Genesis 24:58

24:58 So they called Rebekah and asked her, “Do you want ¹  to go with this man?” She replied, “I want to go.”

Exodus 20:7

20:7 “You shall not take ²  the name of the Lord your God in vain, ³  for the Lord will not hold guiltless ⁴  anyone who takes his name in vain.

Exodus 9:2

9:2 For if you refuse to release them ⁵  and continue holding them, ⁶ 

Proverbs 13:16

13:16 Every shrewd ⁷  person acts with knowledge,

but a fool displays ⁸  his folly.

Jeremiah 4:2

4:2 You must be truthful, honest and upright

when you take an oath saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’ ⁹ 

If you do, ¹⁰  the nations will pray to be as blessed by him as you are

and will make him the object of their boasting.” ¹¹ 

[24:58]  ¹ tn The imperfect verbal form here has a modal nuance, expressing desire.

[20:7]  ² tn Or “use” (NCV, TEV); NIV, CEV, NLT “misuse”; NRSV “make wrongful use of.”

[20:7]  ³ 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]  ⁴ tn Or “leave unpunished.”

[9:2]  ⁵ tn The object “them” is implied in the context.

[9:2]  ⁶ tn עוֹד (’od), an adverb meaning “yet, still,” can be inflected with suffixes and used as a predicator of existence, with the nuance “to still be, yet be” (T. O. Lambdin, Introduction to Biblical Hebrew, 171-72, §137). Then, it is joined here with the Hiphil participle מַחֲזִיק (makhaziq) to form the sentence “you are still holding them.”

[13:16]  ⁷ sn The shrewd person knows the circumstances, dangers and pitfalls that lie ahead. So he deals with them wisely. This makes him cautious.

[13:16]  ⁸ tn Heb “spreads open” [his folly]. W. McKane suggests that this is a figure of a peddler displaying his wares (Proverbs [OTL], 456; cf. NAB “the fool peddles folly”). If given a chance, a fool will reveal his foolishness in public. But the wise study the facts and make decisions accordingly.

[4:2]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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]  ¹¹ tn Heb “bless themselves in him and make their boasts in him.”