The invitation from the Lord for Jeremiah to search Jerusalem to find just one man who does justice and seeks truth is followed by a warning. Jeremiah will find people who say, As the Lord lives.
But in doing this, they swear falsely.
To swear by the Lord’s name in this way is to make the Lord the guarantor of any oath of commitment a person has made. The implication is that if the person breaks the oath or fails to meet their commitment then the Lord would be the one to judge them. But in Judah, this had become an empty oath.1 Despite appearances, the people had no respect for the Lord and freely used his name in vain to lie and make promises they had no intention of keeping.2 The second part of the verse could be translated as they swear by the Lie
with the Lie standing for Baal.3 This reading would simply deepen the hypocrisy of the people who claim to swear by the Lord’s name.
2 Même quand ils disent: L'Eternel est vivant! C'est faussement qu'ils jurent.