It is by the Lord, or by the name of the Lord, and by him alone that all ought to swear. One of the verbs (אלה) in the Hebrew which denote _to swear_, would seem to be derived from a word (אל) which signifies God, and accordingly refers to the making of an affirmation by using the name of God.[31] And the corresponding noun (אלה) for _oath_, in like manner bears literally a meaning expressive of a means of calling on that holy name. Both occur in the sacred original of the passage. "If any man trespass against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house: then hear thou in heaven."[32] And where a verb of a different origin is employed, the same is manifest. Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, "I will make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth."[33] The Lord himself said, "Ye shall not swear by my name falsely."[34] And explicit is the injunction, "Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name."[35] Nor is an oath to be made by the name of any other. "Men verily swear by the greater;" and therefore lawfully by God alone. The names of the gods of the heathen were not even to be mentioned; and hence were not to be used in making an oath. Nay, the Israelites were explicitly forbidden to swear by them. Nor by any creature, and consequently not by the name of such ought any one to swear. "Swear not at all: neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black."[36] The expression, _the Lord liveth_, is a form of the oath. "Though they say, The Lord liveth; surely they swear falsely"[37] "Thou shalt swear, The Lord liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness."[38]