They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, The manner of Beersheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again.

They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say, As thy god, O Dan, liveth; and, As the way of Beer-sheba liveth; they shall fall, and never rise up again.

They that swear by the sin of Samaria, and say: Thy God, O Dan, liveth: and the way of Bersabee liveth: and they shall fall, and shall rise no more.

Those swearing by the guilt of Samaria, And have said, Live doth thy god, O Dan, And, Live doth the way of Beer-Sheba, And they have fallen, and rise not again!'

Those who make their oaths by the sin of Samaria and say, By the life of your God, O Dan; and, By the living way of Beer-sheba; even they will go down, never again to be lifted up.

They swear by the offense of Samaria, and they say, "As your God lives, Dan," and "The way of Beer-sheba lives." And they will fall, and they will not rise up any more.

Jurantes in peccato Samariae, et qui dicunt, Vivet via Barsaba; et cadent et non resurgent amplius.

Who swear - Literally, "the swearing," they who habitually swear. He assigns, at the end, the ground of all this misery, the forsaking of God. God had commanded that all appeals by oath should be made to Himself, who alone governs the world, to whom alone His creatures owe obedience, who alone revenges. "Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God and serve Him and swear by His Name" Deuteronomy 6:13; Deuteronomy 10:20. On the other hand Joshua warned them, "Neither make mention of the name of their gods nor cause to swear by them nor serve them" Joshua 23:7. But these "sware by the sin of Samaria," probably "the calf at Bethel," which was near Samaria and the center of their idolatry, from where Hosea calls it "thy calf." "Thy calf, O Samaria, hath cast thee off. The calf of Samaria shall be broken in pieces" Hosea 8:5-6. He calls it "the guilt of Samaria," as the source of all their guilt, as it is said of the princes of Judah using this same word, "they left the house of the Lord God of their fathers, and served idols, and wrath came upon Judah and Jerusalem for this their trespass" 2-Chronicles 24:18. "And say, thy god, O Daniel! liveth," that is, as surely as thy god liveth! by the life of thy god! as they who worshiped God said, "as the Lord liveth!" It was a direct substitution of the creature for the Creator, an ascribing to it the attribute of God; "as the Father hath life in Himself" John 5:26. It was an appeal to it, as the Avenger of false-swearing, as though it were the moral Governor of the world.
The manner of Beersheba liveth! - Literally, "the way." This may be, either the religion and worship of the idol there, as Paul says, "I persecuted this way unto the death" (Acts 22:4, add Acts 9:2; Acts 19:9, Acts 19:23), from where Muhammed learned to speak of his imposture, as "the way of God." Or it might mean the actual "way to Beersheba," and may signify all the idolatrous places of worship in the way there. They seem to have made the way there one long avenue of idols, culminating in it. For Josiah, in his great destruction of idolatry, "gathered all the priests from the cities of Judah, and defiled the high places, where the priests sacrificed from Gebah to Beersheba" 2-Kings 23:8; only, this may perhaps simply describe the whole territory of Judah from north to south. Anyhow, Beersheba stands for the god worshiped there, as, "whoso sware by the Temple, sware," our Lord tells us, "by it and by Him that dwelleth therein" Matthew 23:21.

By the sin of Samaria - Baal, who was worshipped here.
Thy god, O Daniel - The golden calf, or ox, the representative of the Egyptian god Apis, or Osiris.
The manner of Beer-sheba - The worship, or object of worship. Another of the golden calves which Jeroboam had set up there. The word דרך derech, way, is here taken for the object and mode of worship; see Acts 19:9, where way is taken for the creed and form of Divine worship as practiced by the followers of Christ, and by which they were distinguished from the Jews. See also Acts 9:2.

They that swear by the sin (i) of Samaria, and say, Thy god, O Daniel, liveth; and, (k) The manner of Beersheba liveth; even they shall fall, and never rise up again.
(i) For the idolaters used to swear by their idols, which here he calls their sin: and the papists yet swear by theirs.
(k) That is, the common manner of worshipping, and the service or religion used there.

They that swear by the sin of Samaria,.... The calf at Bethel, which was near Samaria, and which the Samaritans worshipped; and was set up by their kings, and the worship of it encouraged by their example, and which is called the calf of Samaria, Hosea 8:5; the making of it was the effect of sin, and the occasion of leading into it, and ought to have been had in detestation and abhorrence, as sin should; and yet by this the Israelites swore, as they had used to do by the living God; so setting up this idol on an equality with him:
and say, thy God, O Daniel, liveth; the other calf, which was set up in Daniel; and to this they gave the epithet of the bring God, which only belonged to the God of Israel:
and the manner of Beersheba liveth; or, "the way of Beersheba" (r); the long journey or pilgrimage of those at Beersheba; who chose to go to Daniel, rather than Bethel, to worship; imagining they showed greater devotion and religion, by going from one extreme part of the land to the other, for the sake of it. Daniel was on the northern border of the land of Judea, about four miles from Paneas, as you go to Tyre (s); and Beersheba was on the southern border of the land, twenty miles from Hebron (t); and the distance of these two places was about one hundred and sixty miles (u). And by this religious peregrination men swore; or rather by the God of Beersheba, as the Septuagint render it; though the phrase may only intend the religion of Beersheba, the manner of worship there, it being a place where idolatry was practised; see Amos 5:5. The Targum is,
"the fear (that is, the deity) which is in Daniel liveth, and firm are the laws of Beersheba;''
even they shall fall, and never rise up again; that is, these idolatrous persons, that swear by the idols in the above places, shall fall into calamity, ruin, and destruction, by and for their sins, and never recover out of it; which was fulfilled in the captivity of the ten tribes, from whence they have never returned to this day.
(r) "via Beersebah", Pagninus, Montanus, Munster, Vatablus, Mercerus, Tigurine version; "iter, peregrinatio", Drusius; "Bersabanum iter", Castalio. (s) Hieronymus de locis Hebrews. fol. 92. H. (t) Ibid. fol. 89. F. (u) Ib. Epist. ad Dardanura, fol. 22. I.

swear by the sin of Samaria--namely, the calves (Deuteronomy 9:21; Hosea 4:15). "Swear by" means to worship (Psalm 63:11).
The manner--that is, as "the way" is used (Psalm 139:24; Acts 9:2), the mode of worship.
Thy god, O Daniel--the other golden calf at Daniel (1-Kings 22:26-30).
liveth . . . liveth--rather, "May thy god . . . live . . . may the manner . . . live." Or, "As (surely as) thy god, O Daniel, liveth." This is their formula when they swear; not "May Jehovah live!" or, "As Jehovah liveth!"

They - Who sacrifice to and swear by the calves at Daniel and Beth - el. By the sin - Who say the idol at Daniel is the true and living God. The manner - The idol which is worshipped at Beersheba.