[2] Now because to swear is only an external act corresponding to the confirmation of the mind of the internal man, and consequently signifies it, therefore in the Word of the Old Testament it is said to be lawful to swear by God, and even God Himself is said to take an oath. That this signifies confirmation, asseveration, and the absolute truth, or that a thing is true, is evident from the following passages.

Thus in Isaiah:

"Jehovah hath sworn by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength" (lxii. 8).

And in Jeremiah:

"Jehovah of hosts bath sworn by his soul" (li. 14; Amos vi. 8).

And again, in Amos:

"The Lord Jehovih hath sworn by his holiness" (iv. 2).

And again, in the same prophet:

"The Lord Jehovah hath sworn by the excellency of Jacob" (viii. 7).

And in Jeremiah:

"Behold, I have sworn by my great name" (xliv. 26).

Jehovah swearing by His right hand, by His soul, by His holiness, and by His name, signifies by the Divine Truth; for the right hand of Jehovah, the arm of His strength, His holiness, His name, and His soul, mean the Lord as to Divine Truth, thus Divine Truth proceeding from the Lord. The signification of the excellency of Jacob is similar, for the mighty one of Jacob means the Lord as to Divine Truth.

[3] That to swear, when stated of Jehovah, signifies confirmation from Himself, or from His Divine, is evident in Isaiah:

"By myself have I sworn, the word has gone out of my mouth, and shall not be recalled" (xlv. 23).

And in Jeremiah:

"I swear by myself, saith Jehovah, that this house shall become a desolation" (xxii. 5).

Because swearing, when stated of Jehovah, signifies Divine Truth, therefore it is said in David,

"Jehovah hath sworn in truth unto David; He will not turn from it" (Psalm cxxxii. 11).

[4] Jehovah God, or the Lord, never swears, for it does not belong to God Himself, or the Divine Truth, to swear; but when God, or the Divine Truth, wills to have anything confirmed before men, then that confirmation, passing into the natural sphere, becomes an oath or takes the solemn formula of an oath in the world. It is therefore evident, that although God never swears, yet in the sense of the letter of the Word, which is the natural sense, it may be said that He swears. This therefore is the signification of swearing when stated of Jehovah or the Lord in the preceding passages, and also in the following.

Thus in Isaiah:

"Jehovah of hosts hath sworn, saying, Surely as I have thought, so shall it come to pass" (xiv. 24).

And in David:

"I have made a covenant with my chosen, I have sworn unto David my servant. O Lord, thou swearest unto David in truth" (Psalm lxxxix. 3, 35, 49).

And again:

"Jehovah hath sworn, and will not repent" (Psalm cx. 4).

And in Ezekiel:

"I sware unto thee, and entered into a covenant with thee, and thou becamest mine" (xvi. 8).

And in David:

"Unto whom I sware in my anger" (Psalm xcv. 11).

And in Isaiah:

"I have sworn that the waters of Noah should no more go over the earth" (liv. 9).

And in Luke:

"To remember his holy covenant; the oath which he sware to our father Abraham" (i. 72, 73).

And in David:

"He was mindful of his covenant which he made with Abraham, and his oath with Isaac" (Psalm cv. 8, 9).

And in Jeremiah:

"That I may establish the oath which I have sworn unto your fathers" (xi. 5 xxxii. 22).

"The land which I sware to give to your fathers (Deut. i. 35 x. 11; xi. 9, 21; xxvi. 3, 15; xxxi. 20; xxxiv. 4).

[5] From these things it is evident what is meant by the angel lifting up his hand to heaven, and swearing by Him that liveth unto the ages of the ages.

Similarly in Daniel:

"I heard the man (vir) clothed in linen, when he held up his right hand and his left hand unto the heavens, and sware by him that liveth unto the ages of the ages" (xii. 7).

This signifies affirmation before the angels concerning the state of the church, that what follows is Divine Truth.

[6] Since the church instituted with the sons of Israel was a representative church, in which all things that were commanded were natural things, representing and consequently signifying spiritual things, therefore the sons of Israel, with whom the church was, were allowed to swear by Jehovah, and by His name, also by the holy things of the church, and this represented, and therefore signified, internal confirmation, and also truth. This will be evident from the following passages.

Thus in Isaiah:

"He who blesseth himself in the earth let him bless himself in the God of truth; and he that sweareth in the earth let him swear by the God of truth" (lxv. 16).

And in Jeremiah:

"Swear by the living Jehovah, in truth, in judgment, and in justice" (iv. 2).

And in Moses:

"Thou shalt fear Jehovah thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear in his name" (Deut. vi. 13; x. 20).

And in Isaiah:

"In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt swear to Jehovah of hosts" (xix. 18).

And in Jeremiah:

"If in learning they will learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, Jehovah liveth" (xii. 16).

And in David:

"Every one that sweareth by" God "shall glory, but the mouth of them that speak a lie shall be stopped" (Psalm lxiii. 11).

To swear by God, signifies to speak truth, for it follows, "but the mouth of them that speak a lie shall be stopped." That they swore by God, see also Gen. xxi. 23, 24, 31; Joshua ii. 12; ix. 20; Judges xxi. 7; 1 Kings i. 17.

[7] Since the ancients were allowed to swear by Jehovah God, it therefore follows that it is a most serious evil to swear falsely or to lie: as is evident from these passages.

Thus in Malachi:

I will be a witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers" (iii. 5).

And in Moses:

"Thou shall not swear a lie by my name, so that thou profane the name of thy God," and "thou shalt not take the name of thy God in vain" (Deut. v. 11; Lev. xix. 12; Zech. v. 4).

And in Jeremiah:

"Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see if there be those that say, By the living Jehovah; surely they swear falsely. Thy sons have destroyed me, and sworn by no god" (v. 1, 2, 7).

And in Hosea:

"Israel, swear not, Jehovah liveth" (iv. 15).

And in Zephaniah:

"And I will cut off them that swear by Jehovah, and that swear by their king; and them that are turned back from Jehovah" (i. 4, 5, 6).

And in Zechariah:

"Love not the oath of a lie" (viii. 17).

And in Isaiah:

"Hear ye this, O house of Jacob, which swear by the name of Jehovah, not in truth, nor in justice" (xlviii. 1).

And in David:

"He that hath clean hands and a pure heart, who hath not lifted up his soul unto vanity, nor sworn deceitfully" (Psalm xxiv. 4).

[8] From these passages it is clear, that the ancients, who were in the representatives and significatives of the church, were allowed to swear by Jehovah God, in order to testify truth, and by that oath it was signified that they thought what was true, and willed what was good. But it was more especially permitted to the sons of Jacob, since they were altogether natural and external men, and not internal and spiritual; and mere external or natural men desire to have the truth attested and confirmed by oaths, whereas internal or spiritual men do not desire it, yea, are averse from oaths, and account them horrible, especially those in which God and the holy things of heaven and the church are appealed to, and they are satisfied with saying and with having it said, that a thing is true, or that it is so.

[9] Since swearing is not of the internal or spiritual man, and since the Lord, when He came into the world, taught men to be internal or spiritual, and to that end afterwards abrogated the external things of the church, and opened the internal things of it, therefore he also forbad swearing by God and by the holy things of heaven and the church. This is clear from his own words in Matthew:

"Ye have heard that it hath been said, Thou shall not swear, but shall perform unto the Lord thine oaths: I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: neither by the earth: for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black" (v. 33-36).

In this passage those holy things which must not be made use of in taking oaths are mentioned, namely, heaven and earth, Jerusalem and the head. And heaven means the angelic heaven, wherefore it is called the throne of God (that by the throne of God is meant that heaven, may be seen above, n. 253, 462, 477); the earth means the church (see above, n. 29, 304,413, 417), it is therefore called the footstool of God's feet (that the footstool of God's feet means the church, see above, n. 606); Jerusalem means the doctrine of the church, it is therefore called the city of the great God (Dei) (that a city denotes doctrine, may be seen above, n. 223); and the head means intelligence therefrom (see above, n. 553, 578); it is therefore said, "thou canst not make one hair white or black," which signifies, that man can understand nothing of himself.

[10] Again, in the same Evangelist:

"Woe unto you, ye blind guides, because ye say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor! Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? And whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty. Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? Whosoever therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon. And whosoever shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by Him that dwelleth therein. And he that sweareth by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by Him that sitteth thereon" (xxiii. 16-22).

The reason why they were not to swear by the temple and by the altar, is, that to swear by them, was to swear by the Lord, by heaven, and by the church. For the temple, in the highest sense, means the Lord as to Divine Truth, and, in the respective sense, heaven and the church as to the same, also all worship from Divine Truth (see above, n. 220). And the altar signifies the Lord as to Divine Good, and, in the respective sense, heaven and the church as to that good, also all worship from Divine Good (see above, n. 391). And because by the Lord are meant all Divine things which proceed from Him, for He Himself is in them, and they are of Him, therefore he who swears by Him, swears by all things that are of Him. Similarly, he who swears by heaven and by the church, swears by all the holy things which pertain to them, for heaven embraces and contains them; and similarly the church; it is therefore said, that the temple is greater than the gold of the temple, because the temple sanctifies the gold, and that the altar is greater than the gift which is upon it, because the altar sanctifies the gift.