Moses editing
Language Log 2024-12-22
A prohibition against phishing would be covered by a small extension of the commandments against stealing, false witness, and coveting — probably it already is, even if the word is new.
And even a few thousand years ago, there was a version of "trolling", namely crafting verbal (or symbolic) communications with the goal of stirring up your audience and provoking unproductive controversy. Such actions, though obviously bad, are not clearly forbidden by the standard list of commandments in Exodus 20 or Deuteronomy 5, as far as I can tell. So maybe Moses should have left it in, despite the lack of a convenient word for the concept.