Why did oaths involve putting a hand under someone’s thigh (Genesis 24:9)?

In the ancient Middle Eastern culture, placing one’s hand under another’s thigh while making an oath was a solemn act symbolizing the seriousness and sacredness of the oath. This practice is mentioned a few times in the Old Testament, including in Genesis 24 when Abraham’s servant places his hand under Abraham’s thigh while swearing to find a wife for Isaac.

There are a few reasons this thigh ritual developed:

1. The thigh was seen as symbolic of one’s progeny and future generations. By placing a hand under the thigh, one was essentially swearing an oath that would impact their descendants. This helped convey the weightiness of the oath (Gen 24:2, 9; 47:29).
2. The thigh area was linked to procreation and fertility. Swearing an oath with the hand under the thigh may have been a symbolic way of stating the oath’s connection to creating life and family lineages (Gen 46:26).
3. The inner thigh and groin area are vulnerable and private regions. Placing a hand there required vulnerability and intimacy between the oath maker and receiver. This built trust and sincerity into the oath ritual.
4. The word “thigh” in Hebrew (yarekh) is also translated as “loins.” This is the area of the hip and pelvis. Swearing an oath on the generative loins may have been a symbolic gesture invoking the covenant’s power to “produce” the promised results.
5. Since people normally sat when taking oaths, reaching under one’s thigh was convenient. The thigh was simply an accessible ceremonial location for placing the hand.

While seeming strange to modern readers, this oath ritual resonated strongly in the ancient cultural context. By touching the procreative thigh/loin region, people symbolically linked their oath to their entire lineage and declared they were “staking their manhood” on fulfilling the oath. It was an act of utmost seriousness and sincerity between the covenanters.

Examples of thigh oaths in the Bible

Abraham’s servant and Rebekah

In Genesis 24, Abraham makes his senior servant swear an oath to find a bride for Isaac among Abraham’s relatives. The servant solemnly places his hand under Abraham’s thigh as he swears to accomplish this task for his master’s son. When the servant later meets Rebekah and realizes she is the one, she agrees to go back with him and become Isaac’s wife. The servant then bows his head and worships the Lord for his faithfulness and kindness in guiding the oath process (Gen 24:1-52).

Jacob and Joseph

When Jacob is old and near death in Egypt, he has Joseph swear to bury him in Canaan with his fathers. Joseph agrees and places his hand under his father’s thigh as he takes the oath (Gen 47:29-31). He later fulfills this promise after Jacob dies by transporting his father’s body back to the cave of Machpelah for burial (Gen 50:1-14).

The Jerusalem Elders and Saul

In 1 Samuel 20, David is on the run from King Saul and asks Jonathan to confirm Saul’s intent to kill him. Jonathan later signals to David that Saul still wants him dead. He then goes back to Saul and calls out his father’s unjust persecution of David. Saul momentarily relents and invokes the Lord’s name that David will not be killed. However, his oath proves unreliable. The elders of Judah also swear an oath of loyalty to Saul by placing their hands under his thigh in 2 Samuel 3. But later, these elders defect to David’s side against Saul’s house.

Significance for modern readers

For Christians today, this ancient practice provides some valuable lessons and applications:

• We must approach oaths and vows with utmost sincerity, reflecting on their deep implications and not taking them flippantly.
• When we make commitments to God and others, we must be fully prepared to fulfill them, even when difficult. Our godly character is reflected in keeping oaths.
• While not swearing literal thigh oaths today, we look to those in Scripture as models of the earnestness and sincerity with which we must approach sacred vows and covenants.
• God takes covenant promises extremely seriously, and we are accountable to Him for fulfilling whatever oaths we utter (Num 30:2).
• As Christians, we strive to be people of our word so that others see our faithfulness and give glory to God (Matt 5:37).

In summary, thigh oaths in the Bible reflect the ancient cultural context but also communicate timeless principles about oaths and covenants that remain applicable today. Though the ritual itself is foreign to modern believers, it represents the sober sincerity God desires in all sacred vows and oaths among His people.

Other notable Biblical thigh oaths

Here are some other Biblical examples of thigh oaths:

• Genesis 47:29-31 – When Israel (Jacob) was dying in Egypt, he called for Joseph and made him swear to bury him in Canaan in the tomb of his fathers. Joseph swore this oath with his hand under Israel’s thigh.
• Numbers 24:21-22 – Balaam refers metaphorically to the Kenite nation dwelling securely in nests set on the rocky cliffs. He predicts no one will dislodge them until Assyria takes them into exile. This is referenced as taking them from their thigh oath loyalty.
• Judges 15:8 – Samson attacked the Philistines “hip and thigh with a great blow.” This idiom meant striking them soundly and pushing them back within their own borders.
• 2 Samuel 3:12-21 – Abner negotiates to transfer Saul’s kingdom to David. He initially addresses this to David’s military commander Joab. But David requires Abner to first rally the elders of Israel to swear thigh oaths of loyalty to David as their new king.

While not exhaustive, these passages provide more context on how thigh oaths functioned in ancient Israelite culture. They were acts of sincere covenant loyalty, often between parties of unequal status and authority. By touching the sacred thigh area, subordinates showed utmost deference and duty to superiors administering the oath.

Thigh oaths as acts of submission and vulnerability

An additional aspect of thigh oaths was their enactment of submission, vulnerability and intimacy between the oath giver and receiver. Consider:

• The person placing their hand under another’s thigh was in a low position of humility and subservience. This showed the gravity of the oath’s burden.
• Touching the inner thigh required being in very close, intimate proximity to the other person. It reflected interpersonal connection and trusting vulnerability.
• The thigh area’s sensitivity means the oath giver made themselves vulnerable and dependent. The receiver could easily overpower them while in this position.
• Swearing on one’s generative loins invoked the solemnity of threatening one’s masculinity and fertility. This vulnerability again stressed the oath’s weight.

So in addition to linking oaths to descendants, thigh oaths built intimacy and vulnerability between covenanters. This strengthened the sincerity of the oath ritual in that cultural context.

Possible connections to purity and moral uprightness

Placing a hand on the thigh may have also symbolized purity of character and upright moral conduct. The thigh area was linked to progeny and fertility, so invoking it during oaths implied responsibility to propagate moral virtue through one’s descendants. Swearing incorrectly could imperil this legacy. Some propose “thigh” oaths reminded oath takers to live integrity and pass that legacy to posterity.

The absence of thigh oaths in the New Testament

Thigh oaths appear frequently in the Old Testament cultural context but are not present in the New Testament. Some possible reasons for this absence include:

• Cultural practices changed over time so thigh oaths diminished in use and familiarity.
• NT authors focused on relating the Gospel to Greek and Roman audiences less familiar with Hebrew idioms and customs.
• Jesus prohibited elaborate oaths and vows, emphasizing simple honesty and integrity (Matt 5:33-37).
• Paul and other NT writers stressed faith and truthfulness more than external oath rituals (2 Cor 1:18).
• Christ Himself became the new covenant guarantor between God and man, so additional oaths were unnecessary.

While no longer practiced in the Church, thigh oaths remain instructive for illustrating ancient Israeli approaches to sincerity, covenant loyalty, and the gravity of sworn oaths. The lack of thigh oaths in the NT underscores the shift to principles of inward fidelity, honesty and integrity between believers.

Thigh oaths in ancient near eastern contexts beyond Israel

Placing a hand under another’s thigh during oath taking was not an exclusively Hebrew custom. There is evidence it also occurred in other ancient near eastern contexts outside Israel:

• An ancient Akkadian text has a soldier swear an oath to the king under the thigh of the royal official administering it.
• A treaty text from 7th century BCE Assyria depicts the vassal king swearing an oath with his hand near the thigh of the Assyrian king.
• An ancient Aramaic inscription has a man swear on the thigh of his wife that he divorced her.
• In the Epic of Gilgamesh, the titular character swears an oath to Enkidu “by his thigh and manhood.”

So thigh oaths likely had broad cultural resonance in the ancient near east, though details and significance differed between groups. This provides wider background behind the similar Hebrew practice.

Thigh oaths as solemn appeals to posterity and progeny

As highlighted earlier, a key feature of thigh oaths was invoking one’s posterity and future lineage. But why was thisFuture generations were seen as upholding and propagating the results of the oath. So by swearing on his thigh/loins, the oath taker symbolically roped in his progeny as guarantors and beneficiaries of the oath’s fulfillment. Some key implications include:

• Failing the oath meant not just personal shame, but endangering your offspring as well.
• Fulfilling it brought honor and benefits to your descendants and clan.
• Descendants would “reap what you swore” based on the oath’s outcome, good or bad.
• Oath breakers were “cursing their own loins” and betraying their essential masculinity as progenitors.
• Keeping the oath meant blessing one’s heritage. Breaking it imperiled this legacy.

So swearing by one’s thigh invoked solemn obligations and accountabilities to future generations and the wider family line. This imbued thigh oaths with great motivational gravity and sanctity in that cultural context.

Summary: Key points on thigh oaths

Some key points in summary:

• Touching the thigh while oath taking was very common in the ancient near east, including Israel.
• This symbolized the oath’s link to progeny, fertility, and future descendants.
• The intimacy and vulnerability also increased an oath’s sincerity and gravity.
• Invoking the thigh appealed to one’s legacy and posterity as benefactors of oath fulfillment.
• Thigh oaths do not appear in the New Testament due to cultural changes.
• The practice shed light on how seriously oaths were approached in ancient times.
• The principles behind thigh oaths remain applicable, though the rituals themselves do not continue.

This explains thigh oaths’ cultural background and religious significance. Though strange sounding today, they made solemn sense in ancient times and still have relevance to principles of sincerity, legacy and covenant fulfillment. Understanding thigh oaths provides insight into the Biblical world and heart behind sworn vows.

In conclusion, the act of swearing oaths with a hand placed under another’s thigh served as a sobering ritual in ancient near eastern cultures. Though not practiced today, it holds valuable lessons about approaching vows with gravity, appealing to one’s descendants, and living out sworn oaths with faithfulness. The Biblical examples illustrate how seriously covenant oaths were viewed, highlighting timeless principles for the modern reader’s edification.