To swear
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Ὀμνύω (omnýō) means to swear an oath, invoking someone or something as witness to the truth or binding force of a statement. Jesus forbids manipulative oath-making that tries to grade promises by heaven, earth, Jerusalem, or one's head; disciples' ordinary yes and no must be trustworthy.
Reader summary
Full entry for ὀμνύω (G3660) · Open the biblical lexicon
Ὀμνύω (omnýō) means to swear an oath, invoking someone or something as witness to the truth or binding force of a statement. Jesus forbids manipulative oath-making that tries to grade promises by heaven, earth, Jerusalem, or one's head; disciples' ordinary yes and no must be trustworthy.
The BSB source-word alignment has 26 aligned rows for this entry. Common renderings include swears (10), he swore (4), swear (3), I swore on oath (2), to swear (2).
The source-word alignment first shows this entry at Matthew 5:34. Its strongest book concentrations include Matthew (13), Hebrews (7), Mark (2), Acts (1).
Ὀμνύω (omnýō) means to swear an oath, invoking someone or something as witness to the truth or binding force of a statement. Jesus forbids manipulative oath-making that tries to grade promises by heaven, earth, Jerusalem, or one's head; disciples' ordinary yes and no must be trustworthy. He later exposes the false distinction between swearing by the temple and by the One who dwells there.
Zechariah praises God for remembering the oath sworn to Abraham. Hebrews explains that God swore by Himself because no greater witness exists, giving heirs strong encouragement alongside His unchangeable promise. Revelation's mighty angel swears by the eternal Creator that delay has ended. Human oath abuse and divine oath assurance must not be confused. The speaker, invoked witness, covenant setting, and purpose decide whether an oath is presumptuous, hypocritical, solemn, or graciously confirmatory.
Ὀμνύω describes oath-taking. Jesus rejects evasive human oath systems, while Scripture celebrates God's oath to Abraham and portrays a heavenly messenger swearing by the eternal Creator that God's announced purpose will proceed.
But I tell you not to swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne;
Jesus commands disciples not to swear by heaven or other created guarantees, because truthful speech should not require a hierarchy of formulas to become binding.
And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the One who dwells in it.
Swearing by the temple implicates the God who dwells there, so the scribes' distinctions cannot isolate sacred objects from the Lord whose presence gives them meaning.
The oath He swore to our father Abraham, to grant us
Zechariah links deliverance and fearless holy service to the covenant oath God swore to Abraham, praising remembered promise rather than human reliability.
When God made His promise to Abraham, since He had no one greater to swear by, He swore by Himself,
God swears by Himself because no greater witness exists, condescending to confirm His already unchangeable promise for the heirs' strong encouragement.
And he swore by Him who lives forever and ever, who created heaven and everything in it, the earth and everything in it, and the sea and everything in it: “There will be no more delay!
The angel swears by the Creator who lives forever that there will be no more delay, anchoring the announcement in God's eternal sovereignty over all creation.
BSB source-word alignment connects this entry to exact verse rows, English rendering, source form, transliteration, and parsing.
How English Renders ItA compact distribution from source-word alignment before the full evidence tables.
Greek word. Solemn affirmation by oath; often involves swearing by or upon something considered sacred or authoritative.
Textus Receptus witness, full corpusGreek token appearances from Scrivener 1894 Textus Receptus in the full New Testament corpus.
16 of 27 Greek text appearances shown. Linked morphology labels have verse guides.
I swear, take an oath
Read verseI swear, take an oath
Read verseI swear, take an oath
Read verseI swear, take an oath
Read verseI swear, take an oath
Read verseI swear, take an oath
Read verseI swear, take an oath
Read verseI swear, take an oath
Read verseI swear, take an oath
Read verseI swear, take an oath
Read verseI swear, take an oath
Read verseI swear, take an oath
Read verseI swear, take an oath
Read verseI swear, take an oath
Read verseI swear, take an oath
Read verseI swear, take an oath
Read verseFull New Testament corpus: 260 chapters, 7,957 verses, 140,628 tokens. Data source: honza/textus-receptus (data only), with authority check against byztxt/greektext-textus-receptus.
How mood, tense, and voice shift the force of this verb in context.
This verb appears through different tense, voice, mood, or stem patterns. Those forms help readers see how the action is presented in context.
Verse guides are not available for this word yet, so verse references remain plain evidence markers.
How this verb appears across 26 occurrences in the NT discourse index (MACULA Greek SBLGNT).
Aspect reflects grammatical form — not authorial emphasis. Participles and infinitives are verbal adjectives and nouns respectively.
Clause data: MACULA Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0) · SBLGNT (Logos/SBL, CC BY 4.0)
Selected passage-level study witnesses for this word. This section is not the full occurrence list.
Showing 3 selected witnesses from 26 lexical occurrence verses.
ὀμνύω is from an obsolete root - no further derivation.
Clarifies Jesus’ correction of manipulative oath practices.James 5:12
Identifies the formal oath-making James restricts.James 5:12
Compound and idiomatic phrases that include this word. Follow a link to study the phrase and how its parts work together.
An oath can expose distrust as easily as it confirms truth. Jesus confronts a culture that divided speech into more and less binding categories, allowing people to sound solemn while protecting room for evasion. His disciples must become people whose ordinary affirmation is dependable before God. The temple sayings deepen the rebuke: sacred objects cannot be detached from the God who owns and inhabits them.
Yet Scripture also presents divine oath as mercy. God does not need added credibility, but He swears by Himself to give Abraham's heirs strong encouragement that His purpose cannot change. Revelation's angel likewise invokes the eternal Creator when announcing the end of delay. Teachers should neither revive manipulative formulas nor flatten all oath language into one moral category.
Human truthfulness rests on God's presence, while divine oaths stoop to assure weak heirs of what God's character already guarantees.
Matt.5.34
Ὀμνύω is the verb for taking an oath. Constructions may name the person or object by which one swears and the content promised. The act calls a higher witness or guarantee into the statement.
Covenant law regulates vows and forbids false swearing, God confirms promises by oath, and wisdom prizes truthful lips. Jesus brings daily speech under God's hearing without verbal loopholes.