Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Hebrews 6:13

τῷ γὰρ Ἀβραάμ. The “for” implies “and you may feel absolute confidence about the promises; for,” &c. Abraham is here only selected as “the father of the faithful” (Romans 4:13); and not as the sole example of persevering constancy, but as an example specially illustrious (Calvin).

κατʼ οὐδενὸς εἶχεν μείζονος ὀμόσαι. In the Jewish treatise Berachoth (f. 32. 1) Moses is introduced as saying to God, “Hadst thou sworn by Heaven and Earth, I should have said They will perish, and therefore so may Thy oath; but as Thou hast sworn by Thy great name, that oath shall endure for ever.”

καθʼ ἑαυτοῦ. Κατὰ with the gen. of the person adjured is peculiar to Hellenistic Greek (Matthew 26:63). In classical Greek κατὰ only takes the gen. of acts or objects by which the oath is made, and the acc. of the person (or πρὸς with the gen.). “By myself have I sworn” (Genesis 22:16). “God sweareth not by another,” says Philo, in a passage of which this may be a reminiscence—“for nothing is superior to Himself—but by Himself, Who is best of all” (De Leg. Alleg. III. 72). There are other passages in Philo which recall the reasoning of this clause (Opp. I. 622, II. 30).

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Cambridge Greek Testament Commentary

Hebrews 6:13

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