Hebrews 6:16
in Hebrews 6Men swear by someone greater than themselves, and their oath serves as a confirmation to end all argument.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
For men swear by the greater: and in every dispute of theirs the oath is final for confirmation.
KJV
For men verily swear by the greater: and an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife.
⋯
This verse in Hebrews 6
Commentary
10 notes on this verseA promissory oath is made for preserving fidelity, and this is done in three ways, namely for restraining malice, for settling controversy, and for clearing away infamy. First, it is made for restraining malice, so that a man may neither deny the true nor affirm …
This site's exposition
oath serves as a confirmation
on Hebrews 6:16-18
Men end argument with an oath, and God guaranteed it with an oath. His word and His oath are the two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie. This second impossible answers the first at verse 4.
The record, by era
The Church Fathers2 voices
"For men verily swear by the greater, and an Oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife. But God because He could swear by no greater, sware by Himself." Well, who then is He that sware unto Abraham? Is it not the Son? No, one says. Certainly indeed it was He: however, I shall not dispute thereon. So when He the Son sweareth the same oath, "Verily, verily, I say unto you," is it not plain that it was because He could not swear by any greater? For as the Father sware, so also the Son sweareth by Himself, saying, "Verily, verily, I say unto you." He here reminds them also of the oaths of Christ, which He was constantly uttering. "Verily, verily, I say unto thee, he that believeth on Me shall never die." What is, "And an oath for confirmation is to them an end of all strife"? It is instead of, "by this every doubtful question is solved": not this, or this, but every one.
"an end of all dispute." And the conclusion of all contradiction and dispute to confirm what is said is the oath. For indeed many things are spoken and disputed on each side; but the oath, coming last and confirming, resolves all doubts.
The Medieval Church2 voices
That is, an oath resolves the dispute in every contradiction. For much is said and objected in argument from both sides, but the oath, being the final word and confirming, resolves everything that is doubtful.
317. – Then when he says, Men indeed swear by a greater than themselves, he states the reason for the foregoing. In regard to this he does three things: first, he mentions a human custom; secondly, the reason behind the custom; thirdly, the fruit of …
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
For men verily swear by the greater,.... These words contain a reason why God swore by himself, and why his promises, having an oath annexed to them, ought to be believed.
3 more voices on this verse
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
Men verily swear by the greater - One who has greater authority; who can take cognizance of the obligation, and punish the breach of it. An oath for confirmation - “This observation teaches us,” says Dr. Macknight, “that both promissory oaths concerning things lawful and in our power, and oaths for the confirmation of things doubtful, when required by proper authority, and taken religiously, are allowable under the Gospel.”
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
I prefer, "The oath is to them, in respect to confirmation (of one's solemn promise or covenant; as here, God's), an end of all contradiction (so the Greek is translated, Heb 12:3), or "gainsaying." This passage shows: (1) an oath is sanctioned even in the Christian dispensation as lawful;
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — odd-straight-quotes
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
For men verily swear by the greater - That is, they appeal to God. They never swear by one who is inferior to themselves. The object of the apostle in this declaration is to show that as far as this could be done it had been by God. He could not indeed swear by one greater than himself, but he could make his promise as certain as an oath taken by people was when they solemnly appealed to him. He could appeal to his own existence and veracity, which was at any time the most solemn form of an oath, and thus put the mind to rest in regard to the hope of heaven. And an oath for confirmation - An oath taken to confirm or establish anything. Is to them an end of all strife - That is, when two parties are at variance, or have a cause at issue, an oath binds them to adhere to the terms of agreement concluded on, or contracting parties bind themselves by a solemn oath to adhere to the conditions of an agreement, and this puts an end to all strife. They rest satisfied when a solemn oath has been taken, and they feel assured that the agreement will be complied with. Or it may refer to cases where a man was accused of wrong before a court, and where he took a solemn oath that the thing had not been done, and his oath was admitted to be sufficient to put an end to the controversy. The general meaning is clear, that in disputes between man and man, an appeal was made to an oath, and that was allowed to settle it. The connection here is, that as far as the case would admit of, the same thing was done by God. His oath by himself made his promise firm.
The words behind it
15 Greek wordsEvery Greek word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Greek | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| ἄνθρωποι | anthropoi | Men | G444 → | 549 times |
| γὰρ | gar | for | G1063 → | 1039 times |
| κατὰ | kata | by | G2596 → | 468 times |
| τοῦ | tou | [one] | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| μείζονος | meizonos | greater | G3173 → | 243 times |
| ὀμνύουσιν, | omnuousin | swear, | G3660 → | 26 times |
| καὶ | kai | and | G2532 → | 9120 times |
| πάσης | pases | in all | G3956 → | 1235 times |
| αὐτοῖς | autois | their | G846 → | 5565 times |
| ἀντιλογίας | antilogias | disputes | G485 → | 4 times |
| πέρας | peras | finally | G4009 → | |
| εἰς | eis | [comes] to | G1519 → | 1755 times |
| βεβαίωσιν | bebaiosin | confirmation | G951 → | |
| ὁ | ho | in the | G3588 → | 19766 times |
| ὅρκος· | horkos | oath; | G3727 → |
ἄνθρωποιMen
anthropoiG444 →549 times
γὰρfor
garG1063 →1039 times
κατὰby
kataG2596 →468 times
τοῦ[one]
touG3588 →19766 times
μείζονοςgreater
meizonosG3173 →243 times
ὀμνύουσιν,swear,
omnuousinG3660 →26 times
καὶand
kaiG2532 →9120 times
πάσηςin all
pasesG3956 →1235 times
αὐτοῖςtheir
autoisG846 →5565 times
ἀντιλογίαςdisputes
antilogiasG485 →4 times
πέραςfinally
perasG4009 →
εἰς[comes] to
eisG1519 →1755 times
βεβαίωσινconfirmation
bebaiosinG951 →
ὁin the
hoG3588 →19766 times
ὅρκος·oath;
horkosG3727 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Hebrews 6:13When God made His promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater to swear by, He swore by Himself,
it leads to
- Genesis 22:15–18
And the angel of the LORD called to Abraham from heaven a second time,
- Psalms 105:9–10
the covenant He made with Abraham, and the oath He swore to Isaac.
- Luke 1:73
the oath He swore to our father Abraham, to grant us
- Isaiah 45:23
By Myself I have sworn; truth has gone out from My mouth, a word that will not be revoked: Every knee will bow before Me, every tongue will swear allegiance.
- Micah 7:20
You will show faithfulness to Jacob and loving devotion to Abraham, as You swore to our fathers from the days of old.
- Genesis 22:15–18
Through
Genesis 31:53May the God of Abraham and the God of Nahor, the God of their father, judge between us.” So Jacob swore by the Fear of his father Isaac.
it leads to
- Genesis 31:42
If the God of my father, the God of Abraham and the Fear of Isaac, had not been with me, surely by now you would have sent me away empty-handed. But God has seen…
- Genesis 16:5
Then Sarai said to Abram, “May the wrong done to me be upon you! I delivered my servant into your arms, and ever since she saw that she was pregnant, she has treated me…
- Joshua 24:2
And Joshua said to all the people, “This is what the LORD, the God of Israel, says: ‘Long ago your fathers, including Terah the father of Abraham and Nahor, lived beyond the Euphrates and…
- Genesis 31:42
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies10
On this verse
About Hebrews
This page draws on 10 works. Open the list of works
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bonaventure, Collationes de Decem Praeceptis, Collation 3; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Chrysostom, Homily on Hebrews 11; John Gill, Exposition of the New Testament (1746-1748); John Owen, An Exposition of the Epistle to the Hebrews; Oecumenius, The Pseudo-Oecumenian Catena on Hebrews; Theophylact of Ohrid, Commentary on Hebrews and Thomas Aquinas, Commentary on Hebrews.