'Oath' in the Bible

But Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand in an oath to Yahweh, God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth,

Therefore that place was called Beer-sheba because it was there that the two of them swore an oath.

If the woman is unwilling to follow you, then you are free from this oath to me, but don’t let my son go back there.”

So the servant placed his hand under his master Abraham’s thigh and swore an oath to him concerning this matter.

My master put me under this oath: ‘You will not take a wife for my son from the daughters of the Canaanites in whose land I live

Then you will be free from my oath if you go to my family and they do not give her to you—you will be free from my oath.’

stay in this land as a foreigner, and I will be with you and bless you. For I will give all these lands to you and your offspring, and I will confirm the oath that I swore to your father Abraham.

They replied, “We have clearly seen how the Lord has been with you. We think there should be an oath between two parties—between us and you. Let us make a covenant with you:

They got up early in the morning and swore an oath to each other. Then Isaac sent them on their way, and they left him in peace.

He called it Sheba. Therefore the name of the city is Beer-sheba to this day.

my father made me take an oath, saying, ‘I am about to die. You must bury me there in the tomb that I made for myself in the land of Canaan.’ Now let me go and bury my father. Then I will return.”

So Pharaoh said, “Go and bury your father in keeping with your oath.”

So Joseph made the sons of Israel take an oath: “When God comes to your aid, you are to carry my bones up from here.”

Moses took the bones of Joseph with him, because Joseph had made the Israelites swear a solemn oath, saying, “God will certainly come to your aid; then you must take my bones with you from this place.”

there must be an oath before the Lord between the two of them to determine whether or not he has taken his neighbor’s property. Its owner must accept the oath, and the other man does not have to make restitution.

Or if someone swears rashly to do what is good or evil—concerning anything a person may speak rashly in an oath—without being aware of it, but later recognizes it, he incurs guilt in such an instance.

The priest will require the woman to take an oath and will say to her, ‘If no man has slept with you, if you have not gone astray and become defiled while under your husband’s authority, be unaffected by this bitter water that brings a curse.

at this point the priest must make the woman take the oath with the sworn curse, and he is to say to her—‘May the Lord make you into an object of your people’s cursing and swearing when He makes your thigh shrivel and your belly swell.

When a man makes a vow to the Lord or swears an oath to put himself under an obligation, he must not break his word; he must do whatever he has promised.

“If a woman in her husband’s house has made a vow or put herself under an obligation with an oath,

So the Lord’s anger burned that day, and He swore an oath:

“When the Lord heard your words, He grew angry and swore an oath:

He will not leave you, destroy you, or forget the covenant with your fathers that He swore to them by oath, because the Lord your God is a compassionate God.

But because the Lord loved you and kept the oath He swore to your fathers, He brought you out with a strong hand and redeemed you from the place of slavery, from the power of Pharaoh king of Egypt.

so that you may enter into the covenant of the Lord your God, which He is making with you today, so that you may enter into His oath

I am making this covenant and this oath not only with you,

When someone hears the words of this oath, he may consider himself exempt, thinking, ‘I will have peace even though I follow my own stubborn heart.’ This will lead to the destruction of the well-watered land as well as the dry land.

The men said to her, “We will be free from this oath you made us swear,

And if you report our mission, we are free from the oath you made us swear.”

So Joshua established peace with them and made a treaty to let them live, and the leaders of the community swore an oath to them.

But the Israelites did not attack them, because the leaders of the community had sworn an oath to them by the Lord, the God of Israel. Then the whole community grumbled against the leaders.

All the leaders answered them, “We have sworn an oath to them by the Lord, the God of Israel, and now we cannot touch them.

This is how we will treat them: we will let them live, so that no wrath will fall on us because of the oath we swore to them.”

and so that you do not associate with these nations remaining among you. Do not call on the names of their gods or make an oath to them; do not worship them or bow down to them.

The men of Israel had sworn an oath at Mizpah: “None of us will give his daughter to a Benjaminite in marriage.”

The Israelites asked, “Who of all the tribes of Israel didn’t come to the Lord with the assembly?” For a great oath had been taken that anyone who had not come to the Lord at Mizpah would certainly be put to death.

When their fathers or brothers come to us and protest, we will tell them, ‘Show favor to them, since we did not get enough wives for each of them in the battle. You didn’t actually give the women to them, so you are not guilty of breaking your oath.’”

and the men of Israel were worn out that day, for Saul had placed the troops under an oath: “The man who eats food before evening, before I have taken vengeance on my enemies is cursed.” So none of the troops tasted any food.

When the troops entered the forest, they saw the flow of honey, but none of them ate any of it because they feared the oath.

However, Jonathan had not heard his father make the troops swear the oath. He reached out with the end of the staff he was carrying and dipped it into the honeycomb. When he ate the honey, he had renewed energy.

Saul listened to Jonathan’s advice and swore an oath: “As surely as the Lord lives, David will not be killed.”

Then they came to urge David to eat bread while it was still day, but David took an oath: “May God punish me and do so severely if I taste bread or anything else before sunset!”

So the king said to Shimei, “You will not die.” Then the king gave him his oath.

The Gibeonites were not Israelites but rather a remnant of the Amorites. The Israelites had taken an oath concerning them, but Saul had tried to kill them in his zeal for the Israelites and Judah. So David summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them.

David spared Mephibosheth, the son of Saul’s son Jonathan, because of the oath of the Lord that was between David and Jonathan, Saul’s son.

The king swore an oath and said, “As the Lord lives, who has redeemed my life from every difficulty,

Then Solomon took an oath by the Lord: “May God punish me and do so severely if Adonijah has not made this request at the cost of his life.

So why have you not kept the Lord’s oath and the command that I gave you?”

When a man sins against his neighborand is forced to take an oath,and he comes to take an oathbefore Your altar in this temple,

Then in the seventh year, Jehoiada sent messengers and brought in the commanders of hundreds, the Carites, and the guards. He had them come to him in the Lord’s temple, where he made a covenant with them and put them under oath. He showed them the king’s son

Gedaliah swore an oath to them and their men, assuring them, “Don’t be afraid of the servants of the Chaldeans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well for you.”

If a man sins against his neighborand is forced to take an oathand he comes to take an oathbefore Your altar in this temple,

They took an oath to the Lord in a loud voice, with shouting, with trumpets, and with rams’ horns.

All Judah rejoiced over the oath, for they had sworn it with all their mind. They had sought Him with all their heart, and He was found by them. So the Lord gave them rest on every side.

Since we have taken an oath of loyalty to the king, and it is not right for us to witness his dishonor, we have sent to inform the king

Then Ezra got up and made the leading priests, Levites, and all Israel take an oath to do what had been said; so they took the oath.

They responded: “We will return these things and require nothing more from them. We will do as you say.”So I summoned the priests and made everyone take an oath to do this.

For many in Judah were bound by oath to him, since he was a son-in-law of Shecaniah son of Arah, and his son Jehohanan had married the daughter of Meshullam son of Berechiah.

join with their noble brothers and commit themselves with a sworn oath to follow the law of God given through God’s servant Moses and to carefully obey all the commands, ordinances, and statutes of Yahweh our Lord.

I rebuked them, cursed them, beat some of their men, and pulled out their hair. I forced them to take an oath before God and said: “You must not give your daughters in marriage to their sons or take their daughters as wives for your sons or yourselves!

The Lord said,“I have made a covenant with My chosen one;I have sworn an oath to David My servant:

Once and for allI have sworn an oath by My holiness;I will not lie to David.

So He raised His hand against them with an oaththat He would make them fall in the desert

The Lord has sworn an oath and will not take it back:“Forever, You are a priestlike Melchizedek.”

and how he swore an oath to the Lord,making a vow to the Mighty One of Jacob:

The Lord swore an oath to David,a promise He will not abandon:“I will set one of your descendantson your throne.

Keep the king’s command because of your oath made before God.

Everything is the same for everyone: there is one fate for the righteous and the wicked, for the good and the bad, for the clean and the unclean, for the one who sacrifices and the one who does not sacrifice. As it is for the good, so it is for the sinner; as for the one who takes an oath, so for the one who fears an oath.

I heard the Lord of Hosts say:Indeed, many houses will become desolate,grand and lovely ones without inhabitants.

in order to establish the oath I swore to your ancestors, to give them a land flowing with milk and honey, as it is today.”I answered, “Amen, Lord.”

Gedaliah son of Ahikam, son of Shaphan, swore an oath to them and their men, assuring them, “Don’t be afraid to serve the Chaldeans. Live in the land and serve the king of Babylon, and it will go well for you.

“For this is what the Lord God says: I will deal with you according to what you have done, since you have despised the oath by breaking the covenant.

He took one of the royal family and made a covenant with him, putting him under oath. Then he took away the leading men of the land,

“As I live”—this is the declaration of the Lord God—“he will die in Babylon, in the land of the king who put him on the throne, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke.

He despised the oath by breaking the covenant. He did all these things even though he gave his hand in pledge. He will not escape!”

Therefore, this is what the Lord God says: “As I live, I will bring down on his head My oath that he despised and My covenant that he broke.

Say to them: This is what the Lord God says: On the day I chose Israel, I swore an oath to the descendants of Jacob’s house and made Myself known to them in the land of Egypt. I swore to them, saying: I am Yahweh your God.

It will seem like false divination in the eyes of those who have sworn an oath to the Babylonians, but it will draw attention to their guilt so that they will be captured.

Because they ministered to the house of Israel before their idols and became a sinful stumbling block to them, therefore I swore an oath against them”—this is the declaration of the Lord God—“that they would bear the consequences of their sin.

Israel, if you act promiscuously,don’t let Judah become guilty!Do not go to Gilgalor make a pilgrimage to Beth-aven,and do not swear an oath: As the Lord lives!

You took the sheath from Your bow;the arrows are ready to be used with an oath.SelahYou split the earth with rivers.

“Again, you have heard that it was said to our ancestors, You must not break your oath, but you must keep your oaths to the Lord.

But I tell you, don’t take an oath at all: either by heaven, because it is God’s throne;

So he promised with an oath to give her whatever she might ask.

“Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever takes an oath by the sanctuary, it means nothing. But whoever takes an oath by the gold of the sanctuary is bound by his oath.’

Also, ‘Whoever takes an oath by the altar, it means nothing. But whoever takes an oath by the gift that is on it is bound by his oath.’

Therefore, the one who takes an oath by the altar takes an oath by it and by everything on it.

The one who takes an oath by the sanctuary takes an oath by it and by Him who dwells in it.

And the one who takes an oath by heaven takes an oath by God’s throne and by Him who sits on it.

But Jesus kept silent. Then the high priest said to Him, “By the living God I place You under oath: tell us if You are the Messiah, the Son of God!”

And again he denied it with an oath, “I don’t know the man!”

Then he started to curse and to swear with an oath, “I do not know the man!” Immediately a rooster crowed,

Then he started to curse and to swear with an oath, “I don’t know this man you’re talking about!”

the oath that He swore to our father Abraham.He has given us the privilege,

Since he was a prophet, he knew that God had sworn an oath to him to seat one of his descendants on his throne.

For men swear by something greater than themselves, and for them a confirming oath ends every dispute.

Because God wanted to show His unchangeable purpose even more clearly to the heirs of the promise, He guaranteed it with an oath,

None of this happened without an oath. For others became priests without an oath,

but He became a priest with an oath made by the One who said to Him:The Lord has sworn,and He will not change His mind,You are a priest forever.

For the law appoints as high priests men who are weak, but the promise of the oath, which came after the law, appoints a Son, who has been perfected forever.