Genesis 25:33

25:33 But Jacob said, “Swear an oath to me now.” ¹  So Esau ²  swore an oath to him and sold his birthright ³  to Jacob.

Genesis 47:31

47:31 Jacob ⁴  said, “Swear to me that you will do so.” ⁵  So Joseph ⁶  gave him his word. ⁷  Then Israel bowed down ⁸  at the head of his bed. ⁹ 

Genesis 21:24

21:24 Abraham said, “I swear to do this.” ¹⁰ 

Genesis 50:6

50:6 So Pharaoh said, “Go and bury your father, just as he made you swear to do.” ¹¹ 

Genesis 21:31

21:31 That is why he named that place ¹²  Beer Sheba, ¹³  because the two of them swore ¹⁴  an oath there.

Genesis 26:31

26:31 Early in the morning the men made a treaty with each other. ¹⁵  Isaac sent them off; they separated on good terms. ¹⁶ 

Genesis 22:16

22:16 and said, “‘I solemnly swear by my own name,’ ¹⁷  decrees the Lord, ¹⁸  ‘that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,

Genesis 24:3

24:3 so that I may make you solemnly promise ¹⁹  by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth: You must not acquire ²⁰  a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living.

Genesis 24:9

24:9 So the servant placed his hand under the thigh of his master Abraham and gave his solemn promise he would carry out his wishes. ²¹ 

Genesis 24:37

24:37 My master made me swear an oath. He said, ‘You must not acquire a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living,

Genesis 31:53

31:53 May the God of Abraham and the god of Nahor, ²²  the gods of their father, judge between us.” Jacob took an oath by the God whom his father Isaac feared. ²³ 

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.”

Genesis 21:23

21:23 Now swear to me right here in God’s name ²⁴  that you will not deceive me, my children, or my descendants. ²⁵  Show me, and the land ²⁶  where you are staying, ²⁷  the same loyalty ²⁸  that I have shown you.” ²⁹ 

Genesis 24:7

24:7 “The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and the land of my relatives, ³⁰  promised me with a solemn oath, ³¹  ‘To your descendants I will give this land.’ He will send his angel ³²  before you so that you may find ³³  a wife for my son from there.

Genesis 26:3

26:3 Stay ³⁴  in this land. Then I will be with you and will bless you, ³⁵  for I will give all these lands to you and to your descendants, ³⁶  and I will fulfill ³⁷  the solemn promise I made ³⁸  to your father Abraham.

Genesis 50:5

50:5 ‘My father made me swear an oath. He said, ³⁹  “I am about to die. Bury me ⁴⁰  in my tomb that I dug for myself there in the land of Canaan.” Now let me go and bury my father; then I will return.’”

Genesis 50:24

50:24 Then Joseph said to his brothers, “I am about to die. But God will surely come to you ⁴¹  and lead you up from this land to the land he swore on oath to give ⁴²  to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.”

[25:33]  ¹ tn Heb “Swear to me today.”

[25:33]  ² tn Heb “and he”; the referent (Esau) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[25:33]  ³ sn And sold his birthright. There is evidence from Hurrian culture that rights of inheritance were occasionally sold or transferred. Here Esau is portrayed as a profane person who would at the moment rather have a meal than the right to inherit. He will soon forget this trade and seek his father’s blessing in spite of it.

[47:31]  ⁴ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Jacob) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[47:31]  ⁵ tn Heb “swear on oath to me.” The words “that you will do so” have been supplied in the translation for clarity.

[47:31]  ⁶ tn Heb “he”; the referent (Joseph) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

[47:31]  ⁷ tn Heb “swore on oath to him.”

[47:31]  ⁸ sn The Hebrew verb normally means “bow down,” especially in worship or prayer. Here it might simply mean “bend low,” perhaps from weakness or approaching death. The narrative is ambiguous at this point and remains open to all these interpretations.

[47:31]  ⁹ tc The MT reads מִטָּה (mittah, “bed, couch”). The LXX reads the word as מַטֶּה (matteh, “staff, rod”) and interprets this to mean that Jacob bowed down in worship while leaning on the top of his staff. The LXX reading was used in turn by the writer of the Letter to the Hebrews (Heb 11:21).

[21:24]  ⁷ tn Heb “I swear.” No object is specified in the Hebrew text, but the content of the oath requested by Abimelech is the implied object.

[50:6]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “he made you swear on oath.”

[21:31]  ¹³ tn Heb “that is why he called that place.” Some translations render this as an impersonal passive, “that is why that place was called.”

[21:31]  ¹⁴ sn The name Beer Sheba (בְּאֵר שָׁבַע, bÿ’er shava’) means “well of the oath” or “well of the seven.” Both the verb “to swear” and the number “seven” have been used throughout the account. Now they are drawn in as part of the explanation of the significance of the name.

[21:31]  ¹⁵ sn The verb forms a wordplay with the name Beer Sheba.

[26:31]  ¹⁶ tn Heb “and they got up early and they swore an oath, a man to his brother.”

[26:31]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “and they went from him in peace.”

[22:16]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “By myself I swear.”

[22:16]  ²⁰ tn Heb “the oracle of the Lord.” The phrase refers to a formal oracle or decree from the Lord.

[24:3]  ²² tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose.

[24:3]  ²³ tn Heb “because you must not take.”

[24:9]  ²⁵ tn Heb “and he swore to him concerning this matter.”

[31:53]  ²⁸ 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]  ²⁹ tn Heb “by the fear of his father Isaac.” See the note on the word “fears” in v. 42.

[21:23]  ³¹ tn Heb “And now swear to me by God here.”

[21:23]  ³² tn Heb “my offspring and my descendants.”

[21:23]  ³³ tn The word “land” refers by metonymy to the people in the land.

[21:23]  ³⁴ tn The Hebrew verb means “to stay, to live, to sojourn” as a temporary resident without ownership rights.

[21:23]  ³⁵ tn Or “kindness.”

[21:23]  ³⁶ tn Heb “According to the loyalty which I have done with you, do with me and with the land in which you are staying.”

[24:7]  ³⁴ tn Or “the land of my birth.”

[24:7]  ³⁵ tn Heb “and who spoke to me and who swore to me, saying.”

[24:7]  ³⁶ tn Or “his messenger.”

[24:7]  ³⁷ tn Heb “before you and you will take.”

[26:3]  ³⁷ tn The Hebrew verb גּוּר (gur) means “to live temporarily without ownership of land.” Abraham’s family will not actually possess the land of Canaan until the Israelite conquest hundreds of years later.

[26:3]  ³⁸ tn After the imperative “stay” the two prefixed verb forms with prefixed conjunction here indicate consequence.

[26:3]  ³⁹ tn The Hebrew term זֶרַע (zera’) occurring here and in v. 18 may mean “seed” (for planting), “offspring” (occasionally of animals, but usually of people), or “descendants” depending on the context.

[26:3]  ⁴⁰ tn The Hiphil stem of the verb קוּם (qum) here means “to fulfill, to bring to realization.” For other examples of this use of this verb form, see Lev 26:9; Num 23:19; Deut 8:18; 9:5; 1 Sam 1:23; 1 Kgs 6:12; Jer 11:5.

[26:3]  ⁴¹ tn Heb “the oath which I swore.”

[50:5]  ⁴⁰ tn Heb “saying.”

[50:5]  ⁴¹ tn The imperfect verbal form here has the force of a command.

[50:24]  ⁴³ tn The verb פָּקַד (paqad) means “to visit,” i.e., to intervene for blessing or cursing; here Joseph announces that God would come to fulfill the promises by delivering them from Egypt. The statement is emphasized by the use of the infinitive absolute with the verb: “God will surely visit you.”

[50:24]  ⁴⁴ tn The words “to give” are supplied in the translation for clarity and for stylistic reasons.