DEUT1240 I might think that this refers to [the need for circumspection vis-à-vis] uncleanliness, cleanliness, and tithe; it is, therefore, written (verse 16): "and there shall not be seen in you a thing of nakedness" [indicating this to be the "evil thing" in question]. And whence is included [in the need for circumspection] idolatry, bloodshed, blasphemy, and all the things for which the Canaanites were exiled and which caused the Shechinah to depart? From: "then you shall guard yourself from every evil thing." And "evil thing" [davar] includes even slander (Sifrei)