Lashon hara literally means, in Hebrew, "the evil tongue" and derives from the Torah which says:

To "stand against the life" is literally translated as "spilling blood with the tongue" which is why lashon hara or the "evil tongue" has always been equated with murder. For this reason, all forms of evil speech are forbidden by Scripture. But what is "evil speech"?

Evil speech conists of negative comments both true and untrue. Lashon hara which contains fabrication or lies is specifically and additionally called motzi shem ra which literally means "putting out a bad name" and violates Leviticus 19:16. If motzi shem ra leads to the one abused by lashon hara being HATED this is called Rechilut. This has historically resulted in a great deal of bloodshed, hence the heineousness of the crime and why it is consistently equated with murder. The part of the passage which says, "[you] nor shall you take a stand against the life of your neighbour" renders the Hebrew, Lo tamod al dam re'eicha which literally translated is, "do now allow the shedding of the blood of your fellow (brother/sister)". Since this refers to the whole person, it can either be the literal shedding of blood (dahm) or it can be mental or emotional abuse too. Thus speaking evil of someone in public, whether it is true or not, constitutes either literal murder (if hatred leads to the taking of someone's life, or even suicide for that matter) or mental and/or emotional murder. For an example of how evil speech resulted in the destruction of a whole city (Nob), see 1 Samuel 21.

The prohibition of rechilut applies even if a person did not intend ill-will against someone else. Thus it is written:

It is also written:

Notice that the seventh is "an abomination" to Yahweh ... the sowing of discord among friends. Those who do this are called rasha in Hebrew, meaning "an evil person"

Those who habitually gossip and talebear are called ba'alei lashon hara or "masters of lashon hara". Because their behaviour (which has become so integral with their character) is so anti-social and destructive, their transgression is all the more severe because this leads to chilul Yahweh or "desecration of the Name of Yahweh":

What this means is that repetitive lashon hara leads to a state of mind and heart whereby the talebearer comes to rationalise away his behaviour that it leads to a rebellious manner, cutting themselves off from the good things of Yahweh around them. Scripture also testifies that such cut themselves off from the olam habah, or the world to come (see article on Talebearing above). Traditionally talebearing has always been associated with murder, adultery and idol worship, so severe a sin is it.

We are to be very careful even with publically-known information because of the nature of the sin of slander. Thus it is written:

We have a responsibility not to propagate the lashon hara of others but to firmly stand against it. Thus it is written:

Lashon hara not only can ruin the lives of those against whom it is directed but most definitely destroys the lives of those who use it. It is a satanic bacillus and must be stamped out of Messianic Israel because it can potentially harm or ruin everyone who comes into contact with it.

If you have been involved with lashon hara in any way, approach the peron or persons you have abused and make things right. And then ask Yahweh for His forgiveness, for blaspheming His Name and Holiness: