Jeremiah 46:18

46:18 I the King, whose name is the Lord who rules over all, ¹  swear this:

I swear as surely as I live that ²  a conqueror is coming.

He will be as imposing as Mount Tabor is among the mountains,

as Mount Carmel is against the backdrop of the sea. ³ 

Genesis 22:16

22:16 and said, “‘I solemnly swear by my own name,’ ⁴  decrees the Lord, ⁵  ‘that because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son,

Numbers 14:21-23

14:21 But truly, as I live, ⁶  all the earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord. 14:22 For all the people have seen my glory and my signs that I did in Egypt and in the wilderness, and yet have tempted ⁷  me now these ten times, ⁸  and have not obeyed me, ⁹  14:23 they will by no means ¹⁰  see the land that I swore to their fathers, nor will any of them who despised me see it.

Numbers 14:28

14:28 Say to them, ‘As I live, ¹¹  says ¹²  the Lord, I will surely do to you just what you have spoken in my hearing. ¹³ 

Deuteronomy 32:40-42

32:40 For I raise up my hand to heaven,

and say, ‘As surely as I live forever,

32:41 I will sharpen my lightning-like sword,

and my hand will grasp hold of the weapon of judgment; ¹⁴ 

I will execute vengeance on my foes,

and repay those who hate me! ¹⁵ 

32:42 I will make my arrows drunk with blood,

and my sword will devour flesh –

the blood of the slaughtered and captured,

the chief ¹⁶  of the enemy’s leaders!’”

Psalms 89:34

89:34 I will not break ¹⁷  my covenant

or go back on what I promised. ¹⁸ 

Isaiah 62:8

62:8 The Lord swears an oath by his right hand,

by his strong arm: ¹⁹ 

“I will never again give your grain

to your enemies as food,

and foreigners will not drink your wine,

which you worked hard to produce.

Amos 6:8

6:8 The sovereign Lord confirms this oath by his very own life. ²⁰ 

The Lord, the God who commands armies, is speaking:

“I despise Jacob’s arrogance;

I hate their ²¹  fortresses.

I will hand over to their enemies ²²  the city of Samaria ²³  and everything in it.”

Amos 8:7

8:7 The Lord confirms this oath ²⁴  by the arrogance of Jacob: ²⁵ 

“I swear ²⁶  I will never forget all you have done! ²⁷ 

Hebrews 3:18

3:18 And to whom did he swear they would never enter into his rest, except those who were disobedient?

Hebrews 6:13

6:13 Now when God made his promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself,

Hebrews 6:18

6:18 so that we who have found refuge in him ²⁸  may find strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us through two unchangeable things, since it is impossible for God to lie.

[46:18]  ¹ tn Heb “Yahweh of armies.” For the significance of this title see the note at 2:19.

[46:18]  ² tn Heb “As I live, oracle of the King, whose….” The indirect quote has been chosen to create a smoother English sentence and avoid embedding a quote within a quote.

[46:18]  ³ tn Heb “Like Tabor among the mountains and like Carmel by the sea he will come.” The addition of “conqueror” and “imposing” are implicit from the context and from the metaphor. They have been supplied in the translation to give the reader some idea of the meaning of the verse.

[22:16]  ⁴ tn Heb “By myself I swear.”

[22:16]  ⁵ tn Heb “the oracle of the Lord.” The phrase refers to a formal oracle or decree from the Lord.

[14:21]  ⁶ sn This is the oath formula, but in the Pentateuch it occurs here and in v. 28.

[14:22]  ⁷ tn The verb נָסָה (nasah) means “to test, to tempt, to prove.” It can be used to indicate things are tried or proven, or for testing in a good sense, or tempting in the bad sense, i.e., putting God to the test. In all uses there is uncertainty or doubt about the outcome. Some uses of the verb are positive: If God tests Abraham in Genesis 22:1, it is because there is uncertainty whether he fears the Lord or not; if people like Gideon put out the fleece and test the Lord, it is done by faith but in order to be certain of the Lord’s presence. But here, when these people put God to the test ten times, it was because they doubted the goodness and ability of God, and this was a major weakness. They had proof to the contrary, but chose to challenge God.

[14:22]  ⁸ tn “Ten” is here a round figure, emphasizing the complete testing. But see F. V. Winnett, The Mosaic Tradition, 121-54.

[14:22]  ⁹ tn Heb “listened to my voice.”

[14:23]  ¹⁰ tn The word אִם (’im) indicates a negative oath formula: “if” means “they will not.” It is elliptical. In a human oath one would be saying: “The Lord do to me if they see…,” meaning “they will by no means see.” Here God is swearing that they will not see the land.

[14:28]  ¹¹ sn Here again is the oath that God swore in his wrath, an oath he swore by himself, that they would not enter the land. “As the Lord lives,” or “by the life of the Lord,” are ways to render it.

[14:28]  ¹² tn The word נְאֻם (nÿ’um) is an “oracle.” It is followed by the subjective genitive: “the oracle of the Lord” is equal to saying “the Lord says.”

[14:28]  ¹³ tn Heb “in my ears.”

[32:41]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “judgment.” This is a metonymy, a figure of speech in which the effect (judgment) is employed as an instrument (sword, spear, or the like), the means, by which it is brought about.

[32:41]  ¹⁵ tn The Hebrew term שָׂנֵא (sane’, “hate”) in this covenant context speaks of those who reject Yahweh’s covenant overtures, that is, who disobey its stipulations (see note on the word “rejecting” in Deut 5:9; also see Deut 7:10; 2 Chr 19:2; Ps 81:15; 139:20-21).

[32:42]  ¹⁶ tn Or “head” (the same Hebrew word can mean “head” in the sense of “leader, chieftain” or “head” in the sense of body part).

[89:34]  ¹⁷ tn Or “desecrate.”

[89:34]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and what proceeds out of my lips I will not alter.”

[62:8]  ¹⁹ tn The Lord’s right hand and strong arm here symbolize his power and remind the audience that his might guarantees the fulfillment of the following promise.

[6:8]  ²⁰ tn Heb “swears by his life”; or “swears by himself.”

[6:8]  ²¹ tn Heb “his,” referring to Jacob, which stands here for the nation of Israel.

[6:8]  ²² tn The words “to their enemies” are supplied in the translation for clarification.

[6:8]  ²³ tn Heb “the city”; this probably refers to the city of Samaria (cf. 6:1), which in turn, by metonymy, represents the entire northern kingdom.

[8:7]  ²⁴ tn Or “swears.”

[8:7]  ²⁵ sn In an oath one appeals to something permanent to emphasize one’s commitment to the promise. Here the Lord sarcastically swears by the arrogance of Jacob, which he earlier had condemned (6:8), something just as enduring as the Lord’s own life (see 6:8) or unchanging character (see 4:2). Other suggestions include that the Lord is swearing by the land, his most valuable possession (cf. Isa 4:2; Ps 47:4 [47:5 HT]); that this is a divine epithet analogous to “the Glory of Israel” (1 Sam 15:29); or that an ellipsis should be understood here, in which case the meaning is the same as that of 6:8 (“The Lord has sworn [by himself] against the arrogance of Jacob”).

[8:7]  ²⁶ tn The words “I swear” are not in the Hebrew text, but have been supplied in the translation because a self-imprecation is assumed in oaths of this type.

[8:7]  ²⁷ tn Or “I will never forget all your deeds.”

[6:18]  ²⁸ tn Grk “have taken refuge”; the basis of that refuge is implied in the preceding verse.