swear / vow

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The Hebrew and Greek that is translated as “swear (an oath)” or “vow” in English is otherwise translated as:

  • “God sees me, I tell the truth to you” (Tzeltal)
  • “loading yourself down” (Huichol)
  • “speak-stay” (implying permanence of the utterance) (Sayula Popoluca)
  • “say what could not be taken away” (San Blas Kuna)
  • “because of the tight (i.e. ‘binding’) word said to a face” (Guerrero Amuzgo)
  • “strong promise” (North Alaskan Inupiatun) (source for all above: Bratcher / Nida)
  • “eat an oath” (Nyamwezi) (source: Pioneer Bible Translators, project-specific translation notes in Paratext)
  • “drink an oath” (Jju) (source: McKinney 2018, p. 31).
  • “cut taboos” (Mairasi (source: Enggavoter 2004)

In Bauzi “swear” can be translated in various ways. In Hebrews 6:13, for instance, it is translated with “bones break apart and decisively speak.” (“No bones are literally broken but by saying ‘break bones’ it is like people swear by someone else in this case it is in relation to a rotting corpse’ bones falling apart. If you ‘break bones’ so to speak when you make an utterance, it is a true utterance.”) In other passages, such as in Matthew 26:72, it’s translated with an expression that implies taking ashes (“if a person wants everyone to know that he is telling the truth about a matter, he reaches down into the fireplace, scoops up some ashes and throws them while saying ‘I was not the one who did that.'”). So in Matthew 26:72 the Bauzi text is: “. . . Peter took ashes and defended himself saying, ‘I don’t know that Nazareth person.'” (Source: David Briley)

See also swear (promise) and Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’, or ‘No, No’.

complete verse (Leviticus 5:4)

Following are a number of back-translations as well as a sample translation for translators of Leviticus 5:4:

  • Kupsabiny: “If a person hurriedly swears/makes an oath about anything whether good or bad and then he realizes it, he needs to accept that he has made a mistake/sinned.” (Source: Kupsabiny Back Translation)
  • Newari: “If anyone, without thinking, makes a promise about any matter, whether good or bad, if he becomes aware of it later, he will be held responsible [lit.: judged guilty]” (Source: Newari Back Translation)
  • Hiligaynon: “If a person has-made-an-oath/swore nonchalantly/as-if-it-means-nothing in-which he was- not -thinking, and whether what-he-swore to-do (was) good or bad/evil, he has-sinned when he now becomes-aware-of what- he -did.” (Source: Hiligaynon Back Translation)
  • English: “If you carelessly make a solemn promise to do something that is good or that is bad, when you realize what you have done, you must pay a penalty/be punished.” (Source: Translation for Translators)

Translation commentary on Leviticus 5:4

Or: introducing the fourth example of an unintentional sin (see verse 2).

With his lips: these words may be left implicit in most languages. Both the verb (utters) and the noun (oath) that follows would clearly imply that the lips or mouth were used in speaking and therefore in committing the sin.

A rash oath: the word oath implies taking God as witness when making a promise and indicating a willingness to accept divine punishment in case the promise is not fulfilled. Each language has its own way of talking about these kinds of serious promises before God; for example, “to raise the hand and swear,” or “to say what cannot be withdrawn,” or simply “to say in the presence (eyes) of God.” The addition of the qualifying word rash (thoughtless or careless) complicates the translation in some languages. It indicates that the promise is made without thinking seriously about what it means. In some cases it may be necessary to use two verbal expressions such as “promise before God, but fail to consider the meaning (or, seriousness) of the matter.”

To do evil or to do good: whether the purpose is good or bad, it is a serious matter to make an oath without thinking.

Any sort of rash oath that men swear: this information is repetitious, but it is added for emphasis. The habits of the receptor language with regard to repetition for emphasis will determine whether or not it should be repeated in translation.

And it is hidden from him: see verse 2.

In any of these: the last two words in the Hebrew text do not fit very well with the preceding word (translated literally “he shall be guilty”). The meaning of these words seems to be that the person will be considered guilty “in either case” (New English Bible); that is, whether the original purpose of the vow was for good or evil. However, Good News Translation and a number of other versions have left these words out, possibly because they are considered to have been picked up from the following verse and mistakenly placed here (see Traduction oecuménique de la Bible note).

Quoted with permission from Péter-Contesse, René and Ellington, John. A Handbook on Leviticus. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 1990. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .