Leviticus 19:12

19:12 You must not swear falsely ¹  in my name, so that you do not profane ²  the name of your God. I am the Lord.

Joshua 2:12

2:12 So now, promise me this with an oath sworn in the Lord’s name. ³  Because I have shown allegiance to you, show allegiance to my family. ⁴  Give me a solemn pledge ⁵ 

Psalms 15:4

15:4 He despises a reprobate, ⁶ 

but honors the Lord’s loyal followers. ⁷ 

He makes firm commitments and does not renege on his promise. ⁸ 

Psalms 63:11

63:11 But the king ⁹  will rejoice in God;

everyone who takes oaths in his name ¹⁰  will boast,

for the mouths of those who speak lies will be shut up. ¹¹ 

Isaiah 45:23

45:23 I solemnly make this oath ¹²  –

what I say is true and reliable: ¹³ 

‘Surely every knee will bow to me,

every tongue will solemnly affirm; ¹⁴ 

Isaiah 65:16

65:16 Whoever pronounces a blessing in the earth ¹⁵ 

will do so in the name of the faithful God; ¹⁶ 

whoever makes an oath in the earth

will do so in the name of the faithful God. ¹⁷ 

For past problems will be forgotten;

I will no longer think about them. ¹⁸ 

Jeremiah 4:2

4:2 You must be truthful, honest and upright

when you take an oath saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’ ¹⁹ 

If you do, ²⁰  the nations will pray to be as blessed by him as you are

and will make him the object of their boasting.” ²¹ 

Jeremiah 5:2

5:2 These people make promises in the name of the Lord. ²² 

But the fact is, ²³  what they swear to is really a lie.” ²⁴ 

Jeremiah 5:7

5:7 The Lord asked, ²⁵ 

“How can I leave you unpunished, Jerusalem? ²⁶ 

Your people ²⁷  have rejected me

and have worshiped gods that are not gods at all. ²⁸ 

Even though I supplied all their needs, ²⁹  they were like an unfaithful wife to me. ³⁰ 

They went flocking ³¹  to the houses of prostitutes. ³² 

Jeremiah 12:16

12:16 But they must make sure you learn to follow the religious practices of my people. ³³  Once they taught my people to swear their oaths using the name of the god Baal. ³⁴  But then, they must swear oaths using my name, saying, “As surely as the Lord lives, I swear.” ³⁵  If they do these things, ³⁶  then they will be included among the people I call my own. ³⁷ 

[19:12]  ¹ tn Heb “And you shall not swear to the falsehood.”

[19:12]  ² tn Heb “and you shall not profane”; NAB “thus profaning.”

[2:12]  ³ tn Heb “Now, swear to me by the Lord.”

[2:12]  ⁴ tn Heb “with the house of my father.”

[2:12]  ⁵ tn Heb “true sign,” that is, “an inviolable token or pledge.”

[15:4]  ⁶ tn Heb “despised in his eyes [is] a rejected [one].” The Hebrew term נִמְאָס (nim’as, “rejected [one]”) apparently refers here to one who has been rejected by God because of his godless behavior. It stands in contrast to “those who fear God” in the following line.

[15:4]  ⁷ tn Heb “those who fear the Lord.” The one who fears the Lord respects his sovereignty and obeys his commandments. See Ps 128:1; Prov 14:2.

[15:4]  ⁸ tn Heb “he takes an oath to do harm and does not change.” The phrase “to do harm” cannot mean “do harm to others,” for the preceding verse clearly characterizes this individual as one who does not harm others. In this context the phrase must refer to an oath to which a self-imprecation is attached. The godly individual takes his commitments to others so seriously he is willing to “swear to his own hurt.” For an example of such an oath, see Ruth 1:16-17.

[63:11]  ⁹ sn The psalmist probably refers to himself in the third person here.

[63:11]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “who swears [an oath] by him.”

[63:11]  ¹¹ tn The Niphal of this verb occurs only here and in Gen 8:2, where it is used of God “stopping” or “damming up” the great deep as he brought the flood to an end.

[45:23]  ¹² tn Heb “I swear by myself”; KJV, NASB “have sworn.”

[45:23]  ¹³ tn Heb “a word goes out from my mouth [in] truth and will not return.”

[45:23]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “swear” (so KJV, NAB, NIV, NRSV); NLT “confess allegiance.”

[65:16]  ¹⁵ tn Or “in the land” (NIV, NCV, NRSV). The same phrase occurs again later in this verse, with the same options.

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

[65:16]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “will take an oath by the God of truth.”

[65:16]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “for the former distresses will be forgotten, and they will be hidden from my eyes.”

[4:2]  ¹⁹ 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]  ²⁰ 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]  ²¹ tn Heb “bless themselves in him and make their boasts in him.”

[5:2]  ²² tn Heb “Though they say, ‘As surely as the Lord lives.” The idea of “swear on oath” comes from the second line.

[5:2]  ²³ tc The translation follows many Hebrew mss and the Syriac version in reading “surely” (אָכֵן, ’akhen) instead of “therefore” (לָכֵן, lakhen) in the MT.

[5:2]  ²⁴ tn Heb “they swear falsely.”

[5:7]  ²⁵ tn These words are not in the text, but are supplied in the translation to make clear who is speaking.

[5:7]  ²⁶ tn Heb “How can I forgive [or pardon] you.” The pronoun “you” is second feminine singular, referring to the city. See v. 1.

[5:7]  ²⁷ tn Heb “your children.”

[5:7]  ²⁸ tn Heb “and they have sworn [oaths] by not-gods.”

[5:7]  ²⁹ tn Heb “I satisfied them to the full.”

[5:7]  ³⁰ tn Heb “they committed adultery.” It is difficult to decide whether literal adultery with other women or spiritual adultery with other gods is meant. The word for adultery is used for both in the book of Jeremiah. For examples of its use for spiritual adultery see 3:8, 9; 9:2. For examples of its use for literal adultery see 7:9; 23:14. The context here could argue for either. The swearing by other gods and the implicit contradiction in their actions in contrast to the expected gratitude for supplying their needs argues for spiritual adultery. However, the reference to prostitution in the next line and the reference to chasing after their neighbor’s wives argues for literal adultery. The translation opts for spiritual adultery because of the contrast implicit in the concessive clause.

[5:7]  ³¹ tn There is a great deal of debate about the meaning of this word. Most of the modern English versions follow the lead of lexicographers who relate this word to a noun meaning “troop” and understand it to mean “they trooped together” (cf. BDB 151 s.v. גָּדַד Hithpo.2 and compare the usage in Mic 5:1 [4:14 HT]). A few of the modern English versions and commentaries follow the reading of the Greek and read a word meaning “they lodged” (reading ִיתְגּוֹרְרוּ [yitggorÿru] from I גּוּר [gur; cf. HALOT 177 s.v. Hithpo. and compare the usage in 1 Kgs 17:20] instead of יִתְגֹּדָדוּ [yitggodadu]). W. L. Holladay (Jeremiah [Hermeneia], 1:180) sees a reference here to the cultic practice of cutting oneself in supplication to pagan gods (cf. BDB 151 s.v. גָּדַד Hithpo.1 and compare the usage in 1 Kgs 18:28). The houses of prostitutes would then be a reference to ritual prostitutes at the pagan shrines. The translation follows BDB and the majority of modern English versions.

[5:7]  ³² tn Heb “to a house of a prostitute.”

[12:16]  ³³ tn Heb “the ways of my people.” For this nuance of the word “ways” compare 10:2 and the notes there.

[12:16]  ³⁴ tn Heb “taught my people to swear by Baal.”

[12:16]  ³⁵ 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]  ³⁶ 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]  ³⁷ 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.