Oaths and vows in Israel

The Use of Oaths and Vows in Israel
pdf
Dr. Paul Manuel—2010

Oaths and vows are important features of ancient Israelite society. While both forms of speech appear together (e.g., in Judges) and may even be used together,¹ they are not the same thing.

• An oath is a special appeal that strengthens the credibility of a statement and is separate from the assertion it supports.

• Oaths are obligatory in certain legal matters.² For example:

• If someone is suspected of stealing another's property entrusted to his care, he may certify his innocence "by taking an oath before the LORD" (Exod 22:11) to that effect, and the other party must accept it.³

• In the New Testament, Caiaphas wanted Jesus to certify his messianic identity with an oath.

Matt 26:63b The high priest said to him, "I charge you under oath by the living God: Tell us if you are the Christ, the Son of God."

• Oaths have religious significance, because they invoke confirmation by God. They request His involvement in the legal process.

• The common formulaic expression, "as the LORD lives," calls on God to witness the statement that (usually) follows.

• After captured Midianite commanders identified some of the people they killed,

Judg 8:19 Gideon replied, "Those were my brothers, the sons of my own mother. As surely as the LORD lives, if you had spared their lives, I would not kill you."

• The special legal clause, "may the LORD judge between you and me" is both a call for divine adjudication and an expression of one party's certainty that he will win the case if it comes before the heavenly bar.

• After Jephthah questions the elders' resolve to make him judge, they reply with a variation of this expression.

Judg 11: 10b The LORD is our witness [lit. "May the LORD hear (the case) between us"]; we will certainly do as you say.

• Jephthah uses the same oath formula when concluding his argument to the king of Ammon.

Judg 11:27 I have not wronged you, but you are doing me wrong by waging war against me. Let the LORD, the Judge, decide the dispute this day between the Israelites and the Ammonites.

• For even greater emphasis, an oath can invoke a curse, calling on God to punish the speaker if he is not truthful or if he reneges on his word.⁴

• The Israelites use a different oath-curse to prevent any of them from helping in Benjamin's recovery.

Judg 21:1 The men of Israel had taken an oath at Mizpah: "Not one of us will give his daughter in marriage to a Benjamite." ...18 ...we Israelites have taken this oath: 'Cursed be anyone who gives a wife to a Benjamite.'

Definition: An oath is a plea to God that reinforces the truth of a (separate) statement.

On the other hand...

• A vow is a solemn promise to do something, and is part of the assertion it supports.

• Vows are optional (except in the case of a life-long Nazirite), but they are binding.⁵

• Vows also have religious significance, because they entail a pledge to God. For example:

• A person may promise to make an offering if God will supply a certain need or in order to mark a special period of consecration.⁶

• Jephthah vows to offer whatever he encounters at his homecoming, if he returns victorious.

Judg 11:30 And Jephthah made a vow to the LORD: "If you give the Ammonites into my hands, 31 whatever comes out of the door of my house to meet me when I return in triumph from the Ammonites will be the LORD's, and I will sacrifice it as a burnt offering."

• In the New Testament, Paul makes a Nazirite vow of dedication after God delivers him in Corinth.⁷

Definition: A vow is a pledge to God that commits the speaker to some action (usually to make an offering).⁸

In Jesus' day, people are misusing oaths and vows. Some use an oath to circumvent the truth. They think that changing their words eliminates their obligation to be straightforward in their speech.

Matt 5:34 But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God's throne; 35 or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. 36 And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black.

Such word-parsing fools no one, least of all, God. It is better to avoid oaths than to abuse them.

Matt 5:37a Simply let your 'Yes' be 'Yes,' and your 'No,'

Some use a vow to circumvent the law. They think that devoting their wealth to God— a legal fiction that supposedly transfers ownership (but not possession)—eliminates their obligation to be supportive of their parents.

Matt 15:5 ...you say that if a man says to his father or mother, 'Whatever help you might otherwise have received from me is a gift devoted [or 'vowed'] to God,' 6 he is not to 'honor his father' with it. Thus you nullify the word of God for the sake of your tradition.

Such legal machination also fools no one, least of all God. It is better to obey the law than to circumvent it.

Oaths and vows are not bad, for God gives instruction on their use, but people must adhere to them, not alter or avoid them.⁹ What makes our use of an oath or a vow so serious is that we recognize it makes us accountable to God.

For the Bibliography and Endnotes, see the pdf here.