Commentary for Deuteronomy 6:13

That is that He commanded us to swear by His name when it is necessary to ratify something or to deny it. For there is aggrandizement, glory and exhalation through this. And that is His, may He be blessed, saying, "and by His name shall you swear" (Deuteronomy 10:20). And in the explanation, they said, "The Torah said, 'Swear,' and the Torah said, 'Do not swear' - meaning to say, just like it prohibits an oath for which there is no need, and it is a negative commandment; so too is there a commandment [to make] an oath when it is needed, and it is a positive commandment. And as a result, it is not permitted to swear by any of all the creatures, such as the angels or the stars, except by way of nullifying what is attached. This is like one who swears by the sun, but he means to say, the Master of the sun. And in this way, our nation swears by the name of our teacher, Moshe - how glorious is his name - as if the one swearing was swearing by the Master or by the One who sent him. But so long as the one who swears is not intending this, but is swearing by one of the creatures, to believe in it - that it has intrinsic truth, to the point that he swears by it - he has already transgressed and associated something else with the name of the Heavens. About this comes the explanation (Sukkah 45b), "Anyone who associates the name of the Heavens with something else is uprooted from the world." And this is matter that the verse, "and by His name shall you swear," intended - meaning that only about Him should you believe that there is truth by which it is appropriate to swear. And they already said at the beginning of Temurah (Temurah 3b), "From where [do we know] that we may swear to perform the commandments? As it is written, 'and by His name shall you swear.'" (See Parashat Ekev; Mishneh Torah, Oaths 11.)

ובשמו תשבע AND THOU SHALT SWEAR BY HIS NAME — If thou hast all the characteristics mentioned here, i.e. that thou reverest His name and servest Him, then thou mayest take an oath by mention of His name, for just because thou reverest His name, thou wilt be cautious with thy oath; but if not, thou shalt not so swear.

THOU SHALT FEAR THE ETERNAL THY G-D. The purport thereof is that after he commanded concerning the love of G-d, he mentioned that [one is] to fear Him so that he not sin and be punished.

את ה' אלוקיך תירא, “You shall fear Hashem your G’d;” After having commanded the people to love Hashem, Moses had to add that they must also fear Him, else they might, in their over-enthusiasm forget the boundaries of what is forbidden by becoming too familiar with Hashem and violate crucial prohibitions only to incur harsh penalties.

If you possess all these qualities, etc. The meaning is not [as inferred by the simple reading of the text] that it is it a mitzvah to swear, as in “Fear Adonoy,” and, “serve Him,” where each is a separate mitzvah. Rather, if you possess all these qualities, etc. otherwise you should not swear. And if so, then the prefix vov of ובשמו is extra, and the word אם (if) should be added before, “[You] fear Adonoy.” (Re”m).

ובשמו תשבע, “and (only) in His name may you pronounce any oaths.” Make sure that when you do swear, that everyone who hears you knows that you are using only His name. When others make you take an oath, do not violate that oath, as you have sworn in His name.

ואותו תעבוד, “and Him you shall serve!” The manner in which you shall serve the Lord shall be reminiscent of the manner in which a servant serves his master. It is possible that Moses here alludes to the sacrificial service that is also known by the term עבודה, (compare עבודת מתנה in Numbers 18,7 or ועבד הלוי , in Number 18,23) We find a similar interpretation by the Sifri on the verse אחרי ה' אלוקיכם תלכו.....ואותו תעבודו in Deut. 13,5, where the “service” is understood to refer to the service in the Temple. There is an additional dimension derived from that, i.e. when there is no Temple in which to perform that service, the ”service” consists of studying how the service in the Temple will be performed when it will be rebuilt soon in our days. Ibn Ezra interprets the words את ה' אלוקיך תירא ואותו תעבוד as the former referring to the meticulous observance of the negative commandments, and the latter, as the meticulous observance of the positive commandments. This interpretation is not possible when applied to the verse cited by Sifri in Deut.

AND HIM SHALT THOU SERVE — to do whatever He commands you, like a servant who obeys the command of his master. It is possible that this is an allusion to the Service of the offerings to His Name. And so the Rabbis have said in the Sifre²⁷⁹Sifre, R’eih 85. on the verse, After the Eternal your G-d shall ye walk, and Him shall ye fear, and His commandments shall ye keep, and unto His voice shall ye hearken, and Him shall ye serve:²⁸⁰Further, 13:5. “Serve Him by [studying] His Torah, serve Him in His Sanctuary.” By this the Sifre meant to explain that after he admonished concerning the observance of all the commandments and hearkening to His voice, the expression and Him shall ye serve means to serve Him in the Sanctuary with offerings, songs and prostrations [that are prescribed] there. This is termed “service” as He said, I give you the priesthood as ‘a service’ of gift,²⁸¹Numbers 18:7. and it further says, And the Levites alone shall do ‘the service.’²⁸²Ibid., Verse 23. Now the service of the Levites was by song. Thus it is clear that song is also a service of G-d. The Rabbis further interpreted [in the above-mentioned Sifre]: “Serve Him through His Torah,” meaning to study the Torah and meditate therein; this, too, is a “service” before Him. Accordingly, and Him shalt thou serve [mentioned in the verse before us] is also a reference to serving Him by the offerings. And Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra wrote: “Thou shalt fear the Eternal thy G-d — you should not transgress the negative commandments; and Him shalt thou serve — fulfill the positive commandments.” But this is not correct, for he stated in the other verse [mentioned above], and Him shall ye fear, and His commandments shall ye keep … and Him shall ye serve.²⁸³Further, 13:5. This shows that the expression and Him shalt thou serve does not refer to the positive commandments, as Ibn Ezra says, for that charge is included in the phrase, and His commandments shall ye keep.

ובשמו תשבע,”and (only) in His name are you to render an oath.” This does not mean that it is a commandment to swear oaths, but if the occasion arises when you cannot avoid having to swear an oath, the only truth you must swear by is the truth known as Hashem.” This is why Moses follows up immediately with

AND BY HIS NAME SHALT THOU SWEAR. This is not a commandment to swear [by His Name],²⁸⁴The intent is to differ with Rambam who, in his Sefer Hamitzvoth, enumerated this verse as one of the positive commandments wherein we are commanded to swear only by His Name whenever we are required to confirm or deny something under oath. See “The Commandments,” Vol. I, pp. 10-11. but it is an admonishment that [in the event one is required to take an oath] he should swear only by His Name and not by the name of another deity. After this [injunction to swear only by the name of G-d] it is written, Ye shall not go after other gods,²⁸⁵Verse 14. meaning that you should not follow them in any of these matters: that you not fear them, that you not serve them, and that you not swear by their names. However, in the Gemara of Tractate Temurah²⁸⁶Temurah 3 b. See Note 66 in my Hebrew edition p. 374 that in our text of the Gemara there is a variant text. the Rabbis interpreted this verse to teach that a true oath is permissible.²⁸⁷“Permissible” — but not obligatory in the sense that Rambam wrote of it (see Note 284 above). Thus they said: “Why did the Merciful One state and by His Name shalt thou swear? Since it cannot refer to the oaths administered by the judges, because they have already been derived from the verse the oath of the Eternal shall be between them,²⁸⁸Exodus 22:10. apply it to indicate that other oaths are permissible. And since it cannot refer to an oath by which one binds himself to perform a commandment, as that is derived from the expression, and to Him shalt thou cleave,²⁸⁹Further, 10:20. “This constitutes a commandment that we swear by His Name to fulfill His commandments” (Ramban in his notes to Rambam’s Sefer Hamitzvoth, Positive Commandment 6). then apply it to an oath about a non-sacred [i.e., a permissible, but non-obligatory] matter.”
Now, I have further seen the following text in the Tanchuma:²⁹⁰Tanchuma, Vayikra 7. “The Holy One, blessed be He, said to Israel: Do not think that it has been made permissible to you to swear by My Name. You are not permitted to swear by My Name even truthfully unless you possess all these qualities: Thou shalt fear the Eternal thy G-d,²⁸⁹Further, 10:20. “This constitutes a commandment that we swear by His Name to fulfill His commandments” (Ramban in his notes to Rambam’s Sefer Hamitzvoth, Positive Commandment 6). that you will be like those who were called ‘men who fear the Eternal G-d,’ such as Abraham,²⁹¹Genesis 22:12. Job,²⁹²Job 1:1. and Joseph.²⁹³Genesis 39:9. And Him shalt thou serve,²⁸⁹Further, 10:20. “This constitutes a commandment that we swear by His Name to fulfill His commandments” (Ramban in his notes to Rambam’s Sefer Hamitzvoth, Positive Commandment 6). that you will devote yourself to [the study of] Torah and [the observance of] the commandments and you will have no other preoccupation. Therefore it is stated, and Him thou shalt serve. And to Him shalt thou cleave²⁸⁹Further, 10:20. “This constitutes a commandment that we swear by His Name to fulfill His commandments” (Ramban in his notes to Rambam’s Sefer Hamitzvoth, Positive Commandment 6). — but is it possible for a human being to cleave to the Divine Glory? Has it not been stated, For the Eternal thy G-d is a devouring fire?²⁹⁴Above, 4:24. But this statement is intended to teach you that whoever gives his daughter in marriage to a scholar who learns Torah and studies Mishnah, and who trades on his behalf and who benefits him from his wealth — of this He says, and to Him shalt thou cleave. If you possess all these virtues, you may swear [by My Name] and if not, you may not swear.” Thus far is the text of this Agadah. Thus, the interpretation of the verse [before us], and by His Name shalt thou swear, in the opinion of the Rabbis, is a grant of permission, that He allows us, as an expression of esteem, to do so. It is as if he had said, “Thou shalt fear the Eternal thy G-d; nevertheless you may swear by His Name and you need not fear doing so.” And because this permission is placed after the commands to fear G-d and to serve Him, the Rabbis inferred that there is no authorization to swear until after these virtues have been attained. Or Scripture may be stating Thou shalt fear the Eternal thy G-d and His awe will be so great upon you that His very Name will be an oath to you, so that even when you wish to confirm something you will swear by His Name even to your disadvantage and you will not misrepresent.²⁹⁵See Psalms 15:4. And in the opinion of the Rabbis, the meaning of the expression and Him shalt thou serve is that you should act toward him at all times like a bondsman constantly in service before his master, considering the work of his master as primary and his own needs as casual, until, [resulting] from this [attitude] he attains what the Rabbis have said, “And let all thy deeds be done for the sake of Heaven.”²⁹⁶Aboth 2:17. For even bodily needs should be for the purpose of G-d’s worship. Thus a person should eat and sleep and attend to his needs to assure the existence of the body to serve G-d. This is similar to what the Rabbis have said,²⁹⁷Bereshith Rabbah 9:8. “And G-d saw every thing that He had made, and, behold, it was very good²⁹⁸Genesis 1:31. — this refers to sleep. Is sleep good? [It is ‘good’] because, if a person sleeps a little, he rises and engages in the study of Torah.”²⁹⁹See ibid., Vol. I, pp. 58-59. Thus, in satisfying bodily needs, one should concentrate upon the verse I will praise the Eternal while I live; I will sing praises unto my G-d while I have my being.³⁰⁰Psalms 146:2. See also Vol. III, pp. 282-284. This is a correct interpretation.