Temple of Artemis image carried through the streets and surrounded by maidens. In the Roman Imperial era, the emperor Commodus lent his name to the festival games, and might have sponsored them. From the Greek point of view, the Ephesian Artemis is a distinctive form of their goddess Artemis. In Greek cult and myth, Artemis is the twin of Apollo, a virgin huntress who supplanted the Titan Selene as goddess of the Moon. At Ephesus, a goddess whom the Greeks associated with Artemis was venerated in an archaic, pre-Hellenic cult image that was carved of wood (a "xoanon") and kept decorated with jewelry.
Thou shalt not take the name of the Lord thy God in vain the instruction to just say 'yes' or 'no' and keep your word, "so that you may not fall into condemnation." According to David Cook, appeals to authorities to validate the truth of a promise had expanded in Jesus' day, which was not in line with the original commandment. Jesus is quoted as warning that they were blind and foolish who gave credibility to such arguments. According to the Gospel of John, Jesus made appeals to the power of the name of God and also claimed the name of God as his own, which constituted blasphemy if it were not true.