The name of the city of Betonim in the territory of Gad may be derived from this Hebrew term, perhaps due then to an abundance of pistachio-bearing trees there.—Josh. 13:24-26.

2. [Heb., ʼeghohzʹ]. The Shulammite maiden in The Song of Solomon (6:11) speaks of going down “to the garden of nut trees.” The nut trees here referred to may well have been walnut trees (Juglans regia). This tree is native of Persia (though often called the “English” walnut), and is presently cultivated in Galilee and on the slopes of Lebanon and Mount Hermon. The Jewish historian Josephus speaks of it as growing abundance in the area of the Sea of Galilee in the first century C.E. (Josephus, Wars of the Jews, Book III, chap. X, sec. 8) The walnut is a handsome tree, growing about thirty feet (9.1 meters) high, with fragrant leaves that provide excellent shade. The wood is close-grained and prized for its beauty by cabinetmakers. The fruit of the tree is encased in a fleshy skin or husk containing tannic acid and, when boiled, producing a rich-brown dye. The nutmeats are highly valued for their rich taste and are pressed to produce an oil nearly equal to olive oil in quality.

NY

or, as commonly anglicized, nu [Ν, ν].

The thirteenth letter of the Greek alphabet, corresponding generally to the English “n.”

It is derived from the Hebrew nun, and, when accented (ν΄), its numerical value is fifty, and 50,000 when the subscript is added (,ν).

NYMPHA

(Nymʹpha) [sacred to nymphs].

A Christian woman living in or near Laodicea or Colossae in whose home a congregation held meetings, and to whom Paul sent greetings.—Col. 4:15.

OAR

See SHIP.

OATH

In the Hebrew Scriptures two words are used to denote what we understand as an oath. Sh^evu·ʽahʹ, “an oath or a swearing,” is thought to be drawn from the word sheʹvaʽ, “seven” (from a root meaning “to swear”), which number is used in the Bible to indicate completeness, and would point to the sureness and sacredness of that which was sworn. Abraham and Abimelech swore over seven female lambs in making the covenant at the well of Beer-sheba, meaning “well of the oath.” (Gen. 21:27-32; see also Genesis 26:28-33.) Sh^evu·ʽahʹ has reference to a sworn statement on the part of a person that he will do or will not do a certain thing. The word itself carries no connotation of a curse upon the one swearing if he fails to fulfill the oath. Therefore this is the word used for the oath or sworn statement to Abraham by Jehovah, who never fails to fulfill his word and upon whom no curse can come.—Gen. 26:3.

The other Hebrew word used is ʼa·lahʹ, “a swearing, oath, execration, imprecation, curse.” It may also be translated “oath of obligation.” (Gen. 26:28) A Hebrew and Aramaic lexicon by Koehler and Baumgartner (p. 49) defines the term as a “curse (threat of calamity in case of misdeed), laid on a person by himself or by others.” In ancient Hebrew times it was considered the gravest matter to make an oath. An oath was to be kept, even to the oath taker’s hurt. (Ps. 15:4; Matt. 5:33) One was held guilty before Jehovah if he spoke thoughtlessly in a sworn statement. (Lev. 5:4) Violation of an oath would bring the most severe consequences of punishment from God. Among the earliest nations and particularly among the Hebrews an oath was in a sense a religious act, involving God. The use of the term ʼa·lahʹ by the Hebrews by implication made God a party to the oath and professed a readiness to incur any judgment he might be pleased to inflict in event of the oath maker’s infidelity. As stated, this term is never used by God with reference to his own oaths.

EXPRESSIONS USED IN MAKING OATHS

Often an oath was made by swearing by God or in the name of God. (Gen. 14:22; 31:53; Deut. 6:13; Judg. 21:7; Jer. 12:16) Jehovah swore by himself, or by his own life. (Gen. 22:16; Ezek. 17:16; Zeph. 2:9) Expressions of a formal nature were sometimes employed by men, such as, “May Jehovah do so to me [or, to you] and add to it if . . . ” I [or you] fail to do as sworn. (Ruth 1:17; 1 Sam. 3:17; 2 Sam. 19:13) The assertion might be made more emphatic by the individual’s pronouncing his own name.—1 Sam. 20:13; 25:22; 2 Sam. 3:9.

Pagans made similar appeals to their false gods. Jezebel the Baal worshiper appealed, not to Jehovah, but to “gods” (ʼelo·himʹ, with a plural verb), as did Ben-hadad, king of Syria. (1 Ki. 19:2; 20:10) In fact, because such expressions were universally prevalent, idolatry came to be represented in the Bible as a ‘swearing by some false god,’ or by what was “no God.”—Josh. 23:7; Jer. 5:7; 12:16; Amos 8:14.

In a few very serious cases or when strong emotional feeling attended the solemn declaration, the curses or punishments that would attend failure to fulfill the oath were specifically named. (Num. 5:19-23; Ps. 7:4, 5; 137:5, 6) Job, in contending for his uprightness, reviews his life and declares himself willing to undergo the direst punishments if he is found to have violated Jehovah’s laws of loyalty, righteousness, justice and morality.—Job chap. 31.

In the trial resulting from a husband’s jealousy, the wife, by answering “Amen! Amen!” to the priest’s reading of the oath and the curse, thereby swore an oath as to her innocence.—Num. 5:21, 22.

What amounted practically to an oath was often voiced by affirming, not only by Jehovah’s name, but, additionally, by the life of the king or of a superior. (1 Sam. 25:26; 2 Sam. 15:21; 2 Ki. 2:2) “As Jehovah lives” was a common assertion adding gravity to one’s attestation of determination or of truthfulness of a statement. (Judg. 8:19; 1 Sam. 14:39, 45; 19:6; 20:3, 21; 25:26, 34) A less forceful expression that may not have been intended to be considered an oath but that conveyed a very serious intent and that was given for the assurance of the hearer was a swearing by the life of the person addressed, as in Hannah’s words to Eli (1 Sam. 1:26) and in Uriah’s statement to King David.—2 Sam. 11:11; also 1 Samuel 17:55.

FORMS OR ACTIONS EMPLOYED

The most frequent gesture used in taking an oath seems to have been the raising of the right hand toward heaven. Jehovah himself is mentioned as uttering an oath in this manner, symbolically. (Gen. 14:22; Ex. 6:8; Deut. 32:40; Isa. 62:8; Ezek. 20:5) The angel in Daniel’s vision raised both hands to the heavens in voicing an oath. (Dan. 12:7) Of false swearers, it is said that their “right hand is a right hand of falsehood.”—Ps. 144:8.

One requesting an oath from another might ask him to place his hand under his thigh or hip. When Abraham sent his steward to get a wife for Isaac he said to the steward: “Put your hand, please, under my thigh,” after doing which the steward swore that he would get the girl from among Abraham’s relatives. (Gen. 24:2-4, 9) In the same way Jacob exacted an oath from Joseph not to bury him in Egypt. (Gen. 47:29-31) Regarding the significance of this practice, see ATTITUDES AND GESTURES, page 164.

Frequently an oath was connected with the making of a covenant. A common expression in such cases was: “God is a witness between me and you.” (Gen. 31:44, 50, 53) Such an expression was also made to strengthen a statement of fact or truth. Moses calls on the heavens and the earth as witnesses when discussing Israel’s relationship in their oath-bound covenant with Jehovah. (Deut. 4:26) Often a person