22:15 The Lord’s angel called to Abraham a second time from heaven 22:16 and said, “‘I solemnly swear by my own name,’ 3 decrees the Lord, 4 ‘that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,
32:40 For I raise up my hand to heaven,
and say, ‘As surely as I live forever,
“‘This is what the sovereign Lord says: On the day I chose Israel I swore 7 to the descendants 8 of the house of Jacob and made myself known to them in the land of Egypt. I swore 9 to them, “I am the Lord your God.”
6:13 Now when God made his promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself,
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 “By myself I swear.”
4 tn Heb “the oracle of the
5 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.
6 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.
7 tn Heb “I lifted up my hand.”
8 tn Heb “seed.”
9 tn Heb “I lifted up my hand.”
10 tn Heb “I lifted up my hand.”
11 tn Heb “I lifted up my hand.”
12 sn Though the Pentateuch does not seem to know of this episode, Ps 106:26-27 may speak of God’s oath to exile the people before they had entered Canaan.
13 tn Heb “which I lifted up my hand.”
14 tn Heb “I lifted up my hand.”
15 tn Heb “I lifted up my hand.”
16 sn Gen 15:9-21.
17 tn Heb “will fall to you as an inheritance.”
18 tn Or “to the heavens.” The Hebrew term שָׁמַיִם (shamayim) may be translated “heavens” or “sky” depending on the context.
19 tc The present translation reads יַד־נֹפֵץ (yad-nofets, “hand of one who shatters”) rather than the MT נַפֵּץ־יַד (nappets-yad, “to shatter the hand”).