how to say “I swear to you” in Hebrew
[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נשבע-1.m4a” /]אֲנִי נִשְׁבָּע לְךָ!
Why does the word שבועה[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נשבע-2.m4a” /] – an oath – have as its root the number seven – שבע[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נשבע-3.m4a” /]? Various explanations are offered, from the cabbalistic to the historical.
In any case, to swear is the nifal verb להישבע[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נשבע-4.m4a” /] (a great example of how nifal is not a passive form in its essence).
And when someone feels so passionately about persuading someone else that they say I swear!, in Hebrew they’d say the equivalent of I swear to you:
אני נשבע לך[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נשבע-5.m4a” /] – spoken by a male to a male
אני נשבע לך[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נשבע-6.m4a” /] – spoken by a male to female
אני נשבעת לך[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נשבע-7.m4a” /] – spoken by a female to a male
אני נשבעת לך[audioclip url=”https://archive.ulpan.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/נשבע-8.m4a” /] – spoken by a female to a female
