Situation Ethics

"Bearing false witness" and "lying" are not the same thing. All bearing false witness is lying, but not all lying is bearing false witness.

visionary said:

My thoughts exactly.... Bearing false witness is not standing up for the truth, while lying starts it all.

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I see no difference. A lie will always be a false witness, since it denies what is true.

Let's examine the Scriptures involved:

"The king’s servants attending him said, “A search should be made for young, good-looking virgins. The king should appoint officials in all the provinces of the kingdom to gather all the young, good-looking virgins to the house for the harem, in Shushan the capital. They should be put under the care of Hegai the king’s officer in charge of the women, and he should give them the cosmetics they require. Then, the girl who seems best to the king should become queen instead of Vashti.” This proposal pleased the king, so he acted accordingly." - Ester 2:2-4

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The king decreed it; it was law. Hadasah was required to go.

"There was in Shushan the capital a man who was a Jew, whose name was Mordekhai the son of Ya’ir, the son of Shim‘i, the son of Kish, a Binyamini. He had been exiled from Yerushalayim with the captives exiled with Y’khanyah king of Y’hudah, whom N’vukhadnetzar king of Bavel had carried off. He had raised Hadassah, that is, Ester, his uncle’s daughter; because she had neither father nor mother. The girl was shapely and good-looking; after her father’s and mother’s death, Mordekhai had adopted her as his own daughter." - Ester 2:5-7

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Hadasah was an orphan. There was no father nor brother to protest.

"When the king’s order and decree were proclaimed, and many girls assembled in Shushan the capital under the care of Hegai, Ester too was taken into the king’s house and put under the care of Hegai, who was in charge of the women. The girl pleased him and won his favor, so that he lost no time in giving her her cosmetics, her portions [of special food] and seven girls from the king’s palace to attend her; he also promoted her and the girls attending her to the best place in the harem’s quarters. Ester did not disclose her people or family ties, because Mordekhai had instructed her not to tell anyone. Every day Mordekhai would walk around in front of the courtyard of the harem’s house in order to know how Ester was doing and what was happening to her." - Ester 2:8-11

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Not telling someone something is not the same as a lie. Instead of a false witness, she and her uncle gave none, with Hadasah not even giving a witness concerning herself. Given how Haman (Boo! Hiss!) was later shown to treat their people, it wasn't a bad idea (Remember that Haman was of the people of `Agag, king of Amaleq, and the Amaleqites were sworn enemies to Yisra`el. As we read, we see it was Hadasah's deeds that were witness enough for the eunuch in authourity over her.

"Some time later King Achashverosh began to single out Haman the son of Hamdata the Agagi for advancement; eventually he gave him precedence over all his fellow officers." - Ester 3:1

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It didn't seem to be years years, actually. The Hebrew literally said "After these words ..." in chapter 3 and verse 1. The timing couldn't have been better for Mordekhai, because soon after Haman comes on the scene. Hamans elevation to status was gradual.

"All the king’s servants at the King’s Gate would kneel and bow down before Haman, because the king had so ordered. But Mordekhai would neither kneel nor bow down to him. The king’s servants at the King’s Gate asked Mordekhai, “Why don’t you obey the king’s order?” But after they had confronted him a number of times without his paying attention to them, they told Haman, in order to find out whether Mordekhai’s explanation that he was a Jew would suffice to justify his behavior. Haman was furious when he saw that Mordekhai was not kneeling and bowing down to him. However, on learning what people Mordekhai belonged to, it seemed to him a waste to lay hands on Mordekhai alone. Rather, he decided to destroy all of Mordekhai’s people, the Jews, throughout the whole of Achashverosh’s kingdom." - Ester 3:2-6

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While Haman was resting on his laurels as he gained greater favour with the king, he didn't even notice that Mordekhai wasn't giving him honour until the lesser nobles had already confonted Mordekhai a number of times. It seems the nobles had actually noticed the behaviour of Mordekhai for some time after Haman was first promoted.

The people of HaShem are going to be persecuted; that goes without saying. To invite such persecution while in captivity, in a situation that didn't warrant the revelation of Hadasah's status as a Jewess, and it wouldn't have made any sense. The decree did not prohibit Jews from responding, so there was no reason for Hadasah to come in and declare "I am a Jew!"

visionary said:

Mordecai had instructed Esther to LIE about her ethnicity.

Why would Mordecai instruct Esther to BEAR FALSE WITNESS to the king YEARS BEFORE THERE WAS EVER A "JEWISH" ISSUE WITH HAMAN?

Esther 2:16 mentions the 7th year of the king's reign.
Esther 3:7 mentions the 12th year of the king's reign.

Do you know what SITUATIONAL ETHICS are?
https://www.britannica.com/topic/situation-ethics
Look at this quote from the article:
"Situation ethics, also called situational ethics, in ethics and THEOLOGY, the position that moral decision making is contextual or dependent on a set of circumstances. Situation ethics holds that moral judgments must be made within the context of the entirety of a situation and that all normative features of a situation must be viewed as a whole. The guiding framework for moral decision making is stated variously as that of acting in the MOST LOVING WAY, to maximize harmony and reduce discord, or to enrich human existence."

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Quite the contrary, it was Mordecai who instructed Ester to come out the Closet, and reveal her true identity.

There is, Bearing False Witness, and Lying (adding to, diminishing from, or simply twisting the facts of the Truth), and then there is Miss leading (taking advantage of the ignorance of another), and Withholding pertinent information.

Alôʰhéyîm is not capable of speaking a Lie, for even if He were to try, the utterance would go forth and substantiate the would be lie as a truth.


Notwithstanding what is impossible for Alôʰhéyîm to achieve, He is capable of achieving the Equivalent thereof, i.e., Yᵊsʰûʷəʰ would have us pray '...Lead us not into temptation...' meaning, ....do not hand us over to our own imagination..., and in another place he says, Agree with your Adversary quickly when you are in the Way..., which simply means to agree with those (opponents) who disagree with you in matters of Faith.

Thus we are permitted to agree with an apparent liar, yet this is granted to prevent a greater evil, the incarceration of one who is innocent, or righteous in their faith.

Nevertheless there is not one good instruction that is not conveniently miss applied, and miss used.

Otherwise the story of Ester reveals how heaven repents from a decree that cannot be reversed, i.e., by sending out a swifter message to circumvent the previous message.

The writing of a letter and sending it out with a swift Messenger-Angel, a Myrtle coming out of the closet to reveal their true identity to effect Salvation, etc., these are all components that shall transpire for those who are to be Saved in the Last Day.

visionary said:

Is any lying good and moral?

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Sorry, I didn't realize what forum I was posting in. The rules are a bit confusing, but I think I'm not supposed to post here. My bad.