(3) Early Use. It is one atnong those nu merous accordances, small when cotnpared with the dictates of right reason, which will bc found to prevail in the Bible the more minutely it is inves tigated, and which, though now, after a revela tion has enlightened the mind, are discoverable thereby, nevertheless are so far beyond its reach, when left to its ONVII resources, that the prac tice of antiquity bears in the opposite di rection—it is one of those very important accord ances with truth, that the Mosaic legislation is not answerable for the prae“ce of taking oaths, which existed before the tiro- of Moses. It is found as early as the days o- Abraham, who made the oldest servant of his tan-;ly swear he would select for Isaac a wife of his own kindred (Gen. xxiv :2, 3, 37). It is here observable that the oath is a private, not a judicial one; only that the rectoral authority of Abraham, as patriarch, must be taken into account. The form observed is found in these words: Tut, I pray thee, thy hand under my thigh; and I will make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of earth. that,' etc.
(4) Occasions. An oath was sometimes a public and general bond, obliging the parties who took it to certain course—a case in which it ap pears to have been spontaneous and voluntary; as when, in Judg. xxi, the men of Israel swore, saying, 'There shall not any of us give his daugh ter tinto Benjamin to wife' (comp. verse 5). From Kings )(rill :to, it appears to have bccn cus tomary to require on occasions of great concern a public oath. embracing even an entire 'kingdom and nation ;' but whether taken individually or by some representative, we have no means of. ascer taining. Such a custom, however, implying, as it does, a doubt of the public faith of a people, would hardly be submitted to, unless on the part of an inferior.
Oaths did not take their origin in any Divine command. They were a part of that consuctudi nary law which Moses found prevalent, and was bound to respect, since no small portion of the force of law lies in custom, and a legislator can neither abrogate nor institute a binding law of his own mere will. Accordingly, Moses made use of the sanction which an oath gave, but in that general manner, and apart from minute di rections and express words of approval; which shows that he merely used, without intending to sanction, an instrument that he found in exist ence and could not safely dispense with. Exam ples are found in Exod. where an oath is ordered to be applied in the case of lost property; and here we first meet with what may strictly be called a judicial oath (Lev. vi:3-5)..
(5) Forms of Oaths. The forms of adjura tion found in the Scriptures are numerous. Saul sware unto Jonathan, 'As the Lord liveth' Sam. xix:6). 'A heap and a pillar' were for a witness between Laban and Jacob, with the en suing for a sanction, 'The God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge betwixt us. And Jacob sware by the fear of his
father Isaac' (Gen. xxxi:52, sq.). A common formula is, 'The Lord do so to me and more also' (Ruth i:17; I Sam. iv :44), which approaches nearly to our modern form, `So help me God,' an is obviously elliptical. Reference appears to be had to the ancient custom of slaying some ani mal in confirmation of a treaty or agreement. The animal thus slain and offered in a burnt of fering to God became an image or type, betoken ing the fate which would attend that one of the two contracting parties who failed in his engage ment; and the words just cited were intended to be a voluntary assumption of the liability thus foreshadowed on the side of those who joined in the covenant: subsequently the sacrifice was in ordinary cases omitted, and the form came in it seli, to have the force of a solemn asseveration.
(6) Sanctity. An oath, making an appeal to the Divine justice and power, is a recognition of the Divinity of the being to whom the appeal is made. Hence to swear by an idol is to be con victed of idolatry. Such an act is accordingly given in Scripture as a proof of idolatry and a re4son for condign punishment. 'How shall I pardon thee for this? Thy children have for sa'ken me, and sworn by them that are no gods' (Jer. v:7; xii:x6; Amos viii:t4; Zeph. i :5).
Other beings besides God are sometimes added in the form of an oath : Elijah said to Elisha, 'A s the Lord liveth, and a.s thy soul liveth' (.; Kings ii:2; Sam. xx:3). The party ad diessed is frequently sworn by, especially if a prince: 'As thy soul liveth, my lord, I am the woman,' etc. (I Sam. i:26; xvii:55; xxv:26; 2 !iam. xi:it). The Hebrews, as well as the Egyp f.ians, swore also by the head or the life of an absent as well as a present prince: 'By the life of Pharaoh' (Gen. xlii:x5). Hanway says that the most sacred oath among the Persians is 'by the leing's head.' The oath-taker swore some timt... by his own head (Matt. v:36; see Virg. /En. ix, 3oo; Ovid, Trist, iv, 4, 45; Juven. vi, 17) ; or by some precious part of his body, as the eyes (Ovid, Amor. iii, 3, 13; Tibull. iii, 6, 47) ; sometimes, but only in the case of the later Jews, by the earth, the heaven, and the son (Matt. v :34, 35; Eurip. Hippo/. T029 ; Virg. xii, 176) ; as well as by angels (Joseph. De Bell. Jud. i6, 4) : by the temple (Matt. xxiii:x6; comp. Lightfoot, p. 28o); and even hy parts of the temple (Matt. xxiii:16; Wetstein). They also swore by Jerusalem, as the holy city (Matt. v:35; Lightfoot, p. 281). The Rabbinical writers indulge in much prolixity on the subject of oaths, entering into nice distinctions, and showing them selves exquisite casuists.