לָשַׁן

# Analysis of לָשַׁן (lāšan) — "To Slander" The Hebrew verb לָשַׁן appears only twice in the biblical text, making it a rare term in the scriptural record. Based on its lexical definition as "to slander," the word refers to the act of making damaging false or misleading statements about another person. The extreme scarcity of this particular verb form—with just two recorded instances—suggests it held either specialized significance or was expressed more commonly through related vocabulary in biblical Hebrew. The rarity of לָשַׁן in the biblical corpus stands in contrast to the apparent importance of addressing slander as a moral concern in ancient Israelite society. The limited occurrences mean we cannot determine from usage alone whether the word carried specific legal connotations, was reserved for particular social contexts, or simply represented one of several acceptable ways to describe slanderous speech. Its presence in the biblical lexicon demonstrates that the concept of damaging speech through false accusation was recognized as a distinct category of wrongdoing worthy of its own linguistic designation, though the biblical writers may have preferred alternative terms for more frequent discussion of this offense.