And God, admiring this man for his faith ( πίστις ) in him, gives him a pledge ( πίστις ) in return, namely, a confirmation by an oath of the gifts which he had promised him; no longer conversing with him as God might with man, but as one friend with another.
For he says, "By myself have I sworn," Genesis xv. 6. by him that is whose word is an oath, in order that Abraham’s mind may be established still more firmly and immoveably than before.