Leviticus 6:3

6:3 or has found something lost and denies it and swears falsely ¹  concerning any one of the things that someone might do to sin ²  –

Exodus 20:7

20:7 “You shall not take ³  the name of the Lord your God in vain, ⁴  for the Lord will not hold guiltless ⁵  anyone who takes his name in vain.

Deuteronomy 5:11

5:11 You must not make use of the name of the Lord your God for worthless purposes, ⁶  for the Lord will not exonerate anyone who abuses his name that way. ⁷ 

Psalms 15:4

15:4 He despises a reprobate, ⁸ 

but honors the Lord’s loyal followers. ⁹ 

He makes firm commitments and does not renege on his promise. ¹⁰ 

Jeremiah 4:2

4:2 You must be truthful, honest and upright

when you take an oath saying, ‘As surely as the Lord lives!’ ¹¹ 

If you do, ¹²  the nations will pray to be as blessed by him as you are

and will make him the object of their boasting.” ¹³ 

Jeremiah 7:9

7:9 You steal. ¹⁴  You murder. You commit adultery. You lie when you swear on oath. You sacrifice to the god Baal. You pay allegiance to ¹⁵  other gods whom you have not previously known.

Zechariah 5:4

5:4 “I will send it out,” says the Lord who rules over all, “and it will enter the house of the thief and of the person who swears falsely in my name. It will land in the middle of his house and destroy both timber and stones.”

Malachi 3:5

3:5 “I ¹⁶  will come to you in judgment. I will be quick to testify against those who practice divination, those who commit adultery, those who break promises, ¹⁷  and those who exploit workers, widows, and orphans, ¹⁸  who refuse to help ¹⁹  the immigrant ²⁰  and in this way show they do not fear me,” says the Lord who rules over all.

Matthew 5:33-34

Oaths

5:33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to an older generation, ²¹  ‘Do not break an oath, but fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ ²²  5:34 But I say to you, do not take oaths at all – not by heaven, because it is the throne of God,

James 5:12

5:12 And above all, my brothers and sisters, ²³  do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath. But let your “Yes” be yes and your “No” be no, so that you may not fall into judgment.

[6:3]  ¹ tn Heb “and swears on falsehood”; cf. CEV “deny something while under oath.”

[6:3]  ² tn Heb “on one from all which the man shall do to sin in them.”

[20:7]  ³ tn Or “use” (NCV, TEV); NIV, CEV, NLT “misuse”; NRSV “make wrongful use of.”

[20:7]  ⁴ 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]  ⁵ tn Or “leave unpunished.”

[5:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “take up the name of the Lord your God to emptiness”; KJV “take the name of the Lord thy God in vain.” The idea here is not cursing or profanity in the modern sense of these terms but rather the use of the divine Name for unholy, mundane purposes, that is, for meaningless (the Hebrew term is שָׁוְא) and empty ends. In ancient Israel this would include using the Lord’s name as a witness in vows one did not intend to keep.

[5:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “who takes up his name to emptiness.”

[15:4]  ⁸ 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]  ⁹ 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]  ¹⁰ 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.

[4:2]  ¹¹ 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]  ¹² 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]  ¹³ tn Heb “bless themselves in him and make their boasts in him.”

[7:9]  ¹⁴ tn Heb “Will you steal…then say, ‘We are safe’?” Verses 9-10 are one long sentence in the Hebrew text.

[7:9]  ¹⁵ tn Heb “You go/follow after.” See the translator’s note at 2:5 for an explanation of the idiom involved here.

[3:5]  ¹⁶ tn The first person pronoun (a reference to the Lord) indicates that the Lord himself now speaks (see also v. 1). The prophet speaks in vv. 2-4 (see also 2:17).

[3:5]  ¹⁷ tn Heb “those who swear [oaths] falsely.” Cf. NIV “perjurers”; TEV “those who give false testimony”; NLT “liars.”

[3:5]  ¹⁸ tn Heb “and against the oppressors of the worker for a wage, [the] widow and orphan.”

[3:5]  ¹⁹ tn Heb “those who turn aside.”

[3:5]  ²⁰ tn Or “resident foreigner”; NIV “aliens”; NRSV “the alien.”

[5:33]  ²¹ tn Grk “the ancient ones.”

[5:33]  ²² sn A quotation from Lev 19:12.

[5:12]  ²³ tn Grk “brothers.” See note on the phrase “brothers and sisters” in 1:2.