Psalms 110:4

110:4 The Lord makes this promise on oath ¹  and will not revoke it: ² 

“You are an eternal priest ³  after the pattern of ⁴  Melchizedek.” ⁵ 

Psalms 132:11

132:11 The Lord made a reliable promise to David; ⁶ 

he will not go back on his word. ⁷ 

He said, ⁸  “I will place one of your descendants ⁹  on your throne.

Amos 4:2

4:2 The sovereign Lord confirms this oath by his own holy character: ¹⁰ 

“Certainly the time is approaching ¹¹ 

when you will be carried away ¹²  in baskets, ¹³ 

every last one of you ¹⁴  in fishermen’s pots. ¹⁵ 

Amos 8:7

8:7 The Lord confirms this oath ¹⁶  by the arrogance of Jacob: ¹⁷ 

“I swear ¹⁸  I will never forget all you have done! ¹⁹ 

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 6:17

6:17 In the same way ²⁰  God wanted to demonstrate more clearly to the heirs of the promise that his purpose was unchangeable, ²¹  and so he intervened with an oath,

[110:4]  ¹ tn Or “swears, vows.”

[110:4]  ² tn Or “will not change his mind.” The negated Niphal imperfect of נָחַם (nakham) is a way of marking an announcement as an irrevocable decree. See 1 Sam 15:29; Ezek 24:14, as well as R. B. Chisholm, “Does God ‘Change His Mind’?” BSac 152 (1995): 387-99.

[110:4]  ³ sn You are an eternal priest. The Davidic king exercised a non-Levitical priestly role. The king superintended Judah’s cultic ritual, had authority over the Levites, and sometimes led in formal worship. David himself instructed the Levites to bring the ark of the covenant to Jerusalem (1 Chr 15:11-15), joined the procession, offered sacrifices, wore a priestly ephod, and blessed the people (2 Sam 6:12-19). At the dedication of the temple Solomon led the ceremony, offering sacrifices and praying on behalf of the people (1 Kgs 8).

[110:4]  ⁴ tn The phrase עַל־דִּבְרָתִי (’al-divratiy) is a variant of עַל־דִּבְרָת (’al-divrat; the final yod [י] being an archaic genitival ending), which in turn is a variant of עַל דָּבַר (’al davar). Both phrases can mean “concerning” or “because of,” but neither of these nuances fits the use of עַל־דִּבְרָתִי in Ps 110:4. Here the phrase probably carries the sense “according to the manner of.” See L. C. Allen, Psalms 101-150 (WBC), 81.

[110:4]  ⁵ sn The Davidic king’s priestly role is analogous to that of Melchizedek, who was both “king of Salem” (i.e., Jerusalem) and a “priest of God Most High” in the time of Abraham (Gen 14:18-20). Like Melchizedek, the Davidic king was a royal priest, distinct from the Aaronic line (see Heb 7). The analogy focuses on the king’s priestly role; the language need not imply that Melchizedek himself was “an eternal priest.”

[132:11]  ⁶ tn Heb “the Lord swore an oath to David [in] truth.”

[132:11]  ⁷ tn Heb “he will not turn back from it.”

[132:11]  ⁸ tn The words “he said” are supplied in the translation to clarify that what follows are the Lord’s words.

[132:11]  ⁹ tn Heb “the fruit of your body.”

[4:2]  ¹⁰ tn Heb “swears by his holiness.”

[4:2]  ¹¹ tn Heb “Look, certainly days are coming upon you”; NRSV “the time is surely coming upon you.”

[4:2]  ¹² tn Heb “one will carry you away”; NASB “they will take you away.”

[4:2]  ¹³ tn The meaning of the Hebrew word translated “baskets” is uncertain. The translation follows the suggestion of S. M. Paul (Amos [Hermeneia], 128), who discusses the various options (130-32): “shields” (cf. NEB); “ropes”; “thorns,” which leads to the most favored interpretation, “hooks” (cf. NASB “meat hooks”; NIV, NRSV “hooks”); “baskets,” and (derived from “baskets”) “boats.” Against the latter, it is unlikely that Amos envisioned a deportation by boat for the inhabitants of Samaria! See also the note on the expression “fishermen’s pots” later in this verse.

[4:2]  ¹⁴ tn Or “your children”; KJV “your posterity.”

[4:2]  ¹⁵ tn The meaning of the Hebrew expression translated “in fishermen’s pots” is uncertain. The translation follows that of S. M. Paul (Amos [Hermeneia], 128), who discusses the various options (132-33): “thorns,” understood by most modern interpreters to mean (by extension) “fishhooks” (cf. NASB, NIV, NRSV); “boats,” but as mentioned in the previous note on the word “baskets,” a deportation of the Samaritans by boat is geographically unlikely; and “pots,” referring to a container used for packing fish (cf. NEB “fish-baskets”). Paul (p. 134) argues that the imagery comes from the ancient fishing industry. When hauled away into exile, the women of Samaria will be like fish packed and transported to market.

[8:7]  ¹⁶ tn Or “swears.”

[8:7]  ¹⁷ 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]  ¹⁸ 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]  ¹⁹ tn Or “I will never forget all your deeds.”

[6:17]  ²⁰ tn Grk “in which.”

[6:17]  ²¹ tn Or “immutable” (here and in v. 18); Grk “the unchangeableness of his purpose.”