1 Samuel 14:39

14:39 For as surely as the Lord, the deliverer of Israel, lives, even if it turns out to be my own son Jonathan, he will certainly die!” But no one from the army said anything. ¹ 

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!”

Psalms 15:4

15:4 He despises a reprobate, ² 

but honors the Lord’s loyal followers. ³ 

He makes firm commitments and does not renege on his promise. ⁴ 

Proverbs 26:24-25

26:24 The one who hates others disguises ⁵  it with his lips,

but he stores up ⁶  deceit within him. ⁷ 

26:25 When ⁸  he speaks graciously, ⁹  do not believe him, ¹⁰ 

for there are seven ¹¹  abominations ¹²  within him.

Jeremiah 5:2

5:2 These people make promises in the name of the Lord. ¹³ 

But the fact is, ¹⁴  what they swear to is really a lie.” ¹⁵ 

[14:39]  ¹ tn Heb “and there was no one answering from all the army.”

[15:4]  ² tn Heb “despised in his eyes [is] a rejected [one].” The Hebrew term נִמְאָס (nim’as, “rejected [one]”) apparently refers here to one who has been rejected by God because of his godless behavior. It stands in contrast to “those who fear God” in the following line.

[15:4]  ³ tn Heb “those who fear the Lord.” The one who fears the Lord respects his sovereignty and obeys his commandments. See Ps 128:1; Prov 14:2.

[15:4]  ⁴ tn Heb “he takes an oath to do harm and does not change.” The phrase “to do harm” cannot mean “do harm to others,” for the preceding verse clearly characterizes this individual as one who does not harm others. In this context the phrase must refer to an oath to which a self-imprecation is attached. The godly individual takes his commitments to others so seriously he is willing to “swear to his own hurt.” For an example of such an oath, see Ruth 1:16-17.

[26:24]  ⁵ tn The Niphal imperfect from נָכַר (nakhar) means “to act [or, treat] as a foreigner [or, stranger]; to misconstrue; to disguise.” The direct object (“it”) is not present in the Hebrew text but is implied. In this passage it means that the hater speaks what is “foreign” to his thought; in other words, he dissembles.

[26:24]  ⁶ tn Or “places; puts; lays up” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB).

[26:24]  ⁷ tn Heb “within him” (so KJV, ASV) or “in his midst”; NAB “in his inmost being.”

[26:25]  ⁸ tn The particle כִּי (ki) is here interpreted with a temporal nuance. It is also possible that it could be read as concessive (so NIV, NLT “Though”).

[26:25]  ⁹ tn The meaning of the rare Piel form of חָנַן (khanan) is “to make gracious; to make favorable.” The subject is קוֹלוֹ (qolo, “his voice”), a metonymy of cause for what he says. The idea is that what he says is very gracious in its content and its effect.

[26:25]  ¹⁰ sn It may be that the placing of this proverb in this setting is designed to point out that the person speaking graciously is this wicked person who conceals an evil heart. Otherwise it may have in mind a person who has already proven untrustworthy but protests in order to conceal his plans. But even if that were not the connection, the proverb would still warn the disciple not to believe someone just because it sounded wonderful. It will take great discernment to know if there is sincerity behind the person’s words.

[26:25]  ¹¹ sn The number “seven” is used in scripture as the complete number. In this passage it is not intended to be literally seven; rather, the expression means that there is complete or total abomination in his heart. Cf. TEV “his heart is filled to the brim with hate.”

[26:25]  ¹² sn “Abomination” means something that is loathed. This is a description applied by the writer, for the hypocritical person would not refer to his plans this way.

[5:2]  ¹³ tn Heb “Though they say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives.” The idea of “swear on oath” comes from the second line.

[5:2]  ¹⁴ tc The translation follows many Hebrew mss and the Syriac version in reading “surely” (אָכֵן, ’akhen) instead of “therefore” (לָכֵן, lakhen) in the MT.

[5:2]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “they swear falsely.”