Thoughts on the Hippocratic Oath

"I swear by Apollo…and I take to witness all the gods…to keep according to my ability and my judgment the following Oath."

All I had ever heard of the Hippocratic Oath was the popular shorthand: "Do no harm." So it was interesting to learn of its religious covenantal structure, similar to the covenant God enacted with ancient Israel, which in turn resembles ancient Near Eastern Suzerainty treaties. "The original [Hippocratic] oath is redolent of a covenant, a solemn and binding treaty" (Dr. David Graham, in "Journal of the American Medical Association," 12/13/00).

Covenants are legal documents stipulating terms of relationship. The Great King tells his vassal kings how he is to be worshipped. The conditions are spelled out; the ceremony is performed before witnesses; blessings and curses are finally attached to the keeping or breaking of the covenant. The Hippocratic Oath ends with a self-curse for covenant violation: "If I fulfill this oath and do not violate it, may it be granted to me to enjoy life and art….If I transgress it and swear falsely, may the opposite of all this be my lot."

The history of the Old Testament is, of course, the history of Israel's serial covenant unfaithfulness. But there is one strange twist to the story. In Genesis 15, God has Abram set up a covenant ceremony in the traditional way --- animals cut up and placed side by side --- and we are expecting Abram to walk between the pieces, visually signifying: So be it done to me as to these animals if I break my covenant to you.

Then the most unthinkable thing happens: The King of Kings and Lord of Lords steps up and walks the line himself, in the form of a smoking torch. The God of Abram says, in effect: So be it done to me as to these animals if I ever break my covenant of love to you and your descendants.