An Enduring Text
‘If One Vows By The Torah…’
(Nedarim 14b)
A mishnah in the third chapter of Tractate Shevuos (27b) discusses the Torah’s prohibition to swear falsely, found in Exodus 20:7: “You shall not take the Name of the L-rd your G-d in vain.” The mishnah explains that if a person did so willfully he receives lashes. A mishnah in the following chapter (Shevuos 35a) states that if someone swore falsely (using the expression) “by heaven and earth,” he receives no punishment because he did not use Hashem’s Name. The Kesef Mishneh (Hilchos Shevuos 12:4) explains that this person is not considered to have sworn at all and therefore no transgression is involved.
Our Gemara (Nedarim 14b) states that if a person utters a neder while holding a Torah scroll, the vow is binding. The Ran and Rambam explain that the Gemara often substitutes the term neder for shevuah (oath). If someone holds a Torah scroll while uttering an oath, the oath is valid because the person swearing is effectively saying “by it,” meaning, “by what is written in the Torah scroll,” which includes names of G-d.
Only A Torah Scroll?
The Rambam, in codifying this halacha, distinguishes between a Sefer Torah and other books of Scripture. If one swears on a Sefer Torah, the oath is binding; if one swears on other books of Scripture, the oath is not binding. The Raavad disagrees. He maintains that the oath is binding no matter what book of Tanach one swears on.
Only Eternal Texts
The Tzafenas Pa’ne’ach (cited by Kuntress Yosef Da’as) links this dispute to another one between the Rambam and Ravaad in Hilchos Megillah. The Rambam submits that in the era of Moshiach all the books of Scripture will become obsolete except for the Five Books of Moses and the Scroll of Esther. The Raavad vehemently disagrees, maintaining that no book of Scripture will ever become obsolete.
Hashem’s Name
The Rambam is thus of the opinion that if one swears on any book of Scripture other than the first five, the oath is not binding since it will not endure. (Even though Megillas Esther is an exception, since it will endure forever, it cannot be used for an oath because the name of Hashem does not appear in it.)