Genesis 22:16

Gen 22:16 And said, By myself have I sworn, saith the LORD, for because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only [son]:

Ver. 16. By myself have I sworn.] God swears for the further confirmation of our faith. For here he swore, not more for Abraham’s sake, than ours, as the apostle shows. {Heb 6:13-14; Heb 6:17-18} As when he spake with Jacob at Penuel, "there he spake with us"; {Hos 12:4} and what he said to Joshua, he said to all, "I will not leave thee, nor forsake thee". {Heb 13:5}

And hast not withheld thy son, thine only son.] And yet what was this to that sic without a sicut that hyperbole, that excess of love in God, that moved him to send his Son to die for our sins? He loved Christ far better than Abraham could love Isaac; and yet he gave him up freely, which Abraham would never have done without a command and to die as a malefactor, and by the hands of barbarous and bloody enemies; whereas Isaac was to die as a holy sacrifice, and by the hand of a tender father. How much more cause have we to say, Now I know the Lord loves me: and to swear as David did, to "keep his righteous judgments". {Psa 119:106}

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Gen_22:16

By Myself have I sworn

God Himself the foundation of our hopes

By Myself have I sworn.

By Himself God swears to us; by His power, His tenderness, His sympathy, He assures our hearts.

1. If we take up afresh any work for God, He is pledged--by Himself pledged to us--not to despise that work, to guide us in it, to accept it at our hands.

2. If we turn again to any cross--find the home darkened, or business difficult, or health still failing--if we find that holiday and rest do not sweep away the cloud: behind the cloud is God, strengthening for the cross is God, and by Himself He swears to us that, bearing that cross, it shall lead us to a crown.

3. If we are troubled by the dimness of the future, if perplexities thicken even as the years--and the responsibilities of the years--in-crease day by day, God is pledged--by Himself pledged--to guide every trustful follower. Only follow on to know the Lord. Why, beyond all that dim future there is heaven, our Fathers home and ours. And every step between the little now and that bright home is as sure as is that home and as is this now. (T. Gasqucine, B. A.)

The promise confirmed to Abraham by an oath

Often before had God promised, says Augustine, but never sworn. It was in recognition of the evidence which had just been afforded of His servants staunch loyalty to the covenant, that the Eternal was pleased in this unexampled manner to reduplicate securities for His own faithfulness, previous to this oath, Abraham had the word of God, and no more, on which to build his confidence. On that bare guarantee he had shown that he could build securely. Because he had judged it impossible for God to lie, therefore he had that day surrendered the one visible security which he possessed for the fulfilment of Gods word, by sacrificing the life on which its fulfilment turned. He trusted the All-truthful and Almighty to keep faith with His friend in His own way. For that very reason did a generous promiser vouchsafe to the man something more than a naked word. To him that hath shall be given. Because thou hast done this thing, and hast not withheld thy son, thine only one, from Me, therefore by Myself have I sworn that in blessing I will bless thee. Thenceforth, as the New Testament explains, the believer possessed, not one, but two immutable things on which to rest. Through Abrahams obedience have we all obtained this strong consolation. (J. O. Dykes, D. D.)

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

22:16 by my own name: There is no higher name by which God can swear (Heb 6:13-17).

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Signifying, that there is no greater than he.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Verse 16. By myself have I sworn] So we find that the person who was called the angel of the Lord is here called Jehovah; See Clarke on Ge 22:2. An oath or an appeal to God is, among men, an end to strife; as God could swear by no greater, he sware by himself: being willing more abundantly, says the apostle, to show unto the heirs of promise the immutability of his counsel, he confirmed it by an oath, that two immutable things, (his PROMISE and his OATH,) in which it was impossible for God to lie, we might have a strong consolation, who have fled for refuge to lay hold on the hope set before us. See Heb 6:13-18.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

(16) By myself have I sworn, saith the Lord (Jehovah).—This solemn interposition of an oath (Heb_6:17), of which the present is the sole instance in Holy Scripture, plainly indicates that this trial of Abraham’s faith was of no common kind, and that its typical teaching is of no ordinary value. Abraham might have appealed to God’s own attributes, and said, Far be it from thee, Lord, to command a human sacrifice, and bid a father slay his son. He might have pleaded the promises bound up with Isaac’s life. But no, as soon as he is convinced that the command comes from God. he obeys, and, against hope, still believes that the promises will all be fulfilled in the sacrificed Isaac. He is thus the highest and most perfect example of faith, and by his offering of his son the Church received the assurance that the Son of God incarnate in the flesh would upon that very mountain offer the sacrifice Divinely necessary for the pardon of man’s sins.

The blessing now given to Abraham differs from those that precede it in three particulars. First, it is no longer a promise, but a solemn compact ratified by an oath. Next, it assures Abraham’s seed of victory, whereby the spiritual Israel is certified of the ultimate triumph of the Gospel. Lastly, it transfers to Abraham’s offspring the promise of being the means of blessedness to all mankind.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

16. By myself have I sworn] Cf. Exo_32:13; Isa_45:23; Heb_6:13-17.

The remembrance of this oath is frequently invoked, cf. Gen_24:7, Gen_26:3, Gen_50:24; Psa_105:9, “the covenant which he made with Abraham, and his oath unto Isaac”; Luk_1:73, “the oath which he sware unto Abraham our father.”

saith the Lord] Lit. “the Oracle” or “revelation of Jehovah”; a rare expression in narrative, cf. Num_14:28, 1Sa_2:30; but common in the Prophets, e.g. Jer_18:5. The Angel, speaking in the first person, identifies Himself with Jehovah (cf. Gen_16:10, Gen_21:18, Gen_31:13). The introduction of the prophetic formula, “Oracle of Jehovah,” into the words spoken by the Angel impersonating Jehovah, is peculiar.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

That in blessing I will bless thee,.... With temporal and spiritual blessings; with the Spirit and all his graces; with Christ and redemption, justification, and salvation by him; and with eternal life, as the gift of God, through him:

and in multiplying I will multiply thy seed as the stars of the heaven, and as the sand which is upon the sea shore: both his natural seed, descending from him in the line of Isaac, and his spiritual seed, both among Jews and Gentiles, that tread in his steps; see Gen 13:15,

and thy seed shall possess the gate of his enemies: "gate" for "gates", where courts of judicature were held, and which are the security of cities and put for them, and which also include the whole country round about: so that this phrase is expressive of an entire jurisdiction and dominion over them; and was literally fulfilled in the times of Joshua, David, and Solomon; and spiritually in Christ, Abraham's principal seed, when he destroyed Satan and his principalities and powers; overcame the world; made an end of sin and abolished death; and delivered his people out the hands of all their enemies; and in all Abraham's spiritual seed, who are made more than conquerors over them, through Christ that has loved them.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Own self; as he could not swear by any one greater. (Hebrews vi. 13; Jeremias xxii. 5.)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

By myself have I sworn: so the Lord swears by his name, Jer 44:26; by his soul, in the Hebrew text, Jer 51:14; by his holiness, Amo 4:2; which is the same with by himself here. Hence also it appears that the Angel who speaks here is Christ and God, because this is God’s prerogative to swear by himself, as appears from Heb 6:13.

Because thou hast done this thing; not that Abraham by this act did properly merit or purchase the following promises, as plainly appears, because the same things for substance had been freely promised to Abraham long before this time and action, Gen 12:2; 13:16, only what before was promised is now confirmed by an oath, as a testimony of that singular respect which God had to Abraham, and to this heroical instance of faith and obedience.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

16. By myself have I sworn — “When God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself.” Heb_6:13. Hanna observes, that this oath “was the last utterance that fell from the lips of God upon the ear of Abraham. He lived for fifty years and more thereafter, but that voice was never heard again. These late years rolled over him in peaceful, undisturbed repose.”

Because thou hast done this thing — This last act of faith was the crowning point in Abraham’s spiritual life, and in view of this especially — as summing up and representing in itself all other evidences of his faith — Jehovah repeats his promise.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Because thou hast done this thing, and hast not with-held thy son, thine only son - He lays a mighty emphasis upon that, and ver. 18, praises it as an act of obedience, in it thou hast obeyed my voice. By myself have I sworn - For he could swear by no greater.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

BECAUSE THOU HAST DONE THIS THING. In the beginning He promised him that he would increase his descendants as the stars of heaven and the dust of the earth, but now He gave him the additional assurance that because thou hast done this great deed, He swore by His Great Name [that He would increase his descendants as the stars of heaven, and as the sand which is upon the seashore], and that his seed will possess the gate of its enemies. Thus Abraham was assured that no sin whatever would cause the destruction of his descendants, nor would they fall into the hand of their enemies and not rise again. Thus this constitutes a perfect Divine assurance of the redemption which is destined to come to us.

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

ויאמר בי נשבעתי, G’d added an oath to the blessing He had already bestowed on Avraham. When G’d swears an “oath” it is as if He were to say “by My life, etc.” Just as He is eternal and therefore will be able to keep His oath, so He can keep His oath to the children and grandchildren of the ones to whom He promises something by oath. While it is true that G’d does not need to swear an oath to assure us that He will keep His word, the new element in G’d swearing an oath is that even if the recipient of the oath did not keep his part of the bargain, i.e. sinned in the meantime, G’d promises that this will not invalidate His blessing, the one He confirms by an oath. Furthermore, He added another dimension to the existing blessing,

Radak on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Eliyahu Munk, HaChut Hameshulash” (CC BY 4.0); “Rabbi Mike Feuer, Jerusalem Anthology” (CC BY 4.0); and “R. David Kimhi on the first book of Psalms, Translated by R.G. Finch, London, 1919” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.