§ 149. Sentences which expresses an Oath or Asseveration.
Rem. No certain explanation of these particles has yet been given. According to the usual view, phrases expressing an oath depend on the suppression of an imprecation upon oneself, e. g. the Lord do so unto me, if I do it equivalent to I certainly will not do it; then naturally b
aol-~ai properly if I do it not equivalent to I certainly will do it. It is indeed difficult to understand such self-imprecations, put into the mouth of God, as in Dt 1:34 f., Is 14:24, 22:14, Jer 22:6, Ez 3:6, 35:6,y Ps 95:11. Possibly, however, the consciousness of the real meaning of the formula was lost at an early period, andaol-~ai simply came to express verily,~ai verily not.—In 1 S 25:22, where, instead of a self-imprecation, a curse is pronounced upon others, readdwId'l. with the LXX fordwId' ybey>aol. .
Examples:—
(a) The particles c
~ai andaol-~ai used after the utterance of an oath and after formulae of swearing, e. g. 2 S 11:11 (see note on a)^v,ñp.n: yxewI hA'hy>-yx; hZ<h; rb'D'h;-ta, hf,[/ai-~ai as the Lord liveth, and as thy soul liveth, I will not do this thing; 1 S 14:45, 2 K 5:16 (afterhA'hy> y%; ; in 1 S 14:39 and 29:6äy-y%; is followed by a simpleyKi ); Ct 2:7, 3:5 (afteryTi[.B;ñv.hi I adjure you); cf. also Gn 14:23, 21:23, 26:20; spoken by God, Dt 1:34f. 1 S 3:14y Ps 95:11; similarlyaol-~ai Gn 24:37 f.; spoken by God, Is 14:24, whereaol-~ai occurs first with the perfect in the sense of a prophetic perfect, § 106 n, but in the parallel clause with the imperfect; Jer 22:6; in Gn 31:52 the negative oath introduced byynIa'ñ-~aià hT'a;-~ai is immediately afterwards continued byaol with the imperfect.—In Ez 34:10 the threat introduced in verse 8 byaol-~ai is, after a long parenthesis, resumed withynIn>hi .
(b) d
~ai andaol-~ai after formulae of cursing, e. g. 1 S 3:17^L.-hf,[]y); hKo ägw rb'd' yNIM,ñmi d%ek;T.-~ai @ysiAy hkow> ~yhil{a/ God do so to thee, and more also ! thou, shalt not hide anything from me, &c.; cf. 1 S 25:22. On the other hand,yKi follows the curse, in 1 S 14:44, 1 K 2:23 (here with a perfect), and in 2 S 3:35~ai yKi ; in 1 S 25:34 the precedingyKi is repeated before~ai ; in 1 S 20:13 the purport of the asseveration is repeated (after the insertion of a conditional sentence) in the perfect consecutive.
(c) e
~ai andaol-~ai as simple particles of asseveration, e. g. Ju 5:8!gEm' ägw xm;row" ha,r'y)e-~ai truly, there was not a shield and spear seen, &c.; Is 22:14, Jb 6:28 (in the middle of the sentence); afterhl'yliñx' hl'yliñx' absit, 2 S 20:20;aol-~ai with the imperf. Is 5:9, with the perfect, Jb 22:20.
Footnotes:
1[1] Also combined