The term "lashon hara" is not mentioned in the Tanakh, but "keep thy tongue from evil" () occurs in Psalm 34:14. The Torah contains a general injunction against "rekhilut" (gossip): "Thou shalt not go up and down as a talebearer among thy people; neither shalt thou stand idly by the blood of thy neighbour: I am the ." The Biblical curse on one who "strikes his fellow in secret" is understood by the rabbis to refer to "lashon hara", as it is a form of harming a person without their knowledge.