HEB 6:13 Parallel Verse View

Note: This view shows ‘verses’ which are not natural language units and hence sometimes only part of a sentence will be visible—click on any Bible version abbreviation down the left-hand side to see the verse in more of its context. Normally the OET discourages the reading of individual ‘verses’, but this view is only designed as a tool for doing comparisons of different translations—the older translations are further down the page (so you can read up from the bottom to trace the English translation history). The OET segments on this page are still very early looks into the unfinished texts of the Open English Translation of the Bible—please double-check these texts in advance before using in public.

Text critical issues=none Clarity of original=clear Importance to us=normal (All still tentative.)

Key: khaki:verbs, light-green:nominative/subject, pink:genitive/possessor, cyan:dative/indirect object.
Note: Automatic aligning of the OET-RV to the LV is done by some temporary software, hence the RV alignments are incomplete (and may occasionally be wrong).

ULT For God, having promised to Abraham, since he had no one greater by whom to swear, swore by himself,

UST When God said that he would do something for Abraham, he guaranteed it himself. He did that because every other person who could guarantee it is less powerful than God.

BLB For God, having made His promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater to swear by, swore by Himself,

AICNT For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself,

OEB When God gave his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater by whom he could swear, he swore by himself.

WEBBE For when God made a promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself,

WMBB (Same as above)

NET Now when God made his promise to Abraham, since he could swear by no one greater, he swore by himself,

LSV For God, having made promise to Abraham, seeing He was not able to swear by [any] greater, swore by Himself,

FBV When God gave his promise to Abraham he could swear by no one greater so he took an oath on himself,

TCNT When God made his promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater to swear by, he swore by himself,

T4T When God promised to do things for Abraham, he said that he would punish himself if he did not do that, because there was no one of greater importance to ask to punish him if he did not do it.

LEB ¶ For when[fn] God made a promise to Abraham, since he had no one greater to swear by, he swore by himself,

6:13 *Here “when” is supplied as a component of the temporal participle (“made a promise”)

BBE For when God made his oath to Abraham, because there was no greater oath, he made it by himself,

Moff For in making a promise to Abraham God swore by himself (since he could swear by none greater),

Wymth For when God gave the promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater to swear by, He swore by Himself,

ASV For when God made promise to Abraham, since he could swear by none greater, he sware by himself,

DRA For God making promise to Abraham, because he had no one greater by whom he might swear, swore by himself,

YLT For to Abraham God, having made promise, seeing He was able to swear by no greater, did swear by Himself,

Drby For [fn]God, having promised to Abraham, since he had no greater to swear by, swore by himself,

6.13 Elohim

RV For when God made promise to Abraham, since he could swear by none greater, he sware by himself,

SLT For God promising to Abraham, since he had none greater to swear by, sware by himself,

Wbstr For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he swore by himself,

KJB-1769 For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,

KJB-1611 For when God made promise to Abraham, because hee could sweare by no greater, he sware by himselfe,
(Modernised spelling is same as from KJB-1769 above)

Bshps For when God made promise to Abraham, because he had no greater to sweare by, he sware by hym selfe,
(For when God made promise to Abraham, because he had no greater to swear by, he sware by himself,)

Gnva For when God made the promise to Abraham, because he had no greater to sweare by, he sware by himselfe,
(For when God made the promise to Abraham, because he had no greater to swear by, he sware by himself, )

Cvdl For whan God made promes to Abraham, because he had none greater to sweare by, he sware by himselfe,
(For when God made promes to Abraham, because he had none greater to swear by, he sware by himself,)

TNT For when god made promes to Abraham because he had no greater thinge to sweare by he sware by him silfe
(For when god made promes to Abraham because he had no greater thing to swear by he sware by himself )

Wycl For God bihetinge to Abraham, for he hadde noon grettere, bi whom he schulde swere, swoor bi hym silf,
(For God bihetinge to Abraham, for he had noon greater, by whom he should swear, swore/promised by himself,)

Luth Denn als GOtt Abraham verhieß, da er bei keinem Größeren zu schwören hatte, schwur er bei sich selbst
(Because as God Abraham verhieß, there he at/in none Größeren to/for swear had, oath he at/in itself/yourself/themselves himself/itself)

ClVg Abrahæ namque promittens Deus, quoniam neminem habuit, per quem juraret, majorem, juravit per semetipsum,[fn]
(Abrahæ for_indeed/truly promittens God, since/because no_one had, through which rightsret, greater, he_swore/promised through oneself, )

6.13 Abrahæ namque, etc. Tria dicit: quod promissio facta; et per juramentum firmata; et in Abraham jam impleta.

6.13 Abrahæ for_indeed/truly, etc. Tria he_says: that promise facts; and through oath firmata; and in/into/on Abraham already filled.

UGNT τῷ γὰρ Ἀβραὰμ ἐπαγγειλάμενος ὁ Θεός, ἐπεὶ κατ’ οὐδενὸς εἶχεν μείζονος ὀμόσαι, ὤμοσεν καθ’ ἑαυτοῦ
(tōi gar Abraʼam epangeilamenos ho Theos, epei kat’ oudenos eiⱪen meizonos omosai, ōmosen kath’ heautou)

SBL-GNT Τῷ γὰρ Ἀβραὰμ ἐπαγγειλάμενος ὁ θεός, ἐπεὶ κατʼ οὐδενὸς εἶχεν μείζονος ὀμόσαι, ὤμοσεν καθʼ ἑαυτοῦ,
(Tōi gar Abraʼam epangeilamenos ho theos, epei katʼ oudenos eiⱪen meizonos omosai, ōmosen kathʼ heautou,)

RP-GNT Τῷ γὰρ Ἀβραὰμ ἐπαγγειλάμενος ὁ θεός, ἐπεὶ κατ' οὐδενὸς εἶχεν μείζονος ὀμόσαι, ὤμοσεν καθ' ἑαυτοῦ,
(Tōi gar Abraʼam epangeilamenos ho theos, epei kat' oudenos eiⱪen meizonos omosai, ōmosen kath' heautou,)

TC-GNT Τῷ γὰρ Ἀβραὰμ ἐπαγγειλάμενος ὁ Θεός, ἐπεὶ κατ᾽ οὐδενὸς εἶχε μείζονος ὀμόσαι, ὤμοσε καθ᾽ ἑαυτοῦ,
(Tōi gar Abraʼam epangeilamenos ho Theos, epei kat oudenos eiⱪe meizonos omosai, ōmose kath heautou, )

Key for above GNTs: yellow:punctuation differs, red:words differ (from our SR-GNT base).

SOTN SIL Open Translator’s Notes:

Section 6:13–20: We can trust God’s promises because he does not lie

This section is the final part of the long appeal that the author began to make to his readers in 5:11. He urged them to keep on believing. He warned them not to give up what they believed. In this final section, he reminded them of God’s promise to Abraham, and he encouraged them that God always keeps his promises. We can come into God’s presence because Jesus, our high priest, is already there (6:20). He is a high priest like Melchizedek.

The last verse of this section is similar to 5:10, and connects this section to chapter 7. The author finished his long appeal to his readers in 6:20, and in 7:1 he continued his teaching about Jesus, our high priest.

Some other possible section headings are:

God always does what he promises to do

We can believe God because he always does what he said he would

6:13a

When God made His promise to Abraham,

¶ When God gave Abraham his promise,
¶ God promised to bless Abraham, and swore to fulfill the promise.
¶ God made a promise to our^(incl) ancestor Abraham,

In Greek the author connects this verse to the preceding section with a conjunction that is often translated as “for.” It indicates that the author will give support for what he said in the preceding verses. Here is another way to translate this conjunction:

For example (NLT)

The author also linked 6:13 with 6:12 by referring to the meaning “promise” in both. Use a natural way in your language to introduce such supporting comments. See the next note for more examples. In some languages a connector is not necessary.

When God made His promise to Abraham: In this clause the author wrote about God’s promises at the end of 6:12. Here he continued to say more about them. He used Abraham as an example. God promised to bless Abraham and give him many descendants, as in Genesis 12:1–4 and 15:1–5. Then after Abraham was willing to offer Isaac as a sacrifice to him (Genesis 22:1–14), God added an oath to his promise.After the drama of Isaac’s birth in Genesis 21, and the testing experience of Genesis 22, God emphasizes his promise to Abraham with an oath. The words “I swear by myself” only occur four times in the Old Testament—in Genesis 22:16; Isaiah 45:23; Jeremiah 22:1, 49:13. See also Genesis 22:15–18.

Some other ways to translate this clause are:

Let’s consider Abraham, because there is also that which God promised himKankanaey back translation on TW.

Remember God’s promise to Abraham.Tagbanwa back translation on TW.

Abraham: In some languages it is more natural to identify Abraham more explicitly. For example:

our^(incl) ancestor Abraham

Abraham, who is the ancestor for our^(incl) tribe

6:13b

since He had no one greater to swear by,

God knew that there was no one who was greater than himself to guarantee/support the promise,
Since no one is higher/greater than God so that God could swear by him,
and there was no one greater than himself to support/confirm what he promised.

6:13c

He swore by Himself,

so he swore by himself.
he swore by his own name.
So God used his own name to take an oath to do what he promised.

6:13b–c

since He had no one greater to swear by, He swore by Himself: In 6:13b–c the author tells why God swore by himself. God swore by himself because there is no one greater than he is. He himself was the only one who was able to fulfill the promise. There was also no one else to whom people could appeal to cause God to fulfill what he promised. Some other ways to translate this reason are:

Since there was no one greater than himself, he used his own name when he made his vow. (GNT)

There is nothing greater than God, so he swore naming himself.Western Bukidnon Manobo back translation on TW.

one greater to swear by: The phrase to swear by refers to anyone to whom God could appeal to enforce or strengthen his oath. The text implies that a person who could enforce the promise must be more powerful than the person who makes the promise. That is the only way that such a person could punish him if he did not fulfill what he swore to do. Since no one is as powerful as God, no one could punish him if he did not do what he promised to do. Another way to translate this meaning is:

to guarantee his oath

who could make him fulfill his oath

swear: To swear is to take an oath or to make a promise to do something. When someone adds an oath to what he is saying, it means “What I am saying is true.” It does not imply that the person is using bad or inappropriate words. For more information, see also the note on 6:16a.

He swore by Himself: The clause He swore by Himself means “he promised that he would enforce the promise on himself.” Men have to swear by someone or something greater than themselves to guarantee that the promise is kept. But God swore by himself that he would keep his promise, because there is no one greater than himself to guarantee it. Other ways to translate this meaning are:

he used himself when he swore (NCV)

God took an oath in his own name (NLT)

God’s word can be trusted without the help of an oath, but God made it twice as dependable by adding an oath. See also 7:20 and the following verses. It is similar to the words “As I live…” which God often said in the Old Testament when he was speaking.

General Comment on 6:13b–c

In some languages it may be more natural to reorder 6:13b–c. For example:

^13aWhen God made his promise to Abraham, ^13che swore by his own name. ^13bHe did this because there was no one who was greater than himself.

The NJB translates 6:13 clearly as one sentence:

When God made the promise to Abraham, he swore by his own self, since there was no one greater he could swear by. (NJB)

In some languages it is more natural to use two sentences to translate this verse. For example:

God made a promise to Abraham. Since he had no one greater on whom to base his oath, he based it on himself. (GW)

UTN uW Translation Notes:

Note 1 topic: grammar-connect-words-phrases

γὰρ

(Some words not found in SR-GNT: τῷ Γάρ Ἀβραάμ ἐπαγγειλάμενος ὁ Θεός ἐπεί κατʼ οὐδενός εἶχεν μείζονος ὀμόσαι ὤμοσεν καθʼ ἑαυτοῦ)

The word For introduces more explanation about the “promises” that the author mentioned in the previous verse ([6:21](../06/21.md)). If it would be helpful in your language, you could use a word that introduces explanation, or you could leave For untranslated. Alternate translation: [In fact,] or [Now I will tell you more about these promises:]

Note 2 topic: figures-of-speech / extrainfo

ἐπαγγειλάμενος

˓having˒_promised

The author does not clarify what God promised to Abraham because he quotes the promise itself in the following verse ([6:14](../06/14.md)). If possible, leave what God promised vague or unclear in this verse. Alternate translation: [having made a promise]

Note 3 topic: grammar-connect-time-simultaneous

ἐπαγγειλάμενος

˓having˒_promised

The words having promised refer to something that takes place at the same time as when God swore by himself. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make the relationship between these two actions more explicit. Alternate translation: [at the time when he promised]

Note 4 topic: writing-pronouns

εἶχεν

˱he˲_˓was˒_having

The word he refers back to God, not to Abraham. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make explicit that the pronoun refers to God. Alternate translation: [God had]

Note 5 topic: figures-of-speech / explicit

ἐπεὶ κατ’ οὐδενὸς εἶχεν μείζονος ὀμόσαι, ὤμοσεν καθ’ ἑαυτοῦ

In the author’s culture, people often swore by someone else. The other person needed to be someone important and powerful enough to guarantee or enforce what the person who swore promised to do. Often people would swear by God, since he always is important and powerful enough to guarantee or enforce what was sworn. If it would be helpful in your language, you could make the practice of “swearing by” someone more explicit. Alternate translation: [since he wanted to guarantee that promise by swearing by someone greater, swore by himself (since there is no one greater than him)]

Parallel HEB 6:13

Section 6:13–20: We can trust God’s promises because he does not lie

6:13a

6:13b

6:13c

6:13b–c

General Comment on 6:13b–c