but I tell you, don’t swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God; nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Neither shall you swear by your head, for you can’t make one hair white or black. But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ be ‘No.’ Whatever is more than these is of the evil one.
Show the surrounding paragraph
Matthew 5:34-37 sits inside this longer paragraph.
“Again you have heard that it was said to the ancient ones, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall perform to the Lord your vows,’ but I tell you, don’t swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God; nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Neither shall you swear by your head, for you can’t make one hair white or black. But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ be ‘No.’ Whatever is more than these is of the evil one.
Parallel Translations
-
but I tell you, don’t swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God;
nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
Neither shall you swear by your head, for you can’t make one hair white or black.
But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’ and your ‘No’ be ‘No.’ Whatever is more than these is of the evil one.
-
But I saye vnto you swere not at all nether by heue for it ys Goddes seate:
nor yet by the erth for it is his fote stole: nether by Ierusalem for it ys the cyte of that greate kynge:
nether shalt thou sweare by thy heed because thou canst not make one white heer or blacke:
But your communicacion shalbe ye ye: nay nay. For whatsoeuer is more then that cometh of yvell.
Show all 3 translations
-
But I say vnto you, Sweare not at all, neither by heauen, for it is the throne of God:
Nor yet by the earth: for it is his footestoole: neither by Hierusalem: for it is the citie of the great King.
Neither shalt thou sweare by thine head, because thou canst not make one heare white or blacke.
But let your communication be Yea, yea: Nay, nay. For whatsoeuer is more then these, commeth of euill.
Examined in Scripture Analysis
Contradictions (1)
Questions where the Bible appears to say two different things, with the passages on each side set together.
Cross-references (28)
- James 5:12 (vv34, 37) But above all things, my brothers, don’t swear— not by heaven, or by the earth, or by any other oath; but let your “yes” be “yes”, and your…
- Colossians 4:6 (v37) Let your speech always be with grace, seasoned with salt, that you may know how you ought to answer each one.
- Colossians 3:9 (v37) Don’t lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old man with his doings,
- 2 Corinthians 1:17-20 (v37) When I therefore was thus determined, did I show fickleness? Or the things that I purpose, do I purpose according to the flesh, that with…
- John 8:44 (v37) You are of your father, the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and doesn’t stand…
Show all 27 cross-references
- Isaiah 66:1 (v34) Yahweh says, “Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. What kind of house will you build to me? Where will I rest?
- Ephesians 4:25 (v37) Therefore putting away falsehood, speak truth each one with his neighbor. For we are members of one another.
- Deuteronomy 23:21-23 (v34) When you vow a vow to Yahweh your God, you shall not be slack to pay it, for Yahweh your God will surely require it of you; and it would be…
- Psalms 48:2 (v35) Beautiful in elevation, the joy of the whole earth, is Mount Zion, on the north sides, the city of the great King.
- Matthew 23:16-22 (v34) “Woe to you, you blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is…
- Luke 12:25 (v36) Which of you by being anxious can add a cubit to his height?
- Matthew 6:27 (v36) “Which of you, by being anxious, can add one moment to his lifespan?
- 2 Thessalonians 3:3 (v37) But the Lord is faithful, who will establish you and guard you from the evil one.
- Matthew 13:19 (v37) When anyone hears the word of the Kingdom, and doesn’t understand it, the evil one comes, and snatches away that which has been sown in his…
- 2 Chronicles 6:6 (v35) but now I have chosen Jerusalem, that my name might be there; and I have chosen David to be over my people Israel.’
- Malachi 1:14 (v35) “But the deceiver is cursed, who has in his flock a male, and vows, and sacrifices to the Lord a defective thing; for I am a great King,”…
- Matthew 6:13 (v37) Bring us not into temptation, but deliver us from the evil one. For yours is the Kingdom, the power, and the glory forever. Amen.’
- Matthew 13:38 (v37) the field is the world; and the good seed, these are the children of the Kingdom; and the darnel weeds are the children of the evil one.
- Matthew 23:16-21 (v36) “Woe to you, you blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple, he is…
- 1 John 5:18 (v37) We know that whoever is born of God doesn’t sin, but he who was born of God keeps himself, and the evil one doesn’t touch him.
- Revelation 21:10 (v35) He carried me away in the Spirit to a great and high mountain, and showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God,
- Psalms 99:5 (v35) Exalt Yahweh our God. Worship at his footstool. He is Holy!
- Ecclesiastes 9:2 (v34) All things come alike to all. There is one event to the righteous and to the wicked; to the good, to the clean, to the unclean, to him who…
- Revelation 21:2 (v35) I saw the holy city, New Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared like a bride adorned for her husband.
- Psalms 87:2 (v35) Yahweh loves the gates of Zion more than all the dwellings of Jacob.
- 1 John 2:13 (v37) I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one.…
- Isaiah 57:15 (v34) For the high and lofty One who inhabits eternity, whose name is Holy, says: “I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also who is of a…
27 distinct cross-references across this passage (28 total citations).
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this passage (16 sources)
Historical commentary, presented as a primary source — not an endorsement.
Private notes
Saved on this device only — never synced or sent anywhere.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v37 Whatsoever you vouch, vouch it barely, and whatsoever you…
Whatsoever you vouch, vouch it barely, and whatsoever you deny, deny it barely without any more words.
From an evil conscience, or from the devil.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv34–37 34 But I say unto you, Swear not at…
34 But I say unto you, Swear not at all; neither by heaven; for it is God’s throne:
Ver. 34. Swear not at all] Not at all by the creatures. {a} (which the Pharisees held no fault), nor yet by the name of God in common talk, lightly, rashly, and irreverently; for such vain oaths the land mourneth. Oaths, alas, are become very interjections of speech to the common people, and phrases of gallantry to the braver. He that cannot swear with a grace, wanteth his tropes and his figures befitting a gentleman. Not to speak of those civilized complements of faith and loyalty (which are counted light matters), who hears not how ordinarily and openly ruffianly oaths and abhorred blasphemies are darted up with hellish mouths, against God and our Saviour, whom they can swear all over, and seldom name, but in an oath? How can these pray, "Hallowed be that Name," that they so daily dishallow? {b} Some cannot utter a sentence without an oath, yea, a fearful one, an oath of sound, if enraged especially. Oh the tragedies, the blusters, the terrible thunder cracks or fierce and furious language, interlaced with oaths, enough to make the very stones crack under them! Yea, to such a height and habitual practice hereof are some grown, that they swear and foam out a great deal of filth, and perceive it not. Had these men such distemper of body as that their excrements came from them when they knew not of it, it would trouble them. So it would, I dare say, did they believe the Holy Scriptures, threatening so many woes to them, yea, telling them of a large roll, ten yards long and five yards broad, full of curses against the swearer, yea, resting upon his house, where he thinks himself most secure, Zec 5:2-3 "Brimstone is scattered upon the house of the wicked," saith Job, {Job 18:15} as ready to take fire if God but lighten upon it. They walk, as it were, upon a mine of gunpowder, and it may be just in God they should be blown up, when their hearts are full of hell, and their mouths even big with hellish blasphemies. Surely their damnation sleepeth not; God hath vowed he will not hold them guiltless, sworn these swearers shall never enter into his rest, Exo 20:7; Psa 95:11. And for men, those that have but any ingenuity abhor and shun their company. The very Turks have the Christians blaspheming Christ in execration, and will punish their prisoners sorely, when as through impatience or desperateness they burst out into them. Yea, the Jews, as their conversion is much hindered by the blasphemies of the Italians (who blaspheme oftener than swear), so in their speculations of the causes of the strange success of the affairs of the world, they assign the reason of the Turks prevailing so against the Christians, to be their oaths and blasphemies, which wound the ears of the very heavens. They can tell that swearing is one of those sins for the which God hath a controversy with a land, Hos 4:2; Jer 23:10. And I can tell what a great divine hath observed, that the stones in the wall of Aphek shall sooner turn executioners than a blasphemous Aramite shall escape unrevenged. So much doth a jealous God hate to be robbed of his glory, or wronged in his name, even by ignorant pagans (how much more by professed Christians!) whose tongues might seem no slander. Those that abuse earthly princes in their name and titles are imprisoned, banished, or hanged as traitors. And shall these go altogether unpunished? Hell gapes for such miscreants, &c.
Read full note →
Neither by heaven] As the Manichees and Pharisees did, and held it no sin. But God only is the proper object of an oath, Isa 65:16; Jer 12:6. The name of the creature, say some, may be inferred, the attestation referred to God alone. But they say better that tell us that the form of an oath is not at all to be indirect or oblique, in the name of the creature. Albeit I doubt not but he that sweareth by heaven sweareth by him that dwelleth in heaven, &c. And forasmuch as God clotheth himself with the creatures, Psa 104:1-2, is it fit for us to spit upon the king’s royal robes, especially when they are upon his back? But forasmuch as we must shun and be shy of the very show and shadow of sin, they do best and safest that abstain from all oaths of this nature, 1Th 5:22. They do very ill that swear by this light, bread, hand, fire (which they absurdly call God’s angel), by St Ann, St George, by our Lady, &c., by the parts of Christ, which they substitute in the room of God. The barbarous soldiers would not break his bones, but these miscreants with their carrion mouths rend and tear (oh cause for tears!) his heart, hands, head, feet, and all his members asunder. Let all such consider, that, as light a matter as they make of it, this swearing by the creature is a "forsaking of God," Jer 5:7, a provocation little less than unpardonable; an exposing God’s honour to the spoil of the creatures, which was the heathen’s sin, Rom 1:23; and abasing themselves below the meanest creatures, "for men verily swear by the greater," Heb 6:16. And the viler the thing is they swear by, the greater is the oath, because they ascribe thereto omniscience, power to punish, justice, &c., Amo 8:14; Zep 1:3-5; besides a heavy doom of unavoidable destruction denounced against such. They that speak in favour of this sin allege 1Co 15:31. But that is not an oath, but an obtestation; q.d. my sorrows and sufferings for Christ would testify, if they could speak, that I die daily. And that, Son 3:5, where Christ seemeth to swear "by the toes and hinds of the field." But that is not an oath either, but an adjuration: for he chargeth them not to trouble his Church; or if they do, the roes and hinds shall testify against them, because they do what those would not, had they reason as they have. In like sort Moses attesteth heaven and earth, Deu 32:1; and so doth God himself, Isa 1:2. And for those phrases, "As Pharaoh liveth," "As thy soul liveth," &c., they are rather earnest vouchings of things than oaths. {c} And yet that phrase of gallantry now so common, "As true as I live," is judged to be no better than an oath by the creature, Num 14:21; cf. Psa 95:11. And we may not swear in jest, but in judgment, Jer 4:2.
For it is God’s throne] We must not conceive that God is commensurable by a place, as if he were partly here and partly there, but he is everywhere all-present. The heavens have a large place, yet have they one part here and another there, but the Lord is totally present wheresoever present. Heaven therefore is said to be his throne, and he is said to inhabit it, Isa 66:1, not as if he were confined to it, as Aristotle and those atheists in Job conceited it; {d} but because there he is pleased to manifest the most glorious and visible signs of his presence, and there in a special manner he is enjoyed and worshipped by the crowned saints and glorious angels, &c. Here we see but as in a glass obscurely, his toe, train, hind parts, footstool. No man can see more and live; no man need see more here, that he may live for ever. But "there we shall see as we are seen, know as we are known," see him face to face, Isa 6:1; Isa 60:13; Isa 66:1; Exo 33:23; 1Co 13:12. Oh how should this fire up our dull hearts, with all earnestness and intention of endeared affection to long, lust, pant, faint after the beatifical vision! How should we daily lift up our hearts and hands to God in the heavens, that he would send from heaven and save us; send his law, and command deliverance out of Sion; yea, that himself would break the heavens and come down, and fetch us home upon the clouds of heaven, as himself ascended, that when we awake we may be full of his image, and as we have borne the image of the earthly, so we may bear the image of the heavenly! St Paul, after he had once seen God in his throne, being rapped up into the third heaven (like the bird of Paradise), he never left groaning out, Cupio dissolvi, " I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ, which is far far the better." {e} And Pareus, a little before his death, uttered this swan song,
" Discupio solvi, tecumque, o Christe, manere:
Portio fac regni sim quotacunque tui."
Oh that I were in heaven! Oh that I might
Be ever with the Lord! Oh blissful plight!
Thus must our broken spirits even spend and exhale themselves in continual sallies, as it were, and egressions of thoughts, wishings, and longings after God, affecting not only a union, but a unity with him. {f} St Austin wished that he might have seen three things, Romam in flore, Paulum in ore, et Christum in corpore: Rome flourishing, Paul discoursing, and Christ living upon the earth. But I had rather wish, with venerable Bede, "My soul desireth to see Christ my King upon his throne, and in his majesty." {g}
{a} Deiurando per creaturas, contra Lyram, et de iuramenti usu, contra Anabapt. videbis Pareum in Jacob, v. 12.
{b} Sunt qui altius linguas suas in Christi sanguine demergunt, quam illi olim manus.
{c} Non est forma iuramenti, sed asseverationis seriae, et obtestationis domesticae; q.d. quam vere vivit Pharao, &c. Alsted.
{d} Job 22:14. Docuit Aristoteles providentiam Dei ad coelum lutae usque protendi, non ultra.
{e} πολλω μαλλον κρεισσον. A transcendant expression, like that 2Co 4:17.
{f} Mi sine nocte diem, vitam sine morte quietam,
Dei sine fine dies. Vita, quiesque Deus.
{g} Anima mea desiderat Christum regem meum videre in decore suo. Beda.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv34, 37 Doth our Saviour here oppose himself to the law…
Doth our Saviour here oppose himself to the law of God, which saith, Deu 6:13; 10:20, Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and swear by his name? Doth he condemn Abraham, who sware his servant by the Lord God of heaven and earth? Gen 24:3. Doth he destroy such a useful means for the end of strife? Heb 6:16. None of all these. We must consider that our Saviour is here opposing himself to the corruptions of that age brought in by the Pharisees, who had taught people that swearing was nothing, if they did not forswear themselves; or at least swearing by the heaven, by the earth, by Jerusalem, by their head, or in suchlike forms, was no sin, if they forbore the name of God; that they were only obliged to swear by the name of God in public courts of justice, but they were not tied up to it at other times. To these and such like corruptions our Saviour opposeth these words, I say unto you, Swear not at all; not at all voluntarily, but where it is necessary for the end of strife; not at all in your common discourse, Jam 5:12; and so it is expounded in the next verse. The law doth not only forbid false swearing, but common and ordinary swearing, needless swearing, which speaks a great want of reverence in the heart of the name of God. And let not your teachers cheat you, in telling you God, or the name of God, is not concerned, in your swearing by heaven: is not heaven the throne of God? Or by earth: is not that the footstool of God? Or by Jerusalem: is not that the city of God? Or by your head: is it not God that hath given you your life and bodily members? Is it in your power to make a hair of your head white or black? So as the great thing here forbidden, is common and ordinary swearing, where God calleth us not unto it for the determination of strife. Do not only think that false swearing, but be assured that ordinary, common, needless swearing, is forbidden by God.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
William Burkitt 1703 · Public Domain On v37 Here our Lord prescribes a proper mean and remedy…
Here our Lord prescribes a proper mean and remedy for shunning the occasion and danger of rash swearing; and that is, by using and accustoming ourselves in conversation to a true simplicity and constant plainness of speech; either affirming or denying, according to the nature of the thing; letting oaths alone till we are called to them upon great occasions, for ending strife between man and man.
Learn, That the great end of speech being to communicate the sense of our minds to each other, we ought to use such plainness and simplicity in speaking, that we may believe one another without oaths, or more solemn and religious asseverations.
William Burkitt's Expository Notes on the New Testament (1700–1703) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv34–37 But I say unto you, swear not at all,....…
But I say unto you, swear not at all,.... Which must not be understood in the strictest sense, as though it was not lawful to take an oath upon any occasion, in an affair of moment, in a solemn serious manner, and in the name of God; which may be safely done: but of rash swearing, about trivial matters, and by the creatures; as appears by what follows,
neither by heaven; which is directly contrary to the Jewish canons (m), which say,
Read full note →
"they that swear "by heaven", and by earth, are free.''
Upon the words in Sol 2:7, "I adjure you", &c. it is asked (n),
"by what does she adjure them? R. Eliezer says, by the heavens, and by the earth; by the hosts, the host above, and the host below.''
So Philo the Jew says (o) that the most high and ancient cause need not to be immediately mentioned in swearing; but the "earth", the sun, the stars, "heaven", and the whole world. So R. Aben Ezra, and R. David Kimchi, explain Amo 4:2. "The Lord God hath sworn by his holiness"; that is, say they, "by heaven": which may be thought to justify them, in this form of swearing; though they did not look upon it as a binding oath, and therefore if broken they were not criminal (p).
"He that swears by heaven, and by the earth, and by the sun, and the like; though his intention is nothing less than to him that created them, this is no oath.''
The reason why it is forbidden by Christ to swear by heaven, is,
for it is God's throne; referring to Isa 66:1 where he sits, the glory of his majesty shines forth, and is itself glorious and excellent, and not to be mentioned in a vain way; and especially, for the reason Christ elsewhere gives, Mat 23:22 that "he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon"; so that they doubly sinned, first, by openly swearing by that which is God's creature; and then, by tacitly bringing God into their rash and vain oaths.
(m) Misn. Shebuot, c. 4. sect. 13. (n) Shirhashirim Rabba, fol. 10. 4. (o) De Special. leg. p 770. (p) Maimon. Hilch. Shebuot, c. 12. sect. 3.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv36–37 For thou canst not make one hair white or…
For thou canst not make one hair white or black - Whereby it appears, that this also is not thine but God's.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv34, 36, 37 Verse 34. - 35. Neither by heaven, c.] It…
Verse 34. - 35. Neither by heaven, c.] It was a custom among the Scythians, when they wished to bind themselves in the most solemn manner, to swear by the king's throne and if the king was at any time sick, they believed it was occasioned by some one's having taken the oath falsely. Herod. l. iv.
Who is there among the traders and people of this world who obey this law? A common swearer is constantly perjuring himself: such a person should never be trusted. When we make any promise contrary to the command of God, taking, as a pledge of our sincerity, either GOD, or something belonging to him, we engage that which is not ours, without the Master's consent. God manifests his glory in heaven, as upon his throne; he imprints the footsteps of his perfections upon the earth, his footstool; and shows that his holiness and his grace reign in his temple as the place of his residence. Let it be our constant care to seek and honour God in all his works.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv34, 36, 37 But I say unto you, Swear not at all…
But I say unto you, Swear not at all - That is, in the manner which he proceeds to specify. Swear not in any of the common and profane ways customary at that time.
By heaven; for it is God’s throne - To swear by that was, if it meant anything, to swear by Him that sitteth thereon, Mat 23:22.
Read full note →
Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool - Swearing by that, therefore, is really swearing by God. Or perhaps it means:
1.That we have no right to pledge, or swear by, what belongs to God; and,
2.That oaths by inanimate objects are unmeaningful and wicked.
If they are real oaths, they are by a living Being, who has power to take vengeance. A footstool is that on which the feet rest when sitting. The term is applied to the earth to denote how lowly and humble an object it is when compared with God.
Jerusalem - See the notes at Mat 2:1.
City of the Great King - That is, of God; called the Great King because he was the King of the Israelites, and Jerusalem was the capital of the nation, and the place where he was especially honored as king. Compare Psa 46:4; Psa 48:1-2; Psa 87:3.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv34–35 Swear not at all. We must not imagine that…
Swear not at all. We must not imagine that here are forbidden all oaths, where there is a just and necessary cause of calling God to witness. An oath on such an occasion is an act of justice and religion. Here are forbidden unnecessary oaths in common discourse, by which the sacred name of God, which never ought to be pronounced without reverence and respect, is so frequently and scandalously profaned. (Witham) --- ’Tis not forbidden to swear in truth, justice and judgment; to the honour of God, or our own or neighbour’s just defence; but only to swear rashly, or profanely, in common discourse, and without necessity. (Challoner)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv35–37 Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool--(quoting…
Nor by the earth; for it is his footstool--(quoting Isa 66:1);
neither by Jerusalem for it is the city of the great King--(quoting Psa 48:2).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv34–37 34. Swear not at all — Neither in his…
34. Swear not at all — Neither in his prohibition of swearing nor of violence (38-42) is our Lord giving any law for the magistrate or the governmental regulations, but for private conduct. The officer of government has still a right to use force, and the magistrate to administer an oath. In fact, to forbid these things in private life secures that they may be done magistratively with better effect.
None of the oaths which our Lord adduces as specimens are judicial oaths. The Orientalists are great profane swearers, and the secondary oaths here forbidden by our Lord are just the ordinary profanities of their conversation. Dr. Thomson (vol. i, p. 284) says: “This people are fearfully profane. Everybody curses and swears when in a passion. No people that I have ever known can compare with these Orientals for profaneness in the use of the names and attributes of God.… They swear by the head, by their life, by heaven, and by the temple, or, what is in its place, the church. The forms of cursing and swearing, however, are almost infinite, and fall on the pained ear all day long.” Our Lord’s caution not to forswear is given because the people held that to violate these minor oaths of conversation was no perjury. Our Lord not only pronounces it to be forswearing, but forbids the swearing at all.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv34, 36 34. Swear not at all] The prohibition must be…
34. Swear not at all] The prohibition must be understood of rash and careless oaths in conversation, not of solemn asseveration in Courts of Justice.
for it is God’s throne] Such was the prevalent hypocrisy that the Jews of the day thought that they escaped the sin of perjury if in their oaths they avoided using the name of God. One of the Rabbinical sayings was “As heaven and earth shall pass away, so passeth away the oath taken by them.” Our Lord shows that a false oath taken by heaven, by earth, or by Jerusalem is none the less a profanation of God’s name.
Read full note →
Hypocrisy reproduces itself. Louis XI. “admitted to one or two peculiar forms of oath the force of a binding obligation which he denied to all others, strictly preserving the secret, which mode of swearing he really accounted obligatory, as one of the most valuable of state mysteries.” Introd. to Quentin Durward.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv34, 36, 37 (34) Swear not at all.—Not a few interpreters, and…
(34) Swear not at all.—Not a few interpreters, and even whole Christian communities, as e.g. the Society of Friends, see in these words, and in Jas_5:12, a formal prohibition of all oaths, either promissory or evidential, and look on the general practice of Christians, and the formal teaching of the Church of England in her Articles (Art. xxxix.), as simply an acquiescence in evil. The first impression made by the words is indeed so strongly in their favour that the scruples of such men ought to be dealt with (as English legislation has at last dealt with them) with great tenderness. Their conclusion is, however, it is believed, mistaken: (1) Because, were it true, then in this instance our Lord would be directly repealing part of the moral law given by Moses, instead of completing and expanding it, as in the case of the Sixth and Seventh Commandments. He would be destroying, not fulfilling. (2) Because our Lord himself answered, when He had before been silent, to a solemn formal adjuration (Mat_26:63-64), and St. Paul repeatedly uses such forms of attestation (Rom_1:9; 1Co_15:31; 2Co_1:23; Gal_1:20; Php_1:8). (3) Because the context shows that the sin which our Lord condemned was the light use of oaths in common speech, and with no real thought as to their meaning. Such oaths practically involved irreverence, and were therefore inconsistent with the fear of God. The real purpose of an oath is to intensify that fear by bringing the thought of God’s presence home to men at the very time they take them, and they are therefore rightly used when they attain that end. Practically, it must be admitted that the needless multiplication of oaths, both evidential and promissory, on trivial occasions, has tended, and still tends, to weaken awe and impair men’s reverence for truth, and we may rejoice when their number is diminished. In an ideal Christian society no oaths would be needed, for every word would be spoken as by those who knew that the Eternal Judge was hearing them.
(34-35) Neither by heaven; . . . nor by the earth; . . . neither by Jerusalem.—Other formulæ of oaths meet us in Mat_23:16-22; Jas_5:12. It is not easy at first to understand the thought that underlies such modes of speech. When men swear by God, or the name of Jehovah, there is an implied appeal to the Supreme Ruler. We invoke Him (as in the English form, “So help me God”) to assist and bless us according to the measure of our truthfulness, or to punish us if we speak falsely. But to swear by a thing that has no power or life seems almost unintelligible, unless the thing invoked be regarded as endowed in idea with a mysterious holiness and a power to bless and curse. Once in use, it was natural that men under a system like that of Israel, or, we may add, of Christendom, should employ them as convenient symbols intensifying affirmation, and yet not involving the speaker in the guilt of perjury or in the profane utterance of the divine name. Our Lord deals with all such formulæ in the same way. If they have any force at all, it is because they imply a reference to the Eternal. Heaven is His throne, and earth is His footstool (the words are a citation from Isa_66:1), and Jerusalem is the city of the great King. To use them lightly is, therefore, to profane the holy name which they imply. Men do not guard themselves either against irreverence or perjury by such expedients.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv34–37 Swear not at all. (cf. Jam_5:12) Yet, as St.…
Swear not at all. (cf. Jam_5:12) Yet, as St. Augustine points out, St. Paul took oaths in his writings; (2Co_1:23 2Co_11:31) and our Lord himself did not refuse to answer when put upon his oath. (Mat_26:63, Mat_26:64) He, that is to say, and St. Paul after him, accepted the fact that there are times when a solemn oath must be taken. How, then, can we explain this absolute prohibition here? In that our Lord is not here thinking at all of formal and solemn oaths, but of oaths as the outcome of impatience and exaggeration. The thoughtlessness of fervent asseveration is often betrayed into an oath. Such an oath, or even any asseveration that passes in spirit beyond "yea, yea," "nay, nay," has its origin ek tou ponhrou ; cf. Chaucer, "Sweryng sodeynly without avysement is eek a gret synne" ("Parson"s Tale," Ira"). Martensen, however ("Ethics, Individual," takes the prohibition of oaths as formally unconditional and total, in accordance with the highest ideal of what man will hereafter be and require, and he sees the limitation, which he allows is to be given to these words, in the present conditions of human society. We have an ideal duty towards God, but we have also a practical duty to those among whom we live, and the present state of human affairs permits and necessitates oaths. Hence it was that even Christ submitted to them. Neither by heaven, etc. Our Lord further defines what he means by an oath. It does not mean only an expression in which God"s Name is mentioned, but any expression appealing to any object at all, whether this be supraterrestrial, terrestrial, national, or personal. Although God"s Name is often omitted in such cases, from a feeling of reverence, its omission does not prevent the asseveration being an oath. Heaven; Revised Version, the heaven; for the thought is clearly not the immaterial transcendental heaven, the abode of bliss, but the physical heaven. (cf. Mat_6:26, Revised Version) Heaven... footstool. Adapted from Isa_66:1, where it forms part of the glorious declaration that no material temple can contain God, that "the Most High dwelleth not in temples made with hands" as St. Stephen paraphrases it. (Act_7:48) The great King is seated enthroned in the heaven, with his feet touching the earth.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
B. W. Johnson 1891 · Public Domain On vv34, 36, 37 34, 35. Swear not at all. Christ does not…
34, 35. Swear not at all. Christ does not forbid judicial oaths. Note, (1) God sometimes swears by himself (Gen. 22:16, 17); (2) Jesus made oath before the Sanhedrim (Matt. 26:63); (3) Paul made oath to the Corinthians (2 Cor. 1:23). He does forbid all profanity and idle oaths, such as were common among the Jews, and still so defile the mouths of men. Neither by heaven. The Jews held that it was impious to swear by the name of God, but that one could swear “by heaven,” “by the earth,” “by Jerusalem.” One was God's throne, the second his footstool, Jerusalem the city of the Messiah King, all too holy for profanation.
B. W. Johnson's The People's New Testament with Notes (1889–1891) — public domain. Electronic text from the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (CCEL) ThML edition.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On v36 General Information:
General Information:
Previously Jesus told his hearers that God's throne, footstool, and earthly home are not theirs to swear by. Here he says that they may not swear even by their own heads.
Read full note →
your ... you
Jesus is talking to a group of people about what they as individuals should and should not do. All occurrences of these words are singular, but you may have to translate them as plural. (See: Forms of You)
swear
This refers to taking an oath. See how you translated this in Matthew 5:34.
let your speech be 'Yes, yes,' or 'No, no.'
"if you mean 'yes,' say 'yes,' and if you mean 'no,' say 'no.'"
translationWords
oath
Satan
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.