‘Indeed, I raise My hand to heaven, And say, as I live forever,
Parallel translations
- WEB For I lift up my hand to heaven and declare, as I live forever,
- KJV For I lift up my hand to heaven, and say, I live for ever.
- BSB For I lift up My hand to heaven and declare: As surely as I live forever,
- NKJV For I raise My hand to heaven, And say, “As I live forever,
- NLT Now I raise my hand to heaven and declare, “As surely as I live,
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
God lifts His hand to heaven and swears by His own eternal life. It matters because it underscores the absolute certainty of His word and judgment.
Overview
Raising the hand was a gesture of solemn oath, and God swears by Himself, the highest possible guarantee. His eternal existence secures the reliability of all He declares. This divine oath assures both judgment on enemies and faithfulness to His people, an assurance ultimately confirmed in the unbreakable promises fulfilled in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Jer 4:2and you shall swear, ‘As Yahweh lives,’ in truth, in justice, and in righteousness. The nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory.”
- Heb 6:17–18In this way God, being determined to show more abundantly to the heirs of the promise the immutability of his counsel, interposed with an oath;
- Rev 10:5–6The angel whom I saw standing on the sea and on the land lifted up his right hand to the sky,
- Gen 14:22Abram said to the king of Sodom, “I have lifted up my hand to Yahweh, God Most High, possessor of heaven and earth,
- Num 14:28–30Tell them, ‘As I live, says Yahweh, surely as you have spoken in my ears, so will I do to you.
- Exod 6:8I will bring you into the land which I swore to give to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob; and I will give it to you for a heritage: I am Yahweh.’”
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
Moses promised a Prophet like himself to whom Israel must listen (18:15); Jesus is that Prophet, the one who keeps the covenant we broke and becomes the curse for us by hanging on a tree (Gal 3:13).
How Deuteronomy 32:40 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.