![Sec of State Kissinger](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Sec_of_State_Kissinger.png)
Traditionally an oath (from
Anglo-Saxon ', also called plight) is either a
statement of
fact or a
promise taken by a
sacrality as a sign of verity. A common legal substitute for those who conscientiously object to making sacred oaths is to give an
affirmation instead. Nowadays, even when there is no notion of sanctity involved, certain promises said out loud in ceremonial or juridical purpose are referred to as oaths. "To
swear" is a
verb
A verb () is a word ( part of speech) that in syntax generally conveys an action (''bring'', ''read'', ''walk'', ''run'', ''learn''), an occurrence (''happen'', ''become''), or a state of being (''be'', ''exist'', ''stand''). In the usual descr ...
used to describe the taking of an oath, to making a solemn
vow.
Etymology
The word come from
Anglo-Saxon ' judicial swearing, solemn appeal to deity in witness of truth or a promise," from Proto-Germanic ''
*aiþaz'' (source also of Old Norse eiðr, Swedish ed, Old Saxon, Old Frisian eth, Middle Dutch eet, Dutch eed, German Eid, Gothic aiþs "oath"), from PIE *oi-to- "an oath" (source also of Old Irish oeth "oath"). Common to Celtic and Germanic, possibly a loan-word from one to the other, but the history is obscure and it may ultimately be non-Indo-European, in reference to careless invocations of divinity, from the late 12th century.
Divine oath
![Johann Heinrich Füssli 018](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/3/30/Johann_Heinrich_F%C3%BCssli_018.jpg)
Oaths usually have referred to a
deity significant in the cultural sphere in question. The reciter's personal views upon the divinity of the aspects considered sacred in a predictated text of an oath may or may not be taken in to account. There might not be alternative personal proclamations with no mention of the sacred
dogma
Dogma is a belief or set of beliefs that is accepted by the members of a group without being questioned or doubted. It may be in the form of an official system of principles or doctrines of a religion, such as Roman Catholicism, Judaism, Isla ...
in question, such as affirmations, to be made. This might mean an
impasse
A bargaining impasse occurs when the two sides negotiating an agreement are unable to reach an agreement and become deadlocked. An impasse is almost invariably mutually harmful, either as a result of direct action which may be taken such as a s ...
to those with unwillingness to edify the dogma they see as untrue and those who decline to refer to sacred matters on the subject at hand.
The essence of a divine oath is an invocation of divine agency to be a guarantor of the oath taker's own honesty and integrity in the matter under question. By implication, this invokes divine displeasure if the oath taker fails in his or her sworn duties. It therefore implies greater care than usual in the act of the performance of one's duty, such as in testimony to the facts of the matter in a court of law.
A person taking an oath indicates this in a number of ways. The most usual is the explicit "I swear", but any statement or promise that includes "with * as my witness" or "so help me *", with '*' being something or someone the oath-taker holds sacred, is an oath. Many people take an oath by holding in their hand or placing over their head a book of
scripture
Religious texts, including scripture, are texts which various religions consider to be of central importance to their religious tradition. They differ from literature by being a compilation or discussion of beliefs, mythologies, ritual pra ...
or a sacred object, thus indicating the sacred witness through their action: such an oath is called ''corporal''. However, the chief purpose of such an act is for ceremony or solemnity, and the act does not of itself make an oath.
Historical development as a legal concept
![Le Serment du Jeu de paume](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/Le_Serment_du_Jeu_de_paume.jpg)
Making vows and taking oaths became a symbolic concept in law practice that developed over time in different cultures.
Jewish tradition
The concept of oaths is deeply rooted within
Judaism
Judaism ( he, ''Yahăḏūṯ'') is an Abrahamic, monotheistic, and ethnic religion comprising the collective religious, cultural, and legal tradition and civilization of the Jewish people. It has its roots as an organized religion in t ...
. It is found in
Genesis
Genesis may refer to:
Bible
* Book of Genesis, the first book of the biblical scriptures of both Judaism and Christianity, describing the creation of the Earth and of mankind
* Genesis creation narrative, the first several chapters of the Book of ...
8:21, when God swears that he will "never again curse the ground because of man and never again smite every living thing". This repetition of the term ''never again'' is explained by
Rashi
Shlomo Yitzchaki ( he, רבי שלמה יצחקי; la, Salomon Isaacides; french: Salomon de Troyes, 22 February 1040 – 13 July 1105), today generally known by the acronym Rashi (see below), was a medieval French rabbi and author of a compre ...
, the pre-eminent biblical commentator, as serving as an oath, citing the
Talmud
The Talmud (; he, , Talmūḏ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law ('' halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the ce ...
Shavous 36a for this ruling.
The first personage in the biblical tradition to take an oath is held to be
Eliezer
Eliezer (, "Help/Court of El") was the name of at least three different individuals in the Bible.
Eliezer of Damascus
Eliezer of Damascus () was, according to the Targums, the son of Nimrod. Eliezer was head of the patriarch Abraham's house ...
, the chief servant of
Abraham
Abraham, ; ar, , , name=, group= (originally Abram) is the common Hebrew patriarch of the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. In Judaism, he is the founding father of the special relationship between the Je ...
, when the latter requested of the former that he not take a wife for his son
Isaac
Isaac; grc, Ἰσαάκ, Isaák; ar, إسحٰق/إسحاق, Isḥāq; am, ይስሐቅ is one of the three patriarchs of the Israelites and an important figure in the Abrahamic religions, including Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. He was th ...
from the daughters of Canaan, but rather from among Abraham's own family.
The foundational text for oath making is in
Numbers
A number is a mathematical object used to count, measure, and label. The original examples are the natural numbers 1, 2, 3, 4, and so forth. Numbers can be represented in language with number words. More universally, individual numbers can ...
30:2: "When a man voweth a vow unto the Lord, or sweareth an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth." According to the Rabbis, a
neder
In Judaism, a neder (נדר, plural ''nedarim'') is a kind of vow or oath. The neder may consist of performing some act in the future (either once or regularly) or abstaining from a particular type of activity of the person's choice. The concept o ...
(usually translated as "vow") refers to the object, a ''shâmar'' (usually translated as "oath") to the person. The passage distinguishes between a ''neder'' and a ''shvua'', an important distinction between the two in
Halakha
''Halakha'' (; he, הֲלָכָה, ), also transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Jewish religious laws which is derived from the written and Oral Torah. Halakha is based on biblical commandm ...
: a ''neder'' changes the status of some external thing, while a ''shvua'' initiates an internal change in the one who swears the oath.
Roman tradition
In the
Roman
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
tradition, oaths were sworn upon ''
Iuppiter Lapis'' or the Jupiter Stone located in the
Temple of Jupiter,
Capitoline Hill
The Capitolium or Capitoline Hill ( ; it, Campidoglio ; la, Mons Capitolinus ), between the Forum and the Campus Martius, is one of the Seven Hills of Rome.
The hill was earlier known as ''Mons Saturnius'', dedicated to the god Saturn. ...
. ''Iuppiter Lapis'' was held in the Roman tradition to be an
Oath Stone, an aspect of Jupiter in his role as divine law-maker responsible for order and used principally for the investiture of the oathtaking of office.
According to Cyril Bailey, in "The Religion of Ancient Rome" (1907):
The punisher of broken oaths was the
infernal deity
Orcus
Orcus ( la, Orcus) was a god of the underworld, punisher of broken oaths in Etruscan and Roman mythology. As with Hades, the name of the god was also used for the underworld itself. In the later tradition, he was conflated with Dis Pater.
A ...
.
Hindu tradition
![Bheeshma oath by RRV](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/2/2d/Bheeshma_oath_by_RRV.jpg)
In
Hindu epics
Indian epic poetry is the epic poetry written in the Indian subcontinent, traditionally called ''Kavya'' (or ''Kāvya''; Sanskrit: काव्य, IAST: ''kāvyá''). The ''Ramayana'' and the ''Mahabharata'', which were originally composed in ...
, like the
Ramayana
The ''Rāmāyana'' (; sa, रामायणम्, ) is a Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epic composed over a period of nearly a millennium, with scholars' estimates for the earliest stage of the text ranging from the 8th ...
and the
Mahabharata
The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; sa, महाभारतम्, ', ) is one of the two major Sanskrit literature, Sanskrit Indian epic poetry, epics of ancient India in Hinduism, the other being the ''Ramayana, Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the s ...
, oaths, called ''pratigya'', are taken seriously. It is mentioned that people would give up their lives, but not break a vow. Due to this, King
Dasharatha
Dasharatha (Sanskrit: दशरथ, IAST: Daśaratha; born Nemi) was the king of the Kosala kingdom and a scion of the Suryavamsha dynasty in Hinduism. He ruled from this capital at Ayodhya. Dasharatha was the son of Aja and Indumati. He h ...
took an oath for his Queen
Kaikeyi
Kaikeyi (Sanskrit: कैकेयी, IAST: Kaikeyī) is the second consort of King Dasharatha, and a queen of Ayodhya in the Hindu epic Ramayana.
Out of Dasharatha's three wives, Kaikeyi exerts the most influence. Formerly the princess of Kek ...
(on her maid,
Manthara's insistence) and thus had to exile his favorite son, Lord
Rama
Rama (; ), Ram, Raman or Ramar, also known as Ramachandra (; , ), is a major deity in Hinduism. He is the seventh and one of the most popular '' avatars'' of Vishnu. In Rama-centric traditions of Hinduism, he is considered the Supreme Bein ...
along with his wife Devi
Sita
Sita (; ) also called as Janaki and Vaidehi is a Hindu goddess and the female protagonist of the Hindu epic, ''Ramayana''. She is the consort of Rama, the avatar of the god Vishnu, and is regarded as a form of Vishnu's consort, Lakshmi. She ...
and brother
Lakshmana
Lakshmana ( sa, लक्ष्मण, lit=the fortunate one, translit=Lakṣmaṇa), also spelled as Laxmana, is the younger brother of Rama and his loyalist in the Hindu epic ''Ramayana''. He bears the epithets of Saumitra () and Ramanuja () ...
for fourteen years in the forest.
In the Mahabharata,
Devrata took an oath of
celibacy so that
Satyavati's father would marry her to Devrata's father, King
Shantanu
Shantanu (Sanskrit: शंतनु) is a character in the Mahabharata, described as the ruler of the Kuru Kingdom with his capital at Hastinapura. He was a descendant of the Bharata race, a forebear of the lineage of the Lunar dynasty, and th ...
. He also took an oath to not rule the
kingdom
Kingdom commonly refers to:
* A monarchy ruled by a king or queen
* Kingdom (biology), a category in biological taxonomy
Kingdom may also refer to:
Arts and media Television
* ''Kingdom'' (British TV series), a 2007 British television drama s ...
and remain loyal to the king, who would be a descendant of Satyavati. Thus, Devavrata got the name ''Bhishma'', which means someone who has taken a terrible oath. Many others also took oaths that they fulfilled.
Greek tradition
Walter Burkert
Walter Burkert (; 2 February 1931 – 11 March 2015) was a German scholar of Greek mythology and cult.
A professor of classics at the University of Zurich, Switzerland, he taught in the UK and the US. He has influenced generations of studen ...
has shown that since
Lycurgus of Athens
Lycurgus (; Greek: ''Lykourgos''; c. 390 – 324 BC) was a logographer in Ancient Greece. He was one of the ten Attic orators included in the "Alexandrian Canon" compiled by Aristophanes of Byzantium and Aristarchus of Samothrace in the third ce ...
(d. 324 BCE), who held that "it is the oath which holds democracy together", religion, morality and political organization had been linked by the oath, and the oath and its prerequisite altar had become the basis of both civil and criminal, as well as international law.
In traditional Greek folk songs, such as The Dead Brother's Song, the significance of the oath is highlighted. The power of an oath is such that it transcends death, as the deceased brother arises from the grave to fulfill his oath to his mother.
Christian tradition
Various religious groups have objected to the taking of oaths, most notably the
Religious Society of Friends
Quakers are people who belong to a historically Protestant Christian set of Christian denomination, denominations known formally as the Religious Society of Friends. Members of these movements ("theFriends") are generally united by a belie ...
(Quakers) and
Anabaptist groups, like
Mennonite
Mennonites are groups of Anabaptist Christian church communities of denominations. The name is derived from the founder of the movement, Menno Simons (1496–1561) of Friesland. Through his writings about Reformed Christianity during the Radi ...
s,
Amish
The Amish (; pdc, Amisch; german: link=no, Amische), formally the Old Order Amish, are a group of traditionalist Anabaptist Christian church fellowships with Swiss German and Alsatian origins. They are closely related to Mennonite churc ...
,
Hutterite
Hutterites (german: link=no, Hutterer), also called Hutterian Brethren (German: ), are a communal ethnoreligious branch of Anabaptists, who, like the Amish and Mennonites, trace their roots to the Radical Reformation of the early 16th century ...
s and
Schwarzenau Brethren
The Schwarzenau Brethren, the German Baptist Brethren, Dunkers, Dunkards, Tunkers, or sometimes simply called the German Baptists, are an Anabaptist group that dissented from Roman Catholic, Lutheran and Reformed European state churches during t ...
. This is principally based on , the
Antithesis of the Law
Matthew 5 is the fifth chapter of the Gospel of Matthew in the New Testament. It contains the first portion of the Sermon on the Mount, the other portions of which are contained in chapters 6 and 7. Portions are similar to the Sermon on the Pl ...
. Here, Christ is reported as having said: "I say to you: '
Swear not at all.
James the Just stated in , "Above all, my brothers, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your 'Yes' be yes, and your 'No', no, or you will be condemned." Beyond this scriptural authority, Quakers place importance on being truthful at all times, so the testimony opposing oaths springs from a view that "taking legal oaths implies a double standard of truthfulness"
[''Faith and Practice'', Baltimore Yearly Meeting of the Religious Society of Friends (1988) p. 19.] suggesting that truthfulness in legal contexts is somehow more important than truthfulness in non-legal contexts and that truthfulness in those other contexts is therefore somehow less important.
Not all
Christians
Christians () are people who follow or adhere to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The words '' Christ'' and ''Christian'' derive from the Koine Greek title ''Christós'' (Χρ ...
interpret this reading as forbidding all types of oaths, however. Opposition to oath-taking among some groups of Christian caused many problems for these groups throughout their history.
Quakers were frequently imprisoned because of their refusal to swear
loyalty oath
A loyalty oath is a pledge of allegiance to an organization, institution, or state of which an individual is a member. In the United States, such an oath has often indicated that the affiant has not been a member of a particular organization or ...
s. Testifying in court was also difficult;
George Fox, Quakers' founder, famously challenged a judge who had asked him to swear, saying that he would do so once the judge could point to any
Bible
The Bible (from Koine Greek , , 'the books') is a collection of religious texts or scriptures that are held to be sacred in Christianity, Judaism, Samaritanism, and many other religions. The Bible is an anthologya compilation of texts ...
passage where Jesus or his apostles took oaths — the judge could not, but this did not allow Fox to escape punishment. Legal reforms from the 18th century onwards mean that everyone in the
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
now has the right to make a solemn
affirmation instead of an oath. The
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
has permitted affirmations since it was founded; it is explicitly mentioned in the
Constitution
A constitution is the aggregate of fundamental principles or established precedents that constitute the legal basis of a polity, organisation or other type of entity and commonly determine how that entity is to be governed.
When these princ ...
. Only President
Franklin Pierce has chosen to affirm rather than swear at his inauguration.
As late as 1880,
Charles Bradlaugh
Charles Bradlaugh (; 26 September 1833 – 30 January 1891) was an English political activist and atheist. He founded the National Secular Society in 1866, 15 years after George Holyoake had coined the term "secularism" in 1851.
In 1880, Bradl ...
was denied a seat as an MP in the
Parliament of the United Kingdom
The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the supreme legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of Westminster, London. It alone possesses legislative suprema ...
because of his professed
atheism as he was judged unable to swear the
Oath of Allegiance in spite of his proposal to swear the oath as a "matter of form".
Islamic tradition
Islam takes the fulfillment of oaths extremely seriously, as directed by the Qur'an:
Germanic tradition
Germanic warrior culture
A warrior is a person specializing in combat or warfare, especially within the context of a tribal or clan-based warrior culture society that recognizes a separate warrior aristocracies, class, or caste.
History
Warriors seem to have been p ...
was significantly based on oaths of fealty.
A prose passage inserted in the eddic poem ''
Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar
"Helgakviða Hjörvarðssonar" ("Lay of Helgi Hjörvarðsson") is a poem collected in the '' Poetic Edda'', found in the Codex Regius manuscript where it follows '' Helgakviða Hundingsbana I'' and precedes '' Helgakviða Hundingsbana II''. The p ...
'' relates: Hedin was coming home alone from the forest one
Yule
Yule, actually Yuletide ("Yule time") is a festival observed by the historical Germanic peoples, later undergoing Christianised reformulation resulting in the now better-known Christmastide. The earliest references to Yule are by way of indi ...
-eve, and found a
troll
A troll is a being in Nordic folklore, including Norse mythology. In Old Norse sources, beings described as trolls dwell in isolated areas of rocks, mountains, or caves, live together in small family units, and are rarely helpful to human be ...
-woman; she rode on a wolf, and had snakes in place of a bridle. She asked Hedin for his company. "Nay," said he. She said, "Thou shalt pay for this at the ''bragarfull''." That evening the great vows were taken; the
sacred boar was brought in, the men laid their hands thereon, and took their vows at the ''bragarfull''. Hedin vowed that he would have Sváva, Eylimi's daughter, the beloved of his brother Helgi; then such great grief seized him that he went forth on wild paths southward over the land, and found Helgi, his brother.
Such Norse traditions are directly parallel to the "bird oaths" of late medieval France, such as the
voeux du faisan (oath on the pheasant) or the (fictional)
voeux du paon (oath on the peacock). Huizinga, ''
The Autumn of the Middle Ages
''The Autumn of the Middle Ages'', ''The Waning of the Middle Ages'', or ''Autumntide of the Middle Ages'' (published in 1919 as ''Herfsttij der Middeleeuwen'' and translated into English in 1924, German in 1924, and French in 1932), is the best ...
'' (ch. 3); Michel Margue, "Vogelgelübde" am Hof des Fürsten. Ritterliches Integrationsritual zwischen Traditions- und Gegenwartsbezug (14. – 15. Jahrhundert)
Modern law
![Officer Natalie Corona swearing-in](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6c/Officer_Natalie_Corona_swearing-in.jpg)
In the modern law, oaths are made by a witness to a court of law before giving testimony and usually by a newly appointed government officer to the people of a state before taking office. However, in both of those cases, an
affirmation can usually be replaced with a written statement, only if the author swears the statement is true. This statement is called an ''
affidavit
An ( ; Medieval Latin for "he has declared under oath") is a written statement voluntarily made by an ''affiant'' or '' deponent'' under an oath or affirmation which is administered by a person who is authorized to do so by law. Such a stateme ...
''. The oath given to support an affidavit is frequently administered by a
notary
A notary is a person authorised to perform acts in legal affairs, in particular witnessing signatures on documents. The form that the notarial profession takes varies with local legal systems.
A notary, while a legal professional, is disti ...
, who will certify the giving of the oath by affixing her or his seal to the document. Willfully delivering a false oath (or affirmation) is the crime of
perjury
Perjury (also known as foreswearing) is the intentional act of swearing a false oath or falsifying an affirmation to tell the truth, whether spoken or in writing, concerning matters material to an official proceeding."Perjury The act or an inst ...
.
There are some places where there is a confusion between the "oath" and other statements or promises. For example, the current
Olympic Oath
The Olympic Oath (distinct from the Olympic creed) is a solemn promise made by one athlete, judge or official, and one coach at the Opening Ceremony of each Olympic Games. Each oath taker is from the host nation and takes the oath on behalf of all ...
is really a
pledge, not properly an oath, since there is only a promise but there is no appeal to a sacred witness. Oaths may also be confused with
vows, but vows are really just a special kind of an oath.
Hand gestures
![Anjala](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/f/fb/Anjala.vaakuna.svg)
Instead of, or in addition to, holding one's hand upon an object of ceremonial importance, it can be customary for a person swearing an oath to hold a raised hand in a specific gesture. Most often the right hand is raised. This custom has been explained with reference to medieval practices of branding palms.
Schwurhand
Serbian custom
International customs
The
Scout Sign
The three-finger salute is used by members of Scout and Guide organizations around the world when greeting other Scouts and in respect of a national flag at ceremonies. In most situations, the salute is made with the right hand, palm face out, ...
can be made while giving the
Scout Promise
The Scout Promise (or Oath) is a spoken statement made by a child joining the Scout movement. Since the publication of ''Scouting for Boys'' in 1908, all Scouts and Girl Guides around the world have taken a Scout (or Guide) promise or oath to li ...
. In ''
Scouting for Boys'' the movement's founder,
Robert Baden-Powell
Lieutenant-General Robert Stephenson Smyth Baden-Powell, 1st Baron Baden-Powell, ( ; (Commonly pronounced by others as ) 22 February 1857 – 8 January 1941) was a British Army officer, writer, founder and first Chief Scout of the wor ...
, instructed: "While taking this oath the scout will stand, holding his right hand raised level with his shoulder, palm to the front, thumb resting on the nail of the digitus minimus (little finger) and the other three fingers upright, pointing upwards."
Types of oaths
![Lyndon B](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/c/cc/Lyndon_B._Johnson_taking_the_oath_of_office%2C_November_1963.jpg)
*
Hippocratic Oath, an oath historically taken by physicians and other healthcare professionals swearing to practice medicine honestly.
**
Veterinarian's Oath
The Veterinarian's Oath was adopted by the American Veterinary Medical Association's House of Delegates July 1969, and amended by the AVMA Executive Board, November 1999 and December 2010.
The Veterinarian Oath taken by Canadian veterinarians, ...
, an oath taken by
veterinarian
A veterinarian (vet), also known as a veterinary surgeon or veterinary physician, is a medical professional who practices veterinary medicine. They manage a wide range of health conditions and injuries in non-human animals. Along with this, vet ...
s as practitioners of
veterinary medicine
Veterinary medicine is the branch of medicine that deals with the prevention, management, diagnosis, and treatment of disease, disorder, and injury in animals. Along with this, it deals with animal rearing, husbandry, breeding, research on nutri ...
in a manner similar to the Hippocratic Oath.
*
Oath of allegiance, an oath whereby a subject or citizen acknowledges a duty of allegiance and swears loyalty to monarch or country.
*
Oath of citizenship, an oath taken by immigrants that officially naturalizes immigrants into citizens.
*
Oath of office, an oath or affirmation a person takes before undertaking the duties of an office.
**
Juror's oath, an oath taken by jurors at the beginning of jury selection or trial
*
Pauper's oath, a sworn statement or oath by a person that he or she is completely without any money or property.
*
Military oath
Military oath, also known as the oath of enlistment or swearing-in is an oath delivered by a conscript upon the enlistment into the military service of the state military. Various states has different phrasing of the oath, with the common compon ...
, delivered on enlistment into the military service of the state military.
Notable oaths in history and fiction
* The oath of
Bhishma in Hindu culture.
*
Hittite military oath, a Hittite text on two cuneiform tablets.
*
Ironclad Oath, promoted by Radical Republicans and opposed by President Abraham Lincoln during the American Civil War.
*
Lwów Oath, by Polish king John II Casimir.
*
Oath Against Modernism, required of clergy and others in the Catholic Church from 1910 until 1967.
*
Oaths in Freemasonry
Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
.
*
Oath More Judaico
The Oath ''More Judaico'' or Jewish Oath was a special form of oath, rooted in antisemitism and accompanied by certain ceremonies and often intentionally humiliating, painful or dangerous, that Jews were required to take in European courts of law u ...
or Jewish Oath, rooted in antisemitism and accompanied by certain ceremonies.
*
Oaths of Strasbourg
The Oaths of Strasbourg were a military pact made on 14 February 842 by Charles the Bald and Louis the German against their older brother Lothair I, the designated heir of Louis the Pious, the successor of Charlemagne. One year later the Trea ...
, a military pact made in 842.
*
Hitler Oath
The Hitler Oath (German: or Führer Oath)—also referred in English as the Soldier's Oath—refers to the oaths of allegiance sworn by the officers and soldiers of the German Armed Forces and civil servants of Nazi Germany between the years 193 ...
, sworn by German soldiers of the
Wehrmacht
The ''Wehrmacht'' (, ) were the unified armed forces of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It consisted of the ''Heer'' (army), the '' Kriegsmarine'' (navy) and the ''Luftwaffe'' (air force). The designation "''Wehrmacht''" replaced the previo ...
and the German civil service, pledging allegiance to
Adolf Hitler
Adolf Hitler (; 20 April 188930 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was dictator of Nazi Germany, Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his death in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the le ...
personally.
*
Omertà
Omertà (, ) is a Southern Italian code of silence and code of honor and conduct that places importance on silence in the face of questioning by authorities or outsiders; non-cooperation with authorities, the government, or outsiders, especiall ...
, a Southern Italian code of silence and code of honor and conduct.
*
Scout Oath
The Scout Promise (or Oath) is a spoken statement made by a child joining the Scout movement. Since the publication of ''Scouting for Boys'' in 1908, all Scouts and Girl Guides around the world have taken a Scout (or Guide) promise or oath to li ...
or Scout Promise.
*
Tennis Court Oath
On 20 June 1789, the members of the French Third Estate took the Tennis Court Oath (french: Serment du Jeu de Paume) in the tennis court which had been built in 1686 for the use of the Versailles palace. Their vow "not to separate and to reas ...
, taken on 20 June 1789 by members of the French Third Estate.
*
Oath of Fëanor, in the fiction of J. R. R. Tolkien.
*
Oath of the Peach Garden
The Oath of the Peach Garden is a fictional event in the 14th century Chinese historical novel ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' by Luo Guanzhong. This event is set at the end of the Eastern Han dynasty around the time of the Yellow Turban ...
, a fictional event in the 14th century Chinese historical novel ''Romance of the Three Kingdoms'' by Luo Guanzhong.
* Oath of the skull in the comic book ''
The Phantom
''The Phantom'' is an American adventure comic strip, first published by Lee Falk in February 1936. The main character, the Phantom, is a fictional costumed crime-fighter who operates from the fictional African country of Bangalla. The char ...
''.
See also
* ''
ACLU of N.C. & Syidah Matteen v. State of North Carolina'' a court case in a state of the United States about taking oaths by different scriptures. The results have reversed several times.
*
Australasian Police Multicultural Advisory Bureau {{primary sources, date=July 2012
Australasian Police Multicultural Advisory Bureau (formerly the National Police Ethnic Advisory Bureau) was an agency of the Department of Immigration and Multicultural Affairs of the Government of Australia. It w ...
has several publications for Australia dealing with multi-faith issues and ''
A Practical Reference to Religious Diversity for Operational Police and Emergency Services'' covers oaths as well as many other topics (in review as of 12/2/2006 but th
2nd Editionis available.)
*
Confirmation
*
Ephebic Oath
*
Performativity
''Performativity'' is the concept that language can function as a form of social action and have the effect of change. The concept has multiple applications in diverse fields such as anthropology, social and cultural geography, economics, gender s ...
*
So help me God
"So help me God" is a phrase often used to give an oath, and most commonly optional as part of an oath of office. It is also used in some jurisdictions as a form of oath for other forms of public duty, such as an appearance in court, service as ...
*
Statutory declaration
*
Sworn declaration
*
Vow
Notes
References
* Bailey, Cyril (1907)
''The Religion of Ancient Rome'' London, UK: Archibald Constable & Co. Ltd. (Source:
Project Gutenberg
Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks."
It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital libr ...
. Accessed: March 16, 2011)
External links
Oaths in the Qur'an from the
North Dakota
North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, So ...
Supreme Court website (jury oath, witness oath and so on)
North Carolina faith leaders supporting Quran oath
Comments about ''John Quincy Adams' Oath of Office''The Oath BBC Radio 4 discussion with Alan Sommerstein, Paul Cartledge & Mary Beard (''In Our Time'', Jan. 5, 2006)
{{Authority control
Legal history