Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him
Serve him through fear; not through slavish fear, a fear of hell
and damnation; but through filial fear, a reverential affection
for that God that had brought them out of a state of bondage into
great and glorious liberty, out of Egypt into Canaan's land, out
of a place of misery into a land of plenty; and therefore should
fear the Lord and his goodness, and from such a fear of him serve
him, in every part of worship, public and private, enjoined; this
passage Christ refers to ( Matthew 4:10
)
and shalt swear by his name;
when they made a covenant with any, or were called to bear a
testimony for the decision of any controversy which could not be
otherwise finished; or whenever they took an oath on any account,
which should never be taken rashly or on any trivial account, and
much less falsely; it should be taken not in the name of any
idol, or of any other but the true and living God; the Targum of
Jonathan is,
``in the name of the Word of the Lord, in truth ye shall swear.''