Genesis 14:22

14:22 But Abram replied to the king of Sodom, “I raise my hand ¹  to the Lord, the Most High God, Creator of heaven and earth, and vow ² 

Exodus 6:8

6:8 I will bring you to the land I swore to give ³  to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob – and I will give it to you ⁴  as a possession. I am the Lord!’”

Numbers 14:28-30

14:28 Say to them, ‘As I live, ⁵  says ⁶  the Lord, I will surely do to you just what you have spoken in my hearing. ⁷  14:29 Your dead bodies ⁸  will fall in this wilderness – all those of you who were numbered, according to your full number, from twenty years old and upward, who have murmured against me. 14:30 You will by no means enter into the land where ⁹  I swore ¹⁰  to settle ¹¹  you. The only exceptions are Caleb son of Jephunneh and Joshua son of Nun.

Jeremiah 4:2

4:2 You must be truthful, honest and upright

when you take an oath saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’ ¹² 

If you do, ¹³  the nations will pray to be as blessed by him as you are

and will make him the object of their boasting.” ¹⁴ 

Hebrews 6:17-18

6:17 In the same way ¹⁵  God wanted to demonstrate more clearly to the heirs of the promise that his purpose was unchangeable, ¹⁶  and so he intervened with an oath, 6:18 so that we who have found refuge in him ¹⁷  may find strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us through two unchangeable things, since it is impossible for God to lie.

Revelation 10:5-6

10:5 Then ¹⁸  the angel I saw standing on the sea and on the land raised his right hand to heaven 10:6 and swore by the one who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and what is in it, and the earth and what is in it, and the sea and what is in it, “There will be no more delay! ¹⁹ 

¹ tn Abram takes an oath, raising his hand as a solemn gesture. The translation understands the perfect tense as having an instantaneous nuance: “Here and now I raise my hand.”

² tn The words “and vow” are not in the Hebrew text, but are supplied in the translation for clarification.

³ tn Heb “which I raised my hand to give it.” The relative clause specifies which land is their goal. The bold anthropomorphism mentions part of an oath-taking ceremony to refer to the whole event and reminds the reader that God swore that he would give the land to them. The reference to taking an oath would have made the promise of God sure in the mind of the Israelite.

⁴ sn Here is the twofold aspect again clearly depicted: God swore the promise to the patriarchs, but he is about to give what he promised to this generation. This generation will know more about him as a result.

⁵ sn Here again is the oath that God swore in his wrath, an oath he swore by himself, that they would not enter the land. “As the Lord lives,” or “by the life of the Lord,” are ways to render it.

⁶ tn The word נְאֻם (nÿ’um) is an “oracle.” It is followed by the subjective genitive: “the oracle of the Lord” is equal to saying “the Lord says.”

⁷ tn Heb “in my ears.”

⁷ tn Or “your corpses” (also in vv. 32, 33).

⁹ tn The relative pronoun “which” is joined with the resumptive pronoun “in it” to form a smoother reading “where.”

¹⁰ tn The Hebrew text uses the anthropomorphic expression “I raised my hand” in taking an oath.

¹¹ tn Heb “to cause you to dwell; to cause you to settle.”

¹¹ tn Heb “If you [= you must, see the translator’s note on the word “do” later in this verse] swear/take an oath, ‘As the Lord lives,’ in truth, justice, and righteousness…”

¹² tn 4:1-2a consists of a number of “if” clauses, two of which are formally introduced by the Hebrew particle אִם (’im) while the others are introduced by the conjunction “and,” followed by a conjunction (“and” = “then”) with a perfect in 4:2b which introduces the consequence. The translation “You must…. If you do,” was chosen to avoid a long and complicated sentence.

¹³ tn Heb “bless themselves in him and make their boasts in him.”

¹³ tn Grk “in which.”

¹⁴ tn Or “immutable” (here and in v. 18); Grk “the unchangeableness of his purpose.”

¹⁵ tn Grk “have taken refuge”; the basis of that refuge is implied in the preceding verse.

¹⁷ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

¹⁹ tn On this phrase see BDAG 1092 s.v. χρόνος.