Discovery BoxJoshua 2:20
Context2:20 If you should report what we’ve been up to, 1 we are not bound by this oath you made us swear.”
Genesis 24:3-8
Context24:3 so that I may make you solemnly promise 2 by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth: You must not acquire 3 a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites, among whom I am living. 24:4 You must go instead to my country and to my relatives 4 to find 5 a wife for my son Isaac.”
24:5 The servant asked him, “What if the woman is not willing to come back with me 6 to this land? Must I then 7 take your son back to the land from which you came?”
24:6 “Be careful 8 never to take my son back there!” Abraham told him. 9 24:7 “The Lord, the God of heaven, who took me from my father’s house and the land of my relatives, 10 promised me with a solemn oath, 11 ‘To your descendants I will give this land.’ He will send his angel 12 before you so that you may find 13 a wife for my son from there. 24:8 But if the woman is not willing to come back with you, 14 you will be free 15 from this oath of mine. But you must not take my son back there!”
Exodus 20:7
Context20:7 “You shall not take 16 the name of the Lord your God in vain, 17 for the Lord will not hold guiltless 18 anyone who takes his name in vain.
Leviticus 19:11-12
Context19:11 “‘You must not steal, you must not tell lies, and you must not deal falsely with your fellow citizen. 19 19:12 You must not swear falsely 20 in my name, so that you do not profane 21 the name of your God. I am the Lord.
Numbers 30:2
Context30:2 If a man 22 makes a vow 23 to the Lord or takes an oath 24 of binding obligation on himself, 25 he must not break his word, but must do whatever he has promised. 26
Numbers 30:2
Context30:2 If a man 27 makes a vow 28 to the Lord or takes an oath 29 of binding obligation on himself, 30 he must not break his word, but must do whatever he has promised. 31
Numbers 21:1-2
Context21:1 32 When the Canaanite king of Arad 33 who lived in the Negev 34 heard that Israel was approaching along the road to Atharim, he fought against Israel and took some of them prisoner.
21:2 So Israel made a vow 35 to the Lord and said, “If you will indeed deliver 36 this people into our 37 hand, then we will utterly destroy 38 their cities.”
Numbers 21:7
Context21:7 Then the people came to Moses and said, “We have sinned, for we have spoken against the Lord and against you. Pray to the Lord that he would take away 39 the snakes from us.” So Moses prayed for the people.
[2:20] 1 tn Heb “and if you report this matter of ours.”
[24:3] 2 tn Following the imperative, the cohortative with the prefixed conjunction indicates purpose.
[24:3] 3 tn Heb “because you must not take.”
[24:4] 4 tn Heb “for to my country and my relatives you must go.”
[24:5] 6 tn Heb “to go after me.”
[24:5] 7 tn In the Hebrew text the construction is emphatic; the infinitive absolute precedes the imperfect. However, it is difficult to reflect this emphasis in an English translation.
[24:6] 8 tn Heb “guard yourself.”
[24:6] 9 tn The introductory clause “And Abraham said to him” has been moved to the end of the opening sentence of direct discourse in the translation for stylistic reasons.
[24:7] 10 tn Or “the land of my birth.”
[24:7] 11 tn Heb “and who spoke to me and who swore to me, saying.”
[24:7] 12 tn Or “his messenger.”
[24:7] 13 tn Heb “before you and you will take.”
[24:8] 14 tn Heb “ to go after you.”
[24:8] 15 sn You will be free. If the prospective bride was not willing to accompany the servant back to Canaan, the servant would be released from his oath to Abraham.
[20:7] 16 tn Or “use” (NCV, TEV); NIV, CEV, NLT “misuse”; NRSV “make wrongful use of.”
[20:7] 17 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] 18 tn Or “leave unpunished.”
[19:11] 19 tn Heb “you shall not deal falsely a man with his fellow citizen.”
[19:12] 20 tn Heb “And you shall not swear to the falsehood.”
[19:12] 21 tn Heb “and you shall not profane”; NAB “thus profaning.”
[30:2] 22 tn The legal construction states the class to which the law applies, and then lays down the condition: “men [man] – if….”
[30:2] 23 tn The Hebrew text uses a cognate accusative construction to express this: “a man if he vows a vow.”
[30:2] 24 tn The expression is “swear an oath” (הִשָּׁבַע שְׁבֻעָה, hishava’ shÿvu’ah). The vow (נֵדֶר, neder) was a promise to donate something of oneself or one’s substance to the
[30:2] 25 tn The Hebrew text hasלֶאְסֹר אִסָּר (le’sor ’issar), meaning “to take a binding obligation.” This is usually interpreted to mean a negative vow, i.e., the person attempts to abstain from something that is otherwise permissible. It might involve fasting, or abstaining from marital sex, but it might also involve some goal to be achieved, and the abstaining from distractions until the vow is fulfilled (see Ps 132). The נֶדֶר (neder) may have been more for religious matters, and the אִסָּר more for social concerns, but this cannot be documented with certainty.
[30:2] 26 tn Heb “according to all that goes out of his mouth.”
[30:2] 27 tn The legal construction states the class to which the law applies, and then lays down the condition: “men [man] – if….”
[30:2] 28 tn The Hebrew text uses a cognate accusative construction to express this: “a man if he vows a vow.”
[30:2] 29 tn The expression is “swear an oath” (הִשָּׁבַע שְׁבֻעָה, hishava’ shÿvu’ah). The vow (נֵדֶר, neder) was a promise to donate something of oneself or one’s substance to the
[30:2] 30 tn The Hebrew text hasלֶאְסֹר אִסָּר (le’sor ’issar), meaning “to take a binding obligation.” This is usually interpreted to mean a negative vow, i.e., the person attempts to abstain from something that is otherwise permissible. It might involve fasting, or abstaining from marital sex, but it might also involve some goal to be achieved, and the abstaining from distractions until the vow is fulfilled (see Ps 132). The נֶדֶר (neder) may have been more for religious matters, and the אִסָּר more for social concerns, but this cannot be documented with certainty.
[30:2] 31 tn Heb “according to all that goes out of his mouth.”
[21:1] 32 sn This chapter has several events in it: the victory over Arad (vv. 1-3), the plague of serpents (vv. 4-9), the approach to Moab (vv. 10-20), and the victory over Sihon and Og (vv. 21-35). For information, see D. M. Gunn, “The ‘Battle Report’: Oral or Scribal Convention.” JBL 93 (1974): 513-18; and of the extensive literature on the archaeological site, see EAEHL 1:74-89.
[21:1] 33 sn The name Arad probably refers to a place a number of miles away from Tel Arad in southern Israel. The name could also refer to the whole region (like Edom).
[21:1] 34 tn Or “the south”; “Negev” has become a technical name for the southern desert region and is still in use in modern times.
[21:2] 35 tn The Hebrew text uses a cognate accusative with the verb: They vowed a vow. The Israelites were therefore determined with God’s help to defeat Arad.
[21:2] 36 tn The Hebrew text has the infinitive absolute and the imperfect tense of נָתַן (natan) to stress the point – if you will surely/indeed give.”
[21:2] 38 tn On the surface this does not sound like much of a vow. But the key is in the use of the verb for “utterly destroy” – חָרַם (kharam). Whatever was put to this “ban” or “devotion” belonged to God, either for his use, or for destruction. The oath was in fact saying that they would take nothing from this for themselves. It would simply be the removal of what was alien to the faith, or to God’s program.
[21:7] 39 tn The verb is the Hiphil jussive with a vav (ו) consecutive from the verb סוּר (sur); after the imperative this form may be subordinated to become a purpose clause.
