Leviticus 22-24

Now the son of an Israelite mother and an Egyptian father went out among the Israelites, and a fight broke out in the camp between him and an Israelite. The son of the Israelite woman blasphemed the Name with a curse; so they brought him to Moses. (His mother’s name was Shelomith, the daughter of Dibri the Danite.) They put him in custody until the will of the Lord should be made clear to them.

‭‭(Leviticus‬ ‭24:10-12‬ )

The law and punishment for blasphemy is tested here in the case of a man who is half Egyptian and half Hebrew. Spoiler alert: He is stoned to death a little later. Why did the Israelite man and the half-Israelite man fight? Did the one disrespect the other, or did the other disrespect the one? Is the half-Israelite a frequent blasphemer or was he provoked to blasphemy here for the first time? The context in which the offense took place doesn’t seem to matter.

What does seem to matter is this: that the name of God is spoken in a curse and that the blasphemy is heard by multiple witnesses. They must be willing to bear witness to the infraction by touching the offender (Leviticus 24:14), and they must join the entire community in carrying out the offender’s punishment of death by stoning.

What are the consequences of invoking God’s name in a curse today?