When God made His promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater to swear by, He swore by Himself,
Parallel translations
- WEB For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself,
- KJV For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,
- NKJV For when God made a promise to Abraham, because He could swear by no one greater, He swore by Himself,
- NASB For when God made the promise to Abraham, since He could swear an oath by no one greater, He swore by Himself,
- NLT For example, there was God’s promise to Abraham. Since there was no one greater to swear by, God took an oath in his own name, saying:
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
When God promised Abraham, having no one greater, he swore by himself. God's oath to Abraham guarantees the certainty of his promise.
Overview
Recalling Genesis 22:16-17, the writer notes that God confirmed His promise to Abraham with an oath sworn on His own name. Because nothing is greater than God, He could only swear by Himself, making the promise utterly secure. This becomes the basis for assuring believers of the unshakable hope they have in Christ.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Gen 22:15–18And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time,
- Ps 105:9–10the covenant He made with Abraham, and the oath He swore to Isaac.
- Luke 1:73the oath He swore to our father Abraham, to grant us
- Mic 7:20You will show faithfulness to Jacob and loving devotion to Abraham, as You swore to our fathers from the days of old.
- Isa 45:23By Myself I have sworn; truth has gone out from My mouth, a word that will not be revoked: Every knee will bow before Me, every tongue will swear allegiance.
- Heb 6:16–18Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and their oath serves as a confirmation to end all argument.
- Jer 22:5But if you do not obey these words, then I swear by Myself, declares the LORD, that this house will become a pile of rubble.’”
- Jer 49:13For by Myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, that Bozrah will become a desolation, a disgrace, a ruin, and a curse, and all her cities will be in ruins forever.”
- Ezek 32:13I will slaughter all her cattle beside the abundant waters. No human foot will muddy them again, and no cattle hooves will disturb them.
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Hebrews is sustained worship of Christ: better than angels, Moses, and the priests; the great High Priest after Melchizedek who by one sacrifice perfects forever those he saves.
How Hebrews 6:13 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
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