Genesis 14:22-23

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  14:23 that I will take nothing ³  belonging to you, not even a thread or the strap of a sandal. That way you can never say, ‘It is I ⁴  who made Abram rich.’

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 The oath formula is elliptical, reading simply: “…if I take.” It is as if Abram says, “[May the Lord deal with me] if I take,” meaning, “I will surely not take.” The positive oath would add the negative adverb and be the reverse: “[God will deal with me] if I do not take,” meaning, “I certainly will.”

⁴ tn The Hebrew text adds the independent pronoun (“I”) to the verb form for emphasis.