Oaths and Adjurations in the Pauline Corpus

Oaths and Adjurations in the Pauline Corpus

The following passages are suggested as oath/adjuration formulas in the Pauline Corpus by various scholars: 1 Cor 15:31; 2 Cor 1:23; 2 Cor 11:31; 1 Thess. 2:5,10; Gal 1:20; Rom 1:9; Rom 9:1; Phil 1:8; 1 Thess. 5:27 (adjuration); 1 Tim. 2:7 (variant). All date from the first 1st century, with perhaps the exception of 1 Tim, which may be from the 2nd Century.

Source: NRSV/ SBLGNT

1 Cor. 15:31
I die every day! That is as certain, brothers and sisters, as my boasting of you—a boast that I make in Christ Jesus our Lord.	καθ’ ἡμέραν ἀποθνῄσκω, νὴ τὴν ὑμετέραν καύχησιν, ἣν ἔχω ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ τῷ κυρίῳ ἡμῶν.

 

2 Cor. 1:23
But I call on God as witness against me: it was to spare you that I did not come again to Corinth.	Ἐγὼ δὲ μάρτυρα τὸν θεὸν ἐπικαλοῦμαι ἐπὶ τὴν ἐμὴν ψυχήν, ὅτι φειδόμενος ὑμῶν οὐκέτι ἦλθον εἰς Κόρινθον.

 

2 Cor. 11:31
The God and Father of the Lord Jesus (blessed be he forever!) knows that I do not lie.	ὁ θεὸς καὶ πατὴρ τοῦ κυρίου Ἰησοῦ οἶδεν, ὁ ὢν εὐλογητὸς εἰς τοὺς αἰῶνας, ὅτι οὐ ψεύδομαι.

 

1 Thess. 2:5,10
As you know and as God is our witness, we never came with words of flattery or with a pretext for greed; […] You are witnesses, and God also, how pure, upright, and blameless our conduct was toward you believers.	οὔτε γάρ ποτε ἐν λόγῳ κολακείας ἐγενήθημεν, καθὼς οἴδατε, οὔτε [a]ἐν προφάσει πλεονεξίας, θεὸς μάρτυς, […] ὑμεῖς μάρτυρες καὶ ὁ θεός, ὡς ὁσίως καὶ δικαίως καὶ ἀμέμπτως ὑμῖν τοῖς πιστεύουσιν ἐγενήθημεν,

 

Gal 1:20
In what I am writing to you, before God, I do not lie!	ἃ δὲ γράφω ὑμῖν, ἰδοὺ ἐνώπιον τοῦ θεοῦ ὅτι οὐ ψεύδομαι.

 

Rom. 1:9
For God, whom I serve with my spirit by announcing the gospel of his Son, is my witness that without ceasing I remember you always in my prayers,	μάρτυς γάρ μού ἐστιν ὁ θεός, ᾧ λατρεύω ἐν τῷ πνεύματί μου ἐν τῷ εὐαγγελίῳ τοῦ υἱοῦ αὐτοῦ, ὡς ἀδιαλείπτως μνείαν ὑμῶν ποιοῦμαι

 

Rom 9:1
I am speaking the truth in Christ—I am not lying; my conscience confirms it by the Holy Spirit—	Ἀλήθειαν λέγω ἐν Χριστῷ, οὐ ψεύδομαι, συμμαρτυρούσης μοι τῆς συνειδήσεώς μου ἐν πνεύματι ἁγίῳ,

 

Phil. 1:8
For God is my witness, how I long for all of you with the compassion of Christ Jesus.	μάρτυς γάρ μου ὁ θεός, ὡς ἐπιποθῶ πάντας ὑμᾶς ἐν σπλάγχνοις Χριστοῦ Ἰησοῦ.

 

1 Thess. 5:27 [Adjuration]
I solemnly command you by the Lord that this letter be read to all of them.	ἐνορκίζω ὑμᾶς τὸν κύριον ἀναγνωσθῆναι τὴν ἐπιστολὴν πᾶσιν τοῖς ἀδελφοῖς.

 

1 Tim 2:7 [Oath, only in variant]
For this I was appointed a herald and an apostle (I am telling the truth [in Christ], I am not lying), a teacher of the Gentiles in faith and truth.	εἰς ὃ ἐτέθην ἐγὼ κῆρυξ καὶ ἀπόστολος— ἀλήθειαν λέγω [ἐν Χριστῷ], οὐ ψεύδομαι— διδάσκαλος ἐθνῶν ἐν πίστει καὶ ἀληθείᾳ.