G3660 — ὀμνύω (omnyo)¶

Core Data¶

Strong's: G3660
Original: ὀμνύω
Transliteration: omnyo
Pronunciation: om-noo'-o
Part of Speech: Verb
Root: Prolonged form of a primary verb (omo)
Occurrences: 21 unique verses (27 tokens) across 7 NT books
First Occurrence: Mat 5:34 — "But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne:"
Hapax Legomenon: No

Lexicon Definition¶

A prolonged form of a primary verb; to swear, i.e. take (or declare on) oath.

Louw-Nida Semantic Domain¶

Domain: 033 — Communication
Subdomain: 033054 — Swear, Put Under Oath, Vow
Other words in subdomain: ὅρκος (horkos, G3727), ὁρκωμοσία (horkomosia, G3728), ὁρκίζω (horkizo, G3726), ἐξορκίζω (exorkizo, G1844), ἐπιορκέω (epiorkeo, G1964), ἐπίορκος (epiorkos, G1965), εὐχή (euche, G2171), ἐνορκίζω (enorkizo, G3726a)

Domain Neighbors (033054 — Swear, Put Under Oath, Vow)¶

Strong's	Lemma	Total Verses	Primary KJV Translation(s)
G3727	ὅρκος (horkos)	10	oath
G3728	ὁρκωμοσία (horkomosia)	3	oath
G3726	ὁρκίζω (horkizo)	3	I adjure, I charge
G2171	εὐχή (euche)	3	a vow, prayer
G1964	ἐπιορκέω (epiorkeo)	1	forswear thyself
G1965	ἐπίορκος (epiorkos)	1	for perjured persons
G1844	ἐξορκίζω (exorkizo)	1	I adjure

Morphological Distribution¶

Form	Count	Typical Context
Aorist Active Indicative	9	Narrative report of past oath — "he sware" (ὤμοσεν)
Aorist Active Subjunctive	5	Conditional/hypothetical swearing — "shall swear" (ὀμόσῃ)
Aorist Active Participle	3	Substantival — "whoso sweareth" (ὀμόσας)
Present Active Indicative	4	Gnomic/habitual — "sweareth by it" (ὀμνύει)
Aorist Active Infinitive	2	Purpose/complementary — "to swear" (ὀμόσαι)
Present Active Infinitive	2	Ingressive — "began to swear" (ὀμνύειν/ὀμνύναι)
Present Active Imperative	1	Prohibition — "swear not" (ὀμνύετε)

Aorist forms dominate (19/26 = 73%), treating swearing as a discrete completed act. Present forms cluster in Matthew 23 (gnomic truths about temple oaths) and the two denials of Peter (ingressive "began to swear").

Translation Distribution (KJV)¶

Translation	Verses	%
shall swear	5	23.8%
sweareth	4	19.0%
he sware	3	14.3%
swear	3	14.3%
had sworn	2	9.5%
sware	2	9.5%
to swear	2	9.5%
I have sworn	1	4.8%
I sware	1	4.8%
Swear (imperative)	1	4.8%
shalt thou swear	1	4.8%
sware he	1	4.8%

KJV renders omnyo exclusively with "swear/sware/sworn" — no translation variation. The English form shifts only by tense and person, reflecting the morphological differences in the Greek.

Distribution by Book¶

Book	Count	Per 100 Verses
Hebrews	6	2.0
James	1	0.9
Matthew	8	0.7
Mark	2	0.3
Acts	2	0.2
Revelation	1	0.2
Luke	1	0.1

Matthew has the highest raw count (8 uses) but Hebrews has the highest density (2.0 per 100 verses). The word is absent from John, all Pauline epistles, and the general epistles except James. Usage concentrates in two genres: (1) Jesus' teaching on oaths (Matthew), and (2) theological reflection on God's oath to Abraham and the Psalm 110 oath (Hebrews).

Semantic Categories¶

1. Jesus' Prohibition of Human Oath-Taking¶

Mat 5:34 — "But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God's throne"
Mat 5:36 — "Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black"
Jas 5:12 — "But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by heaven, neither by the earth"

2. Critique of Casuistic Temple Oaths¶

Mat 23:16 — "Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift..."
Mat 23:18 — "Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift"
Mat 23:20 — "Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon"
Mat 23:22 — "He that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon"

3. God's Irrevocable Oath to the Patriarchs¶

Luk 1:73 — "The oath which he sware to our father Abraham"
Act 2:30 — "knowing that God had sworn with an oath to him"
Act 7:17 — "the time of the promise drew nigh, which God had sworn to Abraham"
Heb 6:13 — "when God made promise to Abraham, because he could swear by no greater, he sware by himself"

4. God's Oath of Wrath / Exclusion¶

Heb 3:11 — "So I sware in my wrath, They shall not enter into my rest"
Heb 3:18 — "And to whom sware he that they should not enter into his rest, but to them that believed not?"
Heb 4:3 — "As I have sworn in my wrath, if they shall enter into my rest"

5. God's Oath Appointing the Melchizedek Priesthood¶

Heb 7:21 — "The Lord sware and will not repent, Thou art a priest for ever after the order of Melchisedec"

6. Human Rash or Impulsive Oaths¶

Mar 6:23 — "And he sware unto her, Whatsoever thou shalt ask of me, I will give it thee, unto the half of my kingdom"
Mat 26:74 — "Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man"
Mar 14:71 — "But he began to curse and to swear, saying, I know not this man"

7. Angelic / Eschatological Oath¶

Rev 10:6 — "And sware by him that liveth for ever and ever, who created heaven... that there should be time no longer"

Common Collocations¶

Word	Strong's	Co-occurrences	Typical Pattern
θεός (theos)	G2316	5x (24%)	Swearing by God — "it is God's throne" / "God had sworn"
ὅρκος (horkos)	G3727	4x (19%)	Oath noun reinforcing the verb — "sworn with an oath"
οὐρανός (ouranos)	G3772	4x (19%)	Object of swearing — "swear by heaven"
λέγω (lego)	G3004	4x (19%)	Speech frame — "saying, I know not the man"
Ἀβραάμ (Abraam)	G11	3x (14%)	Patriarchal oath — "sware to Abraham"
θρόνος (thronos)	G2362	3x (14%)	Heaven as God's throne — "sweareth by the throne"
κατάπαυσις (katapausis)	G2663	3x (14%)	God's rest — "they shall not enter into my rest"
ἐπάνω (epano)	G1883	3x (14%)	"Upon it" — altar/temple oath formulas
εἰσέρχομαι (eiserchomai)	G1525	3x (14%)	Entering rest — "shall not enter"

Easily Confused Words¶

Word	Strong's	Shared Translation	Key Difference
שָׁבַע (shaba)	H7650	"swear," "sware," "sworn"	OT Hebrew equivalent; omnyo is its primary LXX/NT counterpart

No other Greek word shares omnyo's KJV translations. In the NT oath semantic field, the distinction is functional: omnyo is the act of swearing; horkos (G3727) is the noun "oath"; horkomosia (G3728) is the "oath-taking" ceremony; horkizo (G3726) is to "put someone under oath" / "adjure."

Semantic Domain (Louw-Nida 033054)¶

Word	Strong's	Verses	Relationship
ὅρκος (horkos)	G3727	10	Noun form — the oath itself
ὁρκωμοσία (horkomosia)	G3728	3	Abstract noun — the act/institution of oath-taking
ὁρκίζω (horkizo)	G3726	3	Causative — to put someone under oath, adjure
ἐπιορκέω (epiorkeo)	G1964	1	Negative — to swear falsely, perjure
ἐπίορκος (epiorkos)	G1965	1	Adjective — perjured, forsworn
εὐχή (euche)	G2171	3	Related — vow (voluntary commitment to God)

Hebrew Source¶

Hebrew Source	Strong's	Co-occurrence	PMI Score
שָׁבַע (shaba)	H7650	143x	34.74
שְׁבוּעָה (shebuah)	H7621	8x	11.94
יִצְחָק (Yitschaq)	H3327	13x	11.30
אַבְרָהָם (Abraham)	H85	16x	11.15

The dominant Hebrew source is H7650 shaba (143 co-occurrences, PMI 34.74) — a near one-to-one bridge. The proper nouns Isaac and Abraham appear because LXX oath passages frequently involve patriarchal promises. H7621 shebuah (noun "oath") sometimes translates via omnyo when the LXX renders the noun with a verbal construction.