Deuteronomy 10:20

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

Isaiah 48:1

The Lord Appeals to the Exiles

48:1 Listen to this, O family of Jacob, ¹ 

you who are called by the name ‘Israel,’

and are descended from Judah, ² 

who take oaths in the name of the Lord,

and invoke ³  the God of Israel –

but not in an honest and just manner. ⁴ 

Jeremiah 4:2

4:2 You must be truthful, honest and upright

when you take an oath saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’ ⁵ 

If you do, ⁶  the nations will pray to be as blessed by him as you are

and will make him the object of their boasting.” ⁷ 

Hosea 4:15

Warning to Judah: Do Not Join in Israel’s Apostasy!

4:15 Although you, O Israel, commit adultery,

do not let Judah become guilty!

Do not journey to Gilgal!

Do not go up to Beth Aven! ⁸ 

Do not swear, “As surely as the Lord lives!”

[48:1]  ¹ tn Heb “house of Jacob”; TEV, CEV “people of Israel.”

[48:1]  ² tc The Hebrew text reads literally “and from the waters of Judah came out.” מִמֵּי (mimme) could be a corruption of מִמְּעֵי (mimmÿ’e, “from the inner parts of”; cf. NASB, NIV, NLT, NRSV) as suggested in the above translation. Some translations (ESV, NKJV) retain the MT reading because the Qumran scroll 1QIsa^a, which corrects a similar form to “from inner parts of” in 39:7, does not do it here.

[48:1]  ³ tn Heb “cause to remember”; KJV, ASV “make mention of.”

[48:1]  ⁴ tn Heb “not in truth and not in righteousness.”

[4:2]  ⁵ 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…”

[4:2]  ⁶ 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.

[4:2]  ⁷ tn Heb “bless themselves in him and make their boasts in him.”

[4:15]  ⁸ sn Beth Aven means “house of wickedness” in Hebrew; it is a polemic reference to “Bethel,” which means “house of God.” Cf. CEV “at sinful Bethel.”