The Abrahamic Covenant: “By Myself I have Sworn”
Genesis 22:16
Introduction
The Covenant בְּרִית
bĕrît was the
means through which God revealed Himself to His people, starting with the
election of Abraham.[1] He established many successive covenants that
mark the purpose of the Book of Genesis, the Book of Beginnings, (אֱלֹהִים בּ רֵאשִׁית bĕ rēʾšît ʾĕlōhîm, starting
with the Adamic
Covenant
(Genesis 3:15), then the Noahic Covenant (Genesis 9:9), then the Abrahamic
Covenant (Genesis 15:18). God’s covenant
making was made according to the conception of the original actors, back then
and there, which reflected the ancient Near Eastern form of covenant cutting
and treaty making. This paper does not investigate the elements and
content of the covenant blessing or a comparison of Adamic and Noahic
blessings, or the personality of God as Trinity. This paper focuses
on God’s oath
to Abraham in Genesis 22:16, “By
Myself, I have sworn,” given that this is the first oath God pronounces
and has authoritative value and function.
It is my
contention
that God used the oath system practiced in covenant cutting and treaty making
in ancient Near East to swear to Abraham because this was the only way Abraham
would understand God’s unfailing promise, sealed with a self-imprecatory oath.
The methodology consists of investigating the literary
context of Genesis. 22:16, the ancient Near Eastern culture and legal system to
learn about covenants, Abraham’s conception of the oath, biblical audience
understanding of God’s utterance, impact of the oath on the Israelites for
successive generations, intertextual evidence of how the church assessed God’s
oath to Abraham to validate my findings, and a conclusion.
Literary Context
God had established a pre-covenantal relation with
Abraham in Genesis 12, cut a covenant with Abraham in Genesis 15, developed the
covenant further by giving circumcision as the sign of the covenant in Genesis
17, and finally a sworn-in covenant blessing in Genesis 22:16-18, “By Myself I
have sworn.”
This
part includes lexical analysis, word study, grammar, meaning in context and
throughout the Pentateuch.
The Angel of the Lord יְהוָה מַלְאָךְ malʾak yhwh
The “Angel of the Lord” is first encountered in Genesis
16 in the instance with Hagar, when she fled from her mistress’ oppression. The
identity of the Angel of the Lord according to Hagar, who is an Egyptian
polytheistic maidservant to Sarah, is some kind of deity; her experience is that
she has seen The God Who Sees ʾēl rŏʾî (16:13).[2] Hagar might not have known that the angel is Yhwh,
but the biblical author “identifies the deity as ‘the Lord.’”[3] The second occurrence is in Genesis 22:11,
where the Angel of the Lord is Yhwh and the narrator switches to a
direct speech between Yhwh and Abraham.
Word Study
To Swear
Yhwh called Abraham (Genesis 22:11)
to stop him from laying hand on Isaac, then again He calls him a second
time to deliver a sworn-in covenant blessing (22:15). The verb “to swear” שָׁבַע šbʿ(niphal stem, perfect, 1st person,
singular, common gender) comes from the root sheba` meaning to be
complete or to seven oneself or to repeat an oath seven times, an expression of
totality or comprehensiveness.[4] The niphal stem is passive active,
meaning the action is of God and falling back on God. In other words, the oath is an adjure or
a command by God to Himself, unilateral in aspect; it is repeated seven times, alluding to the seven days when God rested to
signify that God will not settle except when He sees the covenant-oath blessing
carried out. God’s rest is in the fulfillment of His covenant-oath to Abraham.
Meaning in Context
Genesis
1-22
The word “sworn”
is first encountered in Genesis 14:22 when Abraham went to rescue Lot, his
nephew, who was taken when five kings engaged in war against four others. King
of Sodom wanted to bless Abraham with goods but Abraham refused (Gen
14:22-23). It is an act of worship to
hold Abraham accountable before God. The second use of the word is in Genesis 21:23, when Abraham and Abimelech cut a covenant ratified by seven lambs and Abraham
swore to Abimelech not to deal treacherously with his posterity; Abraham gave
Abimelech seven ewe lambs as a witness that he dug the wells and the place was
called Beersheba (the seventh well).[5] It is a public agreement or covenant, ratified by seven animal-gifts for a
testimony against Abraham to hold him accountable for carrying out his
obligations towards Abimelech’s posterity. The third use is in Genesis 22:16, where
Yhwh swears by Himself to bless Abraham; the meaning will be dealt with further
below.
Pentateuch
In the Pentateuch, שָׁבַע shaba was used 67x (17x Genesis, 5x
Ex, 4x Lev, 8x Num, 33x Deut).[6]
God swore unilaterally only once to
Abraham (Genesis 22:16); 4x God is
mindful to the oath made to the patriarchs (Genesis 26:3; Ex 33:1; Num 14:23; Deut
1:8); 9x oath between people (Genesis 21:23, 24, 31; 24:3, 9; 25:33; 26:31;
31:53; 47:31); bearing testimony to an oath made (Genesis 24:7, 37; 50:5,6); 31x
reminding and reassuring the Israelites of God’s oath to the patriarchs (Genesis
50:24, 25; Ex 13:5, 11; 32:13; Num
11:12; 14:16; Deut 6:10, 18, 23; 7:8, 12, 13; 8:1, 18; 9:5; 10:1, 20; 11:9, 21;
13:17; 19:8; 26:3, 15; 28:9, 11; 29:13; 30:20; 31:7, 23; 34:4); 4x false
swearing (Lev 5:4; 6:3,5; 19:12); 3x oath in rituals (Num 5:19, 21; 30:20; ); 6x
God’s oath is withheld from certain people (Num 32:10, 11, Deut 1:34, 35; 2:14;
4:31); 1x swearing in God’s name as an act of worship to express holy fear
(Deut 6:13); 1x fulfilling an oath (Ex 13:19); 2x repercussions for breaking an
oath (Lev 5:4; Deut 31:21).
However, there is a mixed practice in the oath system
as taking place unilaterally by Yhwh, or between people to conclude an
agreement, or in rituals, or as an act of worship. Therefore, a look into the ancient Near
Eastern system will help clarify the ongoing practice of oath-taking within a
covenant framework, meaning and repercussions of breaking the oath or swearing
in misfortune.
Authorial Intent (Genesis 22:15-18)
The main point in the passage is that Yhwh
pronounced an oath to carry out the covenant blessing to Abraham because he has
obeyed the Lord by offering Isaac as a sacrifice, when the Lord requested
it. The passage is a straight
forward exegesis;
the issue that transpires is related to God’s oath. If God had ratified a
bilateral covenant with Abraham (Genesis 15) by passing through the particles
of the animal sacrifices that Abraham had cut in halves, as a sign of covenant
cutting, why did God swear by Himself (Genesis 22)? Is He not faithful enough
to honor the ratified covenant? How did the biblical audience understand that
oath to be in relation to the covenant?
What was the impact of the oath on the people of Israel? Was this a common oath in ancient Near East?
How did Abraham conceive of this kind of spoken oath along with the ram God
offered? What was the system of oath and covenant cutting in Mesopotamia? The next part investigates the ancient Near
Eastern culture and law to seek answers to such questions, if not all, at least
some of them.
CULTURAL CONTEXT
Oath in Ancient Near East
Ritual
Procedure
The oath was part of a tri-partite ritual
procedure for legal dispute resolution in Mesopotamia in the third quarter of
the third millennium BC, as evidenced in Akkadian, Assyrian, and Sumerian trial
records.[7] The procedure consisted of oath, oracle, and
ordeal. The judicial oath used in ancient Near Eastern courts required “one of
the litigants to swear by one or more living beings that his or her version of
events was true;” a false swearing was punishable.[8] The case was usually settled in favor of the
oath-taker. The
oracle procedure was applied to reach for a verdict pronounced
by a deity, which was scarce. In ancient
Israel, the case of the trial of Achan and casting lots in Joshua 7 could be an
example to illustrate how a divine verdict was reached in the oracle procedure;
in Egypt, Pharaoh was the deity consulted in the oracle procedure.[9]
The judicial ordeal procedure, though
ambiguous, requested that one of the litigants pass through a river to see what
would happen to him.[10]
This cultic procedure carried a decisive force based on religious beliefs, not
on forensic evidence and empirical data as was developed later in the first
millennium BC.[11]
Abraham’s understanding of the oath could be
related to the cultic procedure of legal dispute resolution, where the
oath settled the dispute or conflict. God
was one of the litigants, who swore by Himself, as a deity, to sustain and
maintain His covenant throughout, and to lift off Abraham’s doubt or fear
forever. This
finding is supported in Hebrews
6:16, that the oath puts an end to
every dispute.
Promissory and
Assertory Oath
In
ancient Mesopotamia, treaties, contracts and legal documents included two types
of oaths: promissory and assertory.[12] The promissory oath insured the act or
commitment would be carried out in the future; while, assertory oath
ascertained that a particular agreement or commitment was already fulfilled and
was connected to litigation and trial proceedings.[13] In trial proceedings, if two parties want to
conclude a treaty, both or one party could be required to offer a promissory
oath stating compliance to the agreement terms and conditions.[14] There were two assertory oaths: formal and
weakened; the court mainly dealt with the formal assertory oath that was a
decisive factor in ruling in favor of the party who swore, and whose oath is
documented in the court final verdict.[15] The assertory oath was formulated as a
conditional testimonial, ‘I if did so and so…may the gods punish me,” taken
usually by the defendant.[16]
God’s
oath to Abraham is both, assertory and promissory. It is assertory in the sense that God had partially
delivered his blessing of land and posterity to Abraham; God, being a party to
the covenant, responded to Abraham’s obedience to offer Isaac as a sacrifice by
swearing, which meant that He is not lying about His promise. This is how Abraham understood God’s oath,
which is also promissory in the sense that God is committed to extend and
fulfill the blessing to a multiplying generation and to the nations through Abraham’s
seed; and He is not lying.
In Genesis 15, God cut a covenant with Abraham
by passing through the split halves of the animal sacrifices, which meant that
God was putting Himself under a curse as well as His “trustworthiness and
reliability a matter of legal adjudication.”[17] It was an ancient Near Eastern custom,
recorded in documents from Alalakh, Mari, and Hatti, from second millennium BC.[18] The Alalakh text states “Abban placed himself
under oath to Iarimlim and had cut the neck of sheep (saying): ‘(Let me die) if
I take back that which I gave thee!’ ”[19]
This was
the way covenant treaties were established in Alalakh where the superior party
(Abban) takes a self-curse as a way to assure fulfillment of the covenant.[20]
Other Hittite documents, in the period from
2000-700 BCE, describe the procedure defeated military troops used to perform:
If the
troops have beaten by the enemy they perform a ritual “behind” the river, as
follows: they "cut through” a man, a goat, a puppy, and a little pig; they
place half on this side and half and half on that side, and in front of them
they make a gate of…wood and stretch a…over it, and in front of the gate they
light fires on this side and on that, and the troops walk right through, and
when they come to the river they sprinkle water over them.[21]
Legal
Treaties
Also, the oath was part of the Hittite
international treaty which was composed of “a preamble, a historical prologue,
a basic stipulation of allegiance, covenantal clauses, invocation of witnesses,
blessings and curses, and the oath-imprecation.”[22]
So blessings, oath, and rituals were
part of God’s covenant with Abraham that meant ratification and obligation to
fulfill.[23] The ritual is quite similar to what God
performed in passing through the animals He had requested from Abraham: a
three year
old
heifer, a three year old female goat, a three year old ram, a turtledove, and a
young pigeon (Gen 15:9). The significance
of that ritual is that God is speaking to and communicating with Abraham,
according to his understanding of covenant-cutting custom, used in ancient Near
East. “God is
performing a self-curse ritual, saying in effect that he will be like those
killed and divided animals if he does not keep his promises.”[24]
The ancient Near Eastern curses entailed
malediction and possibly death. In an
Akkadian-Hittite treaty document, the word “oath” was extensively repeated and
the gods were appealed to ensure destruction of the person who breaks the oath.[25] In this treaty, the word “oath” was
repeated twenty times; four times “gods of the oath;” and forty-three times
“god.” A warning was repeated eight
times: if you do so and so, “you act in disregard of the oath.” The
self-curse associated with the oath was the motive to fulfill obligations in
prevention of being destroyed for breaking the oath. In contrast, God’s curse meant deprivation
for God’s presence, protection, and favor.[26]
The difference between Abraham’s God and
the Mesopotamian deities was one of genuine, selfless, inherent blessing. God’s presence, protection, and favor
emanating from the blessing led people to act out of the blessing and not out of
fear from a self-imprecatory oath; the covenant oath was unilateral on God’s
behalf. The Tower of Babel demonstrated
people’s understanding that the gods have needs;[27]
whereas, God’s sworn-in covenant revealed a giving God unlike pagan deities.
In
summary, the oath was used in concluding covenants, treaties, judicial
proceedings, and litigation. Oath insures
an authoritative, enforceable commitment that if broken had serious
repercussions, entailing a self-curse leading to a judgment of blood (death).
Theological context
Abraham’s Conception of God
The theological context of God’s dealings with Abraham starts
in Genesis 12. Abraham must have had
some concept about the personality of God and have heard stories passed down
from generation to generation, but the bible is
silent in this regard. God established a
pre-covenantal relation with Abraham in Genesis 12 by making a request coupled
with a promise of blessing, which Abraham submits to. The Lord reappears to Abraham, who builds an
altar to the Lord, and then he moves and again builds an altar and calls on the
name of the Lord. As the story unfolds,
Abraham responses show that God is a mobile deity that is worshipped wherever by
building altars and calling on his name. In Genesis 14, Abraham gets to know
that God is “God the Most High” עֶלְיֹון אֵל ʾēl ʿelyōwn, Possessor of heaven and
earth. In Genesis 15, God is Abraham’s
shield
מָגֵן māgēn, source of peace and reward,
and a covenant-maker. In Genesis 17, God
reveals Himself to Abraham as “God Almighty” שַׁדַּי
אֵל ʾēl šadday , reiterates His covenant
blessing, and institutes circumcision, which was widely practiced in ancient
Near East, as a covenant sign in the flesh.[28] In Genesis 18, God visits Abraham and assures
him of a son from His seed from Sarah and declares that there is nothing
impossible to God; Abraham, in interceding with God for Sodom, confessed that
God is the “Judge of all the earth” אֶרֶץ הַ כֹּל שׁפט špṭ kōl hāʾereṣ but also knew that God is holy and cannot stand evil. In Genesis 20, Abraham prays to God who heals
Abimelech and his household, and opened the women’s wombs for He had closed
them; Abraham knew that God is the healer and the womb-opener and womb-closer. In
Genesis 22, Abraham sees God as “The Lord Who Provides” יִרְאֶה יהוה yhwh yirʾeh. This is Abraham’s conception of God, whom he
knew experientially and inferentially.[29]
The
next part deals with issues related to Abraham’s conception of the oath and in a nutshell its
impact on the Israelite generations, with a view of church tradition.
Abraham’s Conception of the Oath
In view of the ancient Near Eastern culture,
the oath occupied an important part of the covenant making process because of the
repercussions and misfortune entailed in breaking the oath. Did Abraham doubt God’s faithfulness to carry
out His covenant blessing and therefore God needed to swear by Himself? The
Bible does not explicitly mention that Abraham doubted but God said to Abraham,
“Do not fear,
Abram, I am a shield to you; Your reward shall be very great” (Gen 15:1). God, the Omniscient, must have known
Abraham’s fears and therefore gave him reassurance and peace. Besides, the
pagan deities were very different than Abraham’s God. The pagan deities used to fight with one another
and kill one another; there were short term gods and long term gods; creation of
mankind was the result of conflict between the gods as to who will carry the
menial work.[30]
In such an environment, where Abraham
stood alone believing in that monotheistic God who is very different from all
other gods in Mesopotamia, he needed an impactful reassurance. Walton believes that this
oath represents “an advance that strengthens further obligations on Yahweh’s
behalf.”[31]
At this point, Genesis 22, there was a substantial fulfillment in the covenant
promises of land, name, and a child, Isaac.
What about the future blessing through Abraham’s seed? God had told
Abraham in Gen 15:13 that his descendants will be enslaved and oppressed in a
strange land for four hundred years and in the fourth generation God will
deliver them out of their bondage. God’s
oath is not explicitly related to this issue in Gen 15:13; however, the oath
functioned as both promissory and assertory.
God’s
oath came in response to Abraham’s obedience to God in offering Isaac as a
sacrifice, an act of worship that denoted the fear of the Lord. Abraham must have conceived this oath to be
both promissory (future fulfillment) and assertory (partially fulfilled),
having the power of enforcement similar to covenant cutting and treaties in
ancient Near East, sealed with a self-imprecatory oath.
Biblical Audience
The Lord’s initial covenant-oath to Abraham in Gen
22:16 is the basis on which all Israel’s history is built upon. Throughout the Pentateuch, leaders of
Israel—Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, and Moses—constantly reminded the Israelites of
God’s covenant to reassure them of God’s faithfulness in carrying out His
promissory oath to Abraham that motivated them to conquer lands and live the
covenant terms.[32] The biblical audience understood that oath,
in the context of ancient Near Eastern culture of treaty making; that is a
covenant, if broken, entails self-curse on God extending to death. Since God is Almighty and Eternal, death is
not applicable on Him; and consequently, death cannot prevent Him from
fulfilling His covenant. Did Israel
understand this notion? Probably not,
Israel’s concept of God as relayed by oral tradition is that God is the
Almighty God and has put His integrity on the line by the oath, and thus He
cannot lie. However, “The idea of God
taking a self-maledictory oath is difficult theologically;” [33]
therefore, eisegetical interpretation is turned down. In brief, God was reassuring Israel that all
the covenant elements will be fulfilled down to the last detail, no matter
what.
Church Tradition
The Church perceived God’s sworn-in covenant oath
as a reassurance of God’s faithfulness and His unchanging promise; besides, God
had no greater oath than to swear by Himself (Heb 6:17-18). Zacharias being filled with the Holy Spirit, prophesied
about the fulfillment of God’s oath to Abraham, through the birth of John the
Baptist, the forerunner of the Messiah, for deliverance and worship in holiness
and righteousness (Luke 1:73-75). Paul
confirms that Abraham’s seed is Jesus Christ; and in Him, all God’s promises
are fulfilled; and through Him, God’s blessing was extended to the ends of the
earth to all those who believe (Gal 4). The blessing of Israel is to be extended to
the gentiles, who through faith in Jesus Christ, will receive the promise of
the Holy Spirit (Gal 3:14). The covenant
that God ratified with Abraham supersedes the Law; so the Law did not
invalidate a covenant granted by a sworn-in promise but is still in force to
all the children of promise, modelling Abraham’s
faith (Gal 4:28). However, the church
has prohibited oath
taking and swearing (Matt
5:33-36; James 5:12), knowing most assuredly that the only one who can swear an
oath and fulfill it is the Everlasting God עֹולָם אֵלʾēlʿōwlām.
Conclusion
God’s oath meant that He will not settle until
the covenant promises are fulfilled to the full extent and revealed a giving
God, different from needy pagan deities.
Abraham understood God’s oath as both promissory and assertory,
according
the
ancient Near Eastern culture and customs practiced. The self-imprecatory oath entailed a curse on
the oath-taker, who would incur malediction and death, if the
oath is broken. Abraham’s conceived the
oath according to the ancient Near Eastern mentality and practices that meant
God cannot break His oath. God’s
integrity was on the line; hence, He could not lie. Abraham needed the assertory oath to get
reassurance that the covenant will be fulfilled to his descendants. The church understood the oath to be a
unilateral commitment on God’s behalf, sealed with an oath, indicating that He
cannot lie and will fulfill future commitments.
[1]. HCSB Reverse Interlinear Bible
Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003. WORDsearch CROSS
e-book. All Hebrew texts in this
research paper are taken from the HCSB Reverse Interlinear Bible.
[2]. John H. Walton, Genesis: The NIV Application
Commentary, (Grand Rapids, Michigan:
Zondervan, 2001), 448.
[3]. Walton, 449.
[4]. HCSB
Reverse Interlinear Bible, (Nashville, TN: Holman Bible Publishers, 2003); also
Strong's Talking Greek & Hebrew Dictionary.
[5]. Edward
Goodrick and John R. Kohlenberger, The Strong NIV Exhaustive Concordance, (Grand
Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1999), 1375.
[6].
http://www.blueletterbible.org/lang/lexicon/lexicon.cfm?Strongs=H7650&t=HCSB.
[7]. Bruce Wells,
“The Cultic Versus the Forensic: Judahite and Mesopotamian Judicial Procedures
in the First Millennium B.C.E,” Journal of The American Oriental Society,
Vol. 128, Issue no. 2, 2008, 205.
[8]. Ibid, 207.
[9]. Ibid.
[10]. Ibid.
[11]. Ibid, 208.
[12]. Bruce Wells et al., “The Assertory Oath in
Neo-Babylonian and Persian Administrative Texts,” Revue Internationale des
droits de l’Antiquité, Vol. LVII, 2010, 13.
[13]. Wells et al., 13
[14]. Ibid, 14.
[15]. Ibid, 16.
[16]. Ibid, 20.
[17]. John N. Oswalt, “Abraham’s Experience of
Yahweh: An Argument for the Historicity
of the Patriarchal Narrative,” in Perspectives on Our
Father Abraham: Essays in Honor of
Marvin R. Wilson, Steven Hunt (ed.), (Grand Rapids,
Michigan: Eerdmans Publishing, 2010),
35.
[18]. Tremper Longman,
How To Read Genesis, (Downers Grove, Illinois: IVP Academic, 2005), 96.
[19]. Ibid.
[20]. Ibid.
[21]. Ibid.
[22].
Moshe Weinfeld, “Covenant Making in
Anatolia and Mesopotamia,” Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society, Vol.
22, 1993, 135.
[23]. Details of the covenant elements will not be
dealt with because it is not the concern of this paper.
[24]. Weinfeld, 135.
[25]. “Treaty Between Mursilis And Duppi-Tessub Of Amurru.”
Akkadian-Hittite Treaty. http://jewishchristianlit.com//Topics/Contracts/treat01.html. In this
treaty, the word “oath” was repeated twenty times; four times “gods of the
oath;” and forty-three times “god.” A
warning was repeated eight times: if you do so and so, “you act in disregard of
the oath.”
[26]. Walton, 229.
[27].
Ibid, 398.
[28]. Walton, 450-451. Circumcision was known in Mesopotamia at the
time; it is nothing knew but God used an ongoing practice as a sign in the
flesh that they are God’s people, His own.
[29]. John N. Oswalt, “Abraham’s Experience of
Yahweh: An Argument for the Historicity
of the Patriarchal Narratives,” in Perspectives on Our Father Abraham: Essays in Honor of Marvin R. Wilson, by
Steven Hunt (ed.), (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Eerdmans Publishing, 2010), 40.
[30]. Walton, 512.
[31]. Ibid.
[32]. See section on word study; thirty-one
times leaders of Israel reminded the Israelites of God’s oath.
[33]. Walton, 423.
Goodrick, Edward, John R. Kohlenberger,
and James Swason (eds.) The Strong NIV Exhaustive Concordance. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan, 1999
Hunt,
Steven (ed.) Perspectives on Our
Father Abraham: Essays in Honor of
Marvin R. Wilson. Grand Rapids, Michigan:
Eerdmans Publishing, 2010
Longman,
Tremper. How To Read Genesis. Downers Grove, Illinois: IVP Academic, 2005.
Niehaus,
Jeffrey J. “God’s Covenant with
Abraham.” Journal of
the Evangelical Theological Society.
Vol. 56, Issue no. 2, Jun 2013, 249-271.
Oswalt,
John N. “Abraham’s Experience of Yahweh:
An Argument for the Historicity of the Patriarchal Narratives.” Perspectives
on Our Father Abraham: Essays in Honor
of Marvin R. Wilson. Hunt Steven (ed.). Grand Rapids,
Michigan: Eerdmans Publishing, 2010,
33-43.
“Treaty Between Mursilis And Duppi-Tessub Of
Amurru.” Akkadian-Hittite Treaty. Available
at http://jewishchristianlit.com//Topics/Contracts/treat01.html
, accessed Jun. 6, 2015,
Walton, John
H. Genesis: The NIV Application
Commentary. Grand Rapids,
Michigan: Zondervan, 2001.
Weinfeld,
Moshe. “Covenant Making in Anatolia and
Mesopotamia.” Journal of the Ancient Near Eastern Society. Vol. 22, 1993, 135-139.
Wells,
Bruce. “The Cultic Versus the Forensic: Judahite and Mesopotamian Judicial
Procedures in the First Millennium B.C.E.” Journal of The American
Oriental Society. Vol. 128, Issue no. 2, 2008, 205-232.
Wells, Bruce, F. Rachel Magdalene, and
Cornelia Wunsch. “The Assertory Oath in Neo-Babylonian and Persian
Administrative Texts.” Revue Internationale des droits de l’Antiquité.
Vol. LVII, 2010, 13-29.
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