Hebrews 6:16 Commentary and Bible Study

As has been stated in verse 13, God took the unusual step of swearing by himself in order to add weight to the promise. The following verses now consider this in more detail. An oath is an appeal to one who is greater than us to witness to the truth of what we say, and in a sense we borrow from their integrity to strengthen our own integrity. It is common practice among men to take oaths to confirm some matter of dispute. How does it work? The dispute may be about something that is difficult to prove. One case where an oath is useful is where there is a dispute between two parties. In this situation there may be no witnesses who can say what took place, one way or the other, but we want to settle the matter to the satisfaction of both sides. This can only be done by one of the two parties taking an oath that this is what happened. In the absence of evidence, the oath is going to be accepted by both parties. In a way, the oath raises the stakes. The one who swears invokes a greater authority to act as an unseen witness, and if they are in fact lying they invoke that witness against themselves. The other party accepts the oath because he does not believe that the oath would be made falsely. He too respects the greater authority that is invoked by the oath, and so the matter is considered settled. The one making the oath has used his oath as a way of confirming the truth of what he said, and the dispute is ended. God’s oath attached to the promise served a similar purpose.