1 Samuel 20:3

20:3 Taking an oath, David again ¹  said, “Your father is very much aware of the fact ²  that I have found favor with you, and he has thought, ³  ‘Don’t let Jonathan know about this, or he will be upset.’ But as surely as the Lord lives and you live, there is about one step between me and death!”

1 Samuel 28:10

28:10 But Saul swore an oath to her by the Lord, “As surely as the Lord lives, you will not incur guilt in this matter!”

Deuteronomy 10:20

10:20 Revere the Lord your God, serve him, be loyal to him and take oaths only in his name.

Isaiah 65:16

65:16 Whoever pronounces a blessing in the earth ⁴ 

will do so in the name of the faithful God; ⁵ 

whoever makes an oath in the earth

will do so in the name of the faithful God. ⁶ 

For past problems will be forgotten;

I will no longer think about them. ⁷ 

Jeremiah 12:16

12:16 But they must make sure you learn to follow the religious practices of my people. ⁸  Once they taught my people to swear their oaths using the name of the god Baal. ⁹  But then, they must swear oaths using my name, saying, “As surely as the Lord lives, I swear.” ¹⁰  If they do these things, ¹¹  then they will be included among the people I call my own. ¹² 

¹ tc The LXX and the Syriac Peshitta lack the word “again.”

² tn The infinitive absolute appears before the finite verb for emphasis.

³ tn Heb “said,” that is, to himself. So also in v. 25.

⁴ tn Or “in the land” (NIV, NCV, NRSV). The same phrase occurs again later in this verse, with the same options.

⁵ tn Heb “will pronounce a blessing by the God of truth.”

⁶ tn Heb “will take an oath by the God of truth.”

⁷ tn Heb “for the former distresses will be forgotten, and they will be hidden from my eyes.”

⁸ tn Heb “the ways of my people.” For this nuance of the word “ways” compare 10:2 and the notes there.

⁹ tn Heb “taught my people to swear by Baal.”

¹⁰ tn The words “I swear” are not in the text but are implicit to the oath formula. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

¹¹ tn The words “If they do this” are not in the text. They are part of an attempt to break up a Hebrew sentence which is long and complex into equivalent shorter sentences consistent with contemporary English style. Verse 16 in Hebrew is all one sentence with a long complex conditional clause followed by a short consequence: “If they carefully learn the ways of my people to swear by name, ‘By the life of the Lord,’ as they taught my people to swear by Baal, then they will be built up in the midst of my people.” The translation strives to create the same contingencies and modifications by breaking up the sentence into shorter sentences in accord with contemporary English style.

¹² tn Heb “they will be built up among my people.” The expression “be built up among” is without parallel. However, what is involved here is conceptually parallel to the ideas expressed in Isa 19:23-25 and Zech 14:16-19. That is, these people will be allowed to live on their own land, to worship the Lord there, and to come to Jerusalem to celebrate the feasts. To translate literally would be meaningless or misleading for many readers.