Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and their oath serves as a confirmation to end all argument.
Parallel translations
- WEB For men indeed swear by a greater one, and in every dispute of theirs the oath is final for confirmation.
- KJV For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.
- NKJV For men indeed swear by the greater, and an oath for confirmation is for them an end of all dispute.
- NASB For people swear an oath by one greater than themselves, and with them an oath serving as confirmation is an end of every dispute.
- NLT Now when people take an oath, they call on someone greater than themselves to hold them to it. And without any question that oath is binding.
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
People swear by someone greater than themselves, and an oath settles disputes with final confirmation. Human practice illustrates how an oath gives certainty.
Overview
The writer appeals to a common feature of human life: an oath invoking a higher authority ends argument and confirms a matter. This everyday principle prepares the argument that God's oath gives believers absolute assurance. It shows how God condescends to human ways of guaranteeing truth.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 10
- Exod 22:11an oath before the LORD shall be made between the parties to determine whether or not the man has taken his neighbor’s property. The owner must accept the oath and require no restitution.
- Heb 6:13When God made His promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater to swear by, He swore by Himself,
- Gen 14:22But Abram replied to the king of Sodom, “I have raised my hand to the LORD God Most High, Creator of heaven and earth,
- Gen 21:30–31He replied, “You are to accept the seven ewe lambs from my hand as my witness that I dug this well.”
- Josh 9:15–20And Joshua made a treaty of peace with them to let them live, and the leaders of the congregation swore an oath to them.
- Ezek 17:16–20‘As surely as I live,’ declares the Lord GOD, ‘he will die in Babylon, in the land of the king who enthroned him, whose oath he despised and whose covenant he broke.
- Gen 31:53May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac.
- Gen 21:23Now, therefore, swear to me here before God that you will not deal falsely with me or my children or descendants. Show to me and to the country in which you reside the same kindness that I have shown to you.”
- 2 Sam 21:2At this, David summoned the Gibeonites and spoke to them. (Now the Gibeonites were not Israelites, but a remnant of the Amorites. The Israelites had taken an oath concerning them, but in his zeal for Israel and Judah, Saul had sought to kill them.)
- Matt 23:20–22So then, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
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 6:16 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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