for God’s honor while unveiling the Christological and pneumatological dimensions.
Against God and His Name: “The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you” (Rom 2:24).
Against Christ: Reviling Jesus is treated as blasphemy (Matt 27:39; Mark 15:29; cf. Acts 13:45; 18:6; Jas 2:7). To blaspheme Christ is to blaspheme God, since the Son shares the Father’s honor.
Against the Holy Spirit: Jesus warns of blaspheming the Spirit as a decisive, willful attribution of the Spirit’s saving work to evil (Mark 3:28–30; Matt 12:31–32; Luke 12:10)—a hardened, settled refusal of repentance.
Charges against Jesus:
Forgiveness authority (Mark 2:7 // Matt 9:3; Luke 5:21): granting forgiveness apart from cultus was heard as a divine prerogative claim.
Trial confession (Mark 14:61–64 // Matt 26:63–65): Jesus’ appeal to Psalm 110 and Daniel 7—claiming the Son of Man’s session at God’s right hand—was judged blasphemous by the leadership, both for its theological claim and its implicit critique of their authority (cf. Exod 22:28).
Pastoral implication: Because speech and life are inseparable, the NT also names conduct that slanders the Gospel as blasphemy-adjacent (1 Tim 6:1; Titus 2:5; Rom 14:16). False teaching and hypocrisy can “cause the way of truth to be blasphemed” (2 Pet 2:2).
6. Theological Synthesis: Blasphemy, Covenant, and the Gospel
From Torah to the NT, blasphemy assaults God’s unique glory—His Name, presence, and saving rule. Leviticus 24 grounds the legal center: to pronounce the divine Name in a curse is to repudiate the covenant King. Later Judaism preserved this gravity by fencing the Name. The NT intensifies the picture in light of Christ and the Spirit:
Christological honor: The Son shares the Father’s prerogatives and receives divine honor (forgiving sins; sitting at God’s right hand). To revile Jesus is to revile God.
Pneumatological seriousness: Persistent rejection of the Spirit’s testimony to Christ hardens the heart beyond repentance—a blasphemy that locks the door from the inside.
Covenant continuity: The God who guarded His Name in Israel now vindicates His Name by exalting the crucified and risen Lord. The Gospel reveals that the Holy One bears His own Name among us—Jesus—so that sinners who have misused the Name may call on the Name and be saved (cf. Joel 2:32; Acts 2:21).
Thus, the antidote to blasphemy is worship and truth: confessing Jesus as Lord, honoring God with reverent speech, and aligning conduct with the Gospel so that “the word of God may not be reviled.”
Conclusion
Biblically, blasphemy is a direct assault on God’s honor, focused most sharply on speech that curses or disparages His Name, and extended in Scripture to acts that scorn His presence, people, and saving work. Leviticus 24 anchors the legal core; later Judaism refines procedure; the New Testament unveils the deeper stakes around Jesus the Messiah and the Holy Spirit. In a covenant perspective, blasphemy denies the Creator’s sovereignty; in a Gospel perspective, it refuses the Redeemer’s grace. Christian discipleship therefore trains the tongue and the life—so that God’s Name is hallowed, Christ is confessed, and the Spirit’s witness is welcomed.
Bible Verses about Blaspheming
“You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain.” (Exodus 20:7)
“Whoever blasphemes the name of the LORD shall surely be put to death.” (Leviticus 24:16)
“Because he has despised the word of the LORD… that person shall be cut off.” (Numbers 15:31)
“The fool says in his heart, ‘There is no God.’ ” (Psalm 14:1)
“Put not your trust in princes.” (Psalm 146:3)
“Woe to those who call evil good and good evil.” (Isaiah 5:20)
“The name of God is blasphemed among the Gentiles because of you.” (Romans 2:24)
“People will render account for every careless word they speak.” (Matthew 12:36)
“Whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but… blasphemy against the Spirit will not be forgiven.” (Matthew 12:32)
“Let your speech always be gracious, seasoned with salt.” (Colossians 4:6)
