And the servant put his hand under the thigh of Abraham his master, and sware to him concerning that matter.
Ver. 9. And the servant put his hand., &c.] That, and the lifting up of the hand to heaven, Gen 14:22 was the ceremony of old, as now it is, laying the hand upon the book. Let it be what it will, if not wicked, we need not scruple it. Henry III of England, undertaking the crusade, in taking his oath laid his right hand on his breast (according i to the manner of a priest, saith the history); a and after on the book, and kissed it as a layman. The Moors, when they swear to be faithful to any, put their swords to their own throats. b At the siege of Norwich by Ket and his complices in Edward VI's time, the Earl of Warwick, general for the king, drew his sword, and caused others to do the like; and (according to a soldierly custom in cases of extremity) by interchange of a kiss by everyone of them upon the swords of others, they bound themselves, as by an oath, to maintain the place? c
a Daniel's Chro.
b Turk. Hist., fol. 747.
c Life of Edward VI., by Sir Jo. Heywood, p. 75.