Genesis 21:23

21:23 Now swear to me right here in God’s name ¹  that you will not deceive me, my children, or my descendants. ²  Show me, and the land ³  where you are staying, ⁴  the same loyalty ⁵  that I have shown you.” ⁶ 

Genesis 26:28-31

26:28 They replied, “We could plainly see ⁷  that the Lord is with you. So we decided there should be ⁸  a pact between us ⁹  – between us ¹⁰  and you. Allow us to make ¹¹  a treaty with you 26:29 so that ¹²  you will not do us any harm, just as we have not harmed ¹³  you, but have always treated you well ¹⁴  before sending you away ¹⁵  in peace. Now you are blessed by the Lord.” ¹⁶ 

26:30 So Isaac ¹⁷  held a feast for them and they celebrated. ¹⁸  26:31 Early in the morning the men made a treaty with each other. ¹⁹  Isaac sent them off; they separated on good terms. ²⁰ 

Genesis 31:44-53

31:44 So now, come, let’s make a formal agreement, ²¹  you and I, and it will be ²²  proof that we have made peace.” ²³ 

31:45 So Jacob took a stone and set it up as a memorial pillar. 31:46 Then he ²⁴  said to his relatives, “Gather stones.” So they brought stones and put them in a pile. ²⁵  They ate there by the pile of stones. 31:47 Laban called it Jegar Sahadutha, ²⁶  but Jacob called it Galeed. ²⁷ 

31:48 Laban said, “This pile of stones is a witness of our agreement ²⁸  today.” That is why it was called Galeed. 31:49 It was also called Mizpah ²⁹  because he said, “May the Lord watch ³⁰  between us ³¹  when we are out of sight of one another. ³²  31:50 If you mistreat my daughters or if you take wives besides my daughters, although no one else is with us, realize ³³  that God is witness to your actions.” ³⁴ 

31:51 “Here is this pile of stones and this pillar I have set up between me and you,” Laban said to Jacob. ³⁵  31:52 “This pile of stones and the pillar are reminders that I will not pass beyond this pile to come to harm you and that you will not pass beyond this pile and this pillar to come to harm me. ³⁶  31:53 May the God of Abraham and the god of Nahor, ³⁷  the gods of their father, judge between us.” Jacob took an oath by the God whom his father Isaac feared. ³⁸ 

Genesis 50:25

50:25 Joseph made the sons of Israel swear an oath. He said, “God will surely come to you. Then you must carry my bones up from this place.”

Exodus 20:7

20:7 “You shall not take ³⁹  the name of the Lord your God in vain, ⁴⁰  for the Lord will not hold guiltless ⁴¹  anyone who takes his name in vain.

Exodus 22:11

22:11 then there will be an oath to the Lord ⁴²  between the two of them, that he has not laid his hand on his neighbor’s goods, and its owner will accept this, and he will not have to pay.

Exodus 23:13

23:13 “Pay attention to do ⁴³  everything I have told you, and do not even mention ⁴⁴  the names of other gods – do not let them be heard on your lips. ⁴⁵ 

Leviticus 19:12

19:12 You must not swear falsely ⁴⁶  in my name, so that you do not profane ⁴⁷  the name of your God. I am the Lord.

Numbers 5:21

5:21 Then the priest will put the woman under the oath of the curse ⁴⁸  and will say ⁴⁹  to the her, “The Lord make you an attested curse ⁵⁰  among your people, ⁵¹  if the Lord makes ⁵²  your thigh fall away ⁵³  and your abdomen swell; ⁵⁴ 

Deuteronomy 6:13

6:13 You must revere the Lord your God, serve him, and take oaths using only his name.

Deuteronomy 10:20

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

Joshua 2:12

2:12 So now, promise me this with an oath sworn in the Lord’s name. ⁵⁵  Because I have shown allegiance to you, show allegiance to my family. ⁵⁶  Give me a solemn pledge ⁵⁷ 

Joshua 2:1

Joshua Sends Spies into the Land

2:1 Joshua son of Nun sent two spies out from Shittim secretly and instructed them: ⁵⁸  “Find out what you can about the land, especially Jericho.” ⁵⁹  They stopped at the house of a prostitute named Rahab and spent the night there. ⁶⁰ 

Joshua 20:1

Israel Designates Cities of Refuge

20:1 The Lord instructed Joshua:

Nehemiah 13:25

13:25 So I entered a complaint with them. I called down a curse on them, and I struck some of the men and pulled out their hair. I had them swear by God saying, “You will not marry off ⁶¹  your daughters to their sons, and you will not take any of their daughters as wives for your sons or for yourselves!

Isaiah 45:23

45:23 I solemnly make this oath ⁶²  –

what I say is true and reliable: ⁶³ 

‘Surely every knee will bow to me,

every tongue will solemnly affirm; ⁶⁴ 

Isaiah 48:1

The Lord Appeals to the Exiles

48:1 Listen to this, O family of Jacob, ⁶⁵ 

you who are called by the name ‘Israel,’

and are descended from Judah, ⁶⁶ 

who take oaths in the name of the Lord,

and invoke ⁶⁷  the God of Israel –

but not in an honest and just manner. ⁶⁸ 

Isaiah 65:16

65:16 Whoever pronounces a blessing in the earth ⁶⁹ 

will do so in the name of the faithful God; ⁷⁰ 

whoever makes an oath in the earth

will do so in the name of the faithful God. ⁷¹ 

For past problems will be forgotten;

I will no longer think about them. ⁷² 

Jeremiah 4:2

4:2 You must be truthful, honest and upright

when you take an oath saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’ ⁷³ 

If you do, ⁷⁴  the nations will pray to be as blessed by him as you are

and will make him the object of their boasting.” ⁷⁵ 

Jeremiah 12:16

12:16 But they must make sure you learn to follow the religious practices of my people. ⁷⁶  Once they taught my people to swear their oaths using the name of the god Baal. ⁷⁷  But then, they must swear oaths using my name, saying, “As surely as the Lord lives, I swear.” ⁷⁸  If they do these things, ⁷⁹  then they will be included among the people I call my own. ⁸⁰ 

Zephaniah 1:5

1:5 I will remove ⁸¹  those who worship the stars in the sky from their rooftops, ⁸² 

those who swear allegiance to the Lord ⁸³  while taking oaths in the name of ⁸⁴  their ‘king,’ ⁸⁵ 

Hebrews 6:16

6:16 For people ⁸⁶  swear by something greater than themselves, ⁸⁷  and the oath serves as a confirmation to end all dispute. ⁸⁸ 

[21:23]  ¹ tn Heb “And now swear to me by God here.”

[21:23]  ² tn Heb “my offspring and my descendants.”

[21:23]  ³ tn The word “land” refers by metonymy to the people in the land.

[21:23]  ⁴ tn The Hebrew verb means “to stay, to live, to sojourn” as a temporary resident without ownership rights.

[21:23]  ⁵ tn Or “kindness.”

[21:23]  ⁶ tn Heb “According to the loyalty which I have done with you, do with me and with the land in which you are staying.”

[26:28]  ⁷ tn The infinitive absolute before the verb emphasizes the clarity of their perception.

[26:28]  ⁸ tn Heb “And we said, ‘Let there be.’” The direct discourse in the Hebrew text has been rendered as indirect discourse in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[26:28]  ⁹ tn The pronoun “us” here is inclusive – it refers to the Philistine contingent on the one hand and Isaac on the other.

[26:28]  ¹⁰ tn The pronoun “us” here is exclusive – it refers to just the Philistine contingent (the following “you” refers to Isaac).

[26:28]  ¹¹ tn The translation assumes that the cohortative expresses their request. Another option is to understand the cohortative as indicating resolve: “We want to make.’”

[26:29]  ¹² tn The oath formula is used: “if you do us harm” means “so that you will not do.”

[26:29]  ¹³ tn Heb “touched.”

[26:29]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “and just as we have done only good with you.”

[26:29]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “and we sent you away.”

[26:29]  ¹⁶ tn The Philistine leaders are making an observation, not pronouncing a blessing, so the translation reads “you are blessed” rather than “may you be blessed” (cf. NAB).

[26:30]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Isaac) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[26:30]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and they ate and drank.”

[26:31]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “and they got up early and they swore an oath, a man to his brother.”

[26:31]  ²⁰ tn Heb “and they went from him in peace.”

[31:44]  ²¹ tn Heb “cut a covenant.”

[31:44]  ²² tn The verb הָיָה (hayah) followed by the preposition לְ (lÿ) means “become.”

[31:44]  ²³ tn Heb “and it will become a witness between me and you.”

[31:46]  ²⁴ tn Heb “Jacob”; the proper name has been replaced by the pronoun (“he”) in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[31:46]  ²⁵ sn The Hebrew word for “pile” is גַּל (gal), which sounds like the name “Galeed” (גַּלְעֵד, gal’ed). See v. 48.

[31:47]  ²⁶ sn Jegar Sahadutha. Laban the Aramean gave the place an Aramaic name which means “witness pile” or “the pile is a witness.”

[31:47]  ²⁷ sn Galeed also means “witness pile” or “the pile is a witness,” but this name is Canaanite or Western Semitic and closer to later Hebrew. Jacob, though certainly capable of speaking Aramaic, here prefers to use the western dialect.

[31:48]  ²⁸ tn Heb “a witness between me and you.”

[31:49]  ²⁹ tn Heb “and Mizpah.”

[31:49]  ³⁰ sn The name Mizpah (מִצְפָּה, mitspah), which means “watchpost,” sounds like the verb translated “may he watch” (יִצֶף, yitsef). Neither Laban nor Jacob felt safe with each other, and so they agreed to go their separate ways, trusting the Lord to keep watch at the border. Jacob did not need this treaty, but Laban, perhaps because he had lost his household gods, felt he did.

[31:49]  ³¹ tn Heb “between me and you.”

[31:49]  ³² tn Heb “for we will be hidden, each man from his neighbor.”

[31:50]  ³³ tn Heb “see.”

[31:50]  ³⁴ tn Heb “between me and you.”

[31:51]  ³⁵ tn Heb “and Laban said to Jacob, ‘Behold this heap and behold the pillar which I have set between men and you.’” The order of the introductory clause and the direct discourse has been rearranged in the translation for stylistic reasons.

[31:52]  ³⁶ tn Heb “This pile is a witness and the pillar is a witness, if I go past this pile to you and if you go past this pile and this pillar to me for harm.”

[31:53]  ³⁷ tn The God of Abraham and the god of Nahor. The Hebrew verb translated “judge” is plural, suggesting that Laban has more than one “god” in mind. The Samaritan Pentateuch and the LXX, apparently in an effort to make the statement monotheistic, have a singular verb. In this case one could translate, “May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” However, Laban had a polytheistic world view, as evidenced by his possession of household idols (cf. 31:19). The translation uses “God” when referring to Abraham’s God, for Genesis makes it clear that Abraham worshiped the one true God. It employs “god” when referring to Nahor’s god, for in the Hebrew text Laban refers to a different god here, probably one of the local deities.

[31:53]  ³⁸ tn Heb “by the fear of his father Isaac.” See the note on the word “fears” in v. 42.

[20:7]  ³⁹ tn Or “use” (NCV, TEV); NIV, CEV, NLT “misuse”; NRSV “make wrongful use of.”

[20:7]  ⁴⁰ tn שָׁוְא (shav’, “vain”) describes “unreality.” The command prohibits use of the name for any idle, frivolous, or insincere purpose (S. R. Driver, Exodus, 196). This would include perjury, pagan incantations, or idle talk. The name is to be treated with reverence and respect because it is the name of the holy God.

[20:7]  ⁴¹ tn Or “leave unpunished.”

[22:11]  ⁴² tn The construct relationship שְׁבֻעַת יְהוָה (shÿvu’at yÿhvah, “the oath of Yahweh”) would require a genitive of indirect object, “an oath [to] Yahweh.” U. Cassuto suggests that it means “an oath by Yahweh” (Exodus, 287). The person to whom the animal was entrusted would take a solemn oath to Yahweh that he did not appropriate the animal for himself, and then his word would be accepted.

[23:13]  ⁴³ tn The phrase “to do” is added; in Hebrew word order the line says, “In all that I have said to you you will watch yourselves.” The verb for paying attention is a Niphal imperfect with an imperatival force.

[23:13]  ⁴⁴ tn Or “honor,” Hiphil of זָכַר (zakhar). See also Exod 20:25; Josh 23:7; Isa 26:13.

[23:13]  ⁴⁵ tn Heb “mouth.”

[19:12]  ⁴⁶ tn Heb “And you shall not swear to the falsehood.”

[19:12]  ⁴⁷ tn Heb “and you shall not profane”; NAB “thus profaning.”

[5:21]  ⁴⁸ sn For information on such curses, see M. R. Lehmann, “Biblical Oaths,” ZAW 81 (1969): 74-92; A. C. Thiselton, “The Supposed Power of Words in the Biblical Writings,” JTS 25 (1974): 283-99; and F. C. Fensham, “Malediction and Benediction in Ancient Vassal Treaties and the Old Testament,” ZAW 74 (1962): 1-9.

[5:21]  ⁴⁹ tn Heb “the priest will say.”

[5:21]  ⁵⁰ tn This interpretation takes the two nouns as a hendiadys. The literal wording is “the Lord make you a curse and an oath among the people.” In what sense would she be an oath? The point of the whole passage is that the priest is making her take an oath to see if she has been sinful and will be cursed.

[5:21]  ⁵¹ sn The outcome of this would be that she would be quoted by people in such forms of expression as an oath or a curse (see Jer 29:22).

[5:21]  ⁵² tn The construction uses the infinitive construct with the preposition to form an adverbial clause: “in the giving of the Lord…,” meaning, “if and when the Lord makes such and such to happen.”

[5:21]  ⁵³ tn TEV takes the expression “your thigh” as a euphemism for the genitals: “cause your genital organs to shrink.”

[5:21]  ⁵⁴ sn Most commentators take the expressions to be euphemisms of miscarriage or stillbirth, meaning that there would be no fruit from an illegitimate union. The idea of the abdomen swelling has been reinterpreted by NEB to mean “fall away.” If this interpretation stands, then the idea is that the woman has become pregnant, and that has aroused the suspicion of the husband for some reason. R. K. Harrison (Numbers [WEC], 111-13) discusses a variety of other explanations for diseases and conditions that might be described by these terms. He translates it with “miscarriage,” but leaves open what the description might actually be. Cf. NRSV “makes your uterus drop, your womb discharge.”

[2:12]  ⁵⁵ tn Heb “Now, swear to me by the Lord.”

[2:12]  ⁵⁶ tn Heb “with the house of my father.”

[2:12]  ⁵⁷ tn Heb “true sign,” that is, “an inviolable token or pledge.”

[2:1]  ⁵⁸ tn Heb “Joshua, son of Nun, sent from Shittim two men, spies, secretly, saying.”

[2:1]  ⁵⁹ tn Heb “go, see the land, and Jericho.”

[2:1]  ⁶⁰ tn Heb “they went and entered the house of a woman, a prostitute, and her name was Rahab, and they slept there.”

[13:25]  ⁶¹ tn Heb “give.”

[45:23]  ⁶² tn Heb “I swear by myself”; KJV, NASB “have sworn.”

[45:23]  ⁶³ tn Heb “a word goes out from my mouth [in] truth and will not return.”

[45:23]  ⁶⁴ tn Heb “swear” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “confess allegiance.”

[48:1]  ⁶⁵ tn Heb “house of Jacob”; TEV, CEV “people of Israel.”

[48:1]  ⁶⁶ 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]  ⁶⁷ tn Heb “cause to remember”; KJV, ASV “make mention of.”

[48:1]  ⁶⁸ tn Heb “not in truth and not in righteousness.”

[65:16]  ⁶⁹ tn Or “in the land” (NIV, NCV, NRSV). The same phrase occurs again later in this verse, with the same options.

[65:16]  ⁷⁰ tn Heb “will pronounce a blessing by the God of truth.”

[65:16]  ⁷¹ tn Heb “will take an oath by the God of truth.”

[65:16]  ⁷² tn Heb “for the former distresses will be forgotten, and they will be hidden from my eyes.”

[4:2]  ⁷³ 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]  ⁷⁴ 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]  ⁷⁵ tn Heb “bless themselves in him and make their boasts in him.”

[12:16]  ⁷⁶ tn Heb “the ways of my people.” For this nuance of the word “ways” compare 10:2 and the notes there.

[12:16]  ⁷⁷ tn Heb “taught my people to swear by Baal.”

[12:16]  ⁷⁸ tn The words “I swear” are not in the text but are implicit to the oath formula. They are supplied in the translation for clarity.

[12:16]  ⁷⁹ tn The words “If they do this” are not in the text. They are part of an attempt to break up a Hebrew sentence which is long and complex into equivalent shorter sentences consistent with contemporary English style. Verse 16 in Hebrew is all one sentence with a long complex conditional clause followed by a short consequence: “If they carefully learn the ways of my people to swear by name, ‘By the life of the Lord,’ as they taught my people to swear by Baal, then they will be built up in the midst of my people.” The translation strives to create the same contingencies and modifications by breaking up the sentence into shorter sentences in accord with contemporary English style.

[12:16]  ⁸⁰ tn Heb “they will be built up among my people.” The expression “be built up among” is without parallel. However, what is involved here is conceptually parallel to the ideas expressed in Isa 19:23-25 and Zech 14:16-19. That is, these people will be allowed to live on their own land, to worship the Lord there, and to come to Jerusalem to celebrate the feasts. To translate literally would be meaningless or misleading for many readers.

[1:5]  ⁸¹ tn The words “I will remove” are repeated from v. 4b for stylistic reasons. In the Hebrew text vv. 4b-6 contain a long list of objects for the verb “I will remove” in v. 4b. In the present translation a new sentence was begun at the beginning of v. 5 in keeping with the tendency of contemporary English to use shorter sentences.

[1:5]  ⁸² tn Heb “those who worship on their roofs the host of heaven.” The “host of heaven” included the sun, moon, planets, and stars, all of which were deified in the ancient Near East.

[1:5]  ⁸³ tc The MT reads, “those who worship, those who swear allegiance to the Lord.” The original form of the LXX omits the phrase “those who worship”; it may have been accidentally repeated from the preceding line. J. J. M. Roberts prefers to delete as secondary the phrase “those who swear allegiance” (J. J. M. Roberts, Nahum, Habakkuk, and Zephaniah [OTL], 168).

[1:5]  ⁸⁴ tn Heb “those who swear by.”

[1:5]  ⁸⁵ tn The referent of “their king” is unclear. It may refer sarcastically to a pagan god (perhaps Baal) worshiped by the people. Some English versions (cf. NEB, NASB, NRSV) prefer to emend the text to “Milcom,” the name of an Ammonite god (following some LXX mss, Syriac, and Vulgate) or “Molech,” a god to whom the Israelites offered their children (cf. NIV, NLT). For a discussion of the options, see Adele Berlin, Zephaniah (AB 25A), 75-77.

[6:16]  ⁸⁶ tn The plural Greek term ἄνθρωποι (anqrwpoi) is used here in a generic sense, referring to both men and women, and is thus translated “people.”

[6:16]  ⁸⁷ tn Grk “by something greater”; the rest of the comparison (“than themselves”) is implied.

[6:16]  ⁸⁸ tn Grk “the oath for confirmation is an end of all dispute.”