I call heaven and earth to witness against you this day, that ye shall soon utterly perish from off the land whereunto ye go over Jordan to possess it; ye shall not prolong your days upon it, but shall utterly be destroyed. I call heaven and earth to witness against you - A most solemn method of adjuration, in use among all nations in the world. So Virgil, Aen., lib. xii., ver. 176, etc.
Tum pius Aeneas stricto sic ense precatur:
Esto nunc Sol testis et haec mihi terra vocanti -
Fontesque fluviosque voco, quaeque aetheris alti
Relllgio, et quae caeruleo sunt numina ponto, etc.
"Then the great Trojan prince unsheathed his sword,
And thus, with lifted hands, the gods adored:
Thou land for which I wage this war, and thou
Great source of day, be witness to my vow! -
Almighty king of heaven and queen of air,
Propitious now and reconciled by prayer, -
Ye springs, ye floods, ye various powers who lie
Beneath the deep, or tread the golden sky, -
Hear and Attest!"
Pitt.
God and man being called upon to bear testimony to the truth of what was spoken, that if there was any flaw or insincerity, it might be detected; and if any crime, it might not go unpunished. Such appeals to God, for such purposes, show at once both the origin and use of oaths. See the note on Deuteronomy 6:13.