What Does Hebrews 6:13 Mean?
For when God promised to Abraham, since he had none greater to swear by, he swore by himself,
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
For when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself,THE KEY
When no greater witness can be called, the promise itself rests on the nature of the one who speaks.
THE MEANING
God’s promise to you carries its own witness: God stakes God’s own being on the word. Its assurance does not depend on a power higher than God, because there is none to appeal to.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
This undoes the belief that a promise can only be trusted when someone stronger stands behind it.
THE ROOT
ἐπαγγειλάμενος
epangeilámenos
GROWS FROM
ἀγγελ-
angel-
To announce, report, or declare.
“promised” in this verse is epangeilámenos. The word translated “promise” carries the sense of a declared announcement. Here the oath makes the declaration’s source its own guarantee: God swears by God’s own self.
ALSO GROWS
ángelos: Messenger
ἄγγελος
A messenger carries an announcement; the word family keeps the promise connected to a message being declared.
euangélion: Good news, or a good announcement
εὐαγγέλιον
This branch shows how an announcement can carry news that changes what the hearer can expect.
THE PATTERN
God’s word is secured by God’s own nature when no greater authority can serve as witness.
And he said, "By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not held back your son, your only son.Once I have sworn by my set-apartness that I will not run dry to David.For all the promises of God are yes in him, and in him Amen, unto the weight of God through us.THE THREAD
And he said, "By myself I have sworn, declares the LORD, because you have done this thing, and have not held back your son, your only son.Genesis gives the oath Hebrews compresses into one line: God swears by God’s own self. The promise and its witness meet in the same nature.
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