Matthew 5.33-37.
Switching topics
Matthew 5.33-37 KWL 33 “Again, you hear the oldtimers say this:- ‘You will not perjure,’
Lv 19.2 - and you will give your oaths to the Lord?
34 I tell you:- Don’t swear altogether.
- And not by heaven,
- because it’s ‘God’s throne.’
Ps 11.4 35 Nor by earth,- because it’s ‘the footstool of his feet.’
Is 66.1 - Nor by Jerusalem,
- because it’s ‘the mighty king’s city.’
Ps 48.2 36 Nor ought you swear by your head,- because you’re not able to make one hair
- white or black.
37 Make your words ‘Yes yes, no no.’- Anything more than this is evil.”
Verse 33 is a little tricky, because the two things Jesus quotes “the oldtimers” as saying, consist of a bible quote, and a non-bible quote. And the bible quote isn’t a precise bible quote. Doesn’t bluntly, briefly say “Thou shalt not perjure,” in the scriptures. It’s a bit longer:
Leviticus 19.11-12 Schocken Bible11 You are not to steal,- you are not to lie,
- you are not to deal-falsely, each-man with his fellow!
12 You are not to swear by my name falsely,- thus profaning the name of your God—
- I am Y
HWH !
Likewise verses which back up this idea:
Numbers 30.3 Schocken Bible- [Any] man who vows a vow to Y
HWH - or swears a sworn-oath, to bind himself by a binding-obligation:
- he is not to desecrate his word;
- exactly as what goes out of his mouth, he is to do.
Deuteronomy 23.22-24 Schocken Bible22 When you vow a vow to YHWH your God,- you are not to delay paying it,
- for Y
HWH your God will require, yes, require it of you, - and it shall be [considered] a sin in you.
23 But if you hold back from vowing,- it shall not be [considered] a sin in you.
24 What issues from your lips, you are to keep,- and you are to do
- as you vowed to Y
HWH your God, willingly, - as you promised with your mouth.
Swearing to God was a big deal. Still is a big deal. It’s why judges and courtrooms, despite separation of church and state, still tack “So help me God” to the end of oaths—it’s optional, but it’s gonna get religious people to take it seriously, and hypocrites to pretend to take it seriously. When
But Jesus takes it one step further: Don’t swear, because you shouldn’t have to swear: Aren’t you always honest? Don’t you always tell the truth? Or are you—like a politician who lies the rest of the time, but never wants to suffer the consequences of perjury—only truthful when you’re under oath? How does that sort of behavior make you a God-follower?
Plus Jesus punctures all the other things people of his day swore by. I’ll get to those.
Wait, didn’t Jesus swear?
Y’might notice in the gospels, Jesus phrases his promises, “Amen, I tell you,” or in the gospel of John, “Amen amen, I tell you.” If you didn’t notice this, it’s because your favorite bible translations tend to translate
Okay… so isn’t this a case of Jesus swearing he’s telling the truth? Nope. He’s assuring us his statements are true, but this isn’t an oath; this is emphasis. Various Christians are gonna claim “Amen” is a minor oath… but the thing about oaths is they’re made to someone or something. You swear to God, or swear on your father’s grave, or swear by the souls of your children, or swear by various other deities, higher powers, or sacred things. “Amen” doesn’t swear by anything; it’s simply the statement, “This is true.”
Likewise when the L
Now there are some instances in the Old Testament where the L
Genesis 22.16 Schocken Bible- …and said:
- By myself I swear
- —Y
HWH ’s utterance— - indeed, because you have done this thing, have not withheld your son, your only one…
Exodus 32.13 Schocken Bible- Recall Avraham, Yitzhak and Yisrael your servants,
- to whom you swore by yourself
- when you spoke to them:
- I will make your seed many
- as the stars of the heavens,
- and all this land which I have promised,
- I will give to your seed,
- that they may inherit [it] for the ages!
—and y’notice the L
So while Jesus can chide us humans for swearing oaths because without ’em we’ll lie, break promises, or go back on what we said we’ll do, the L
Swearing by other stuff.
On to the second thing Jesus says “the oldtimers” say: “You will give your oaths to the Lord.”
Various interpreters, including the editors of the
But because various Christians insist it has to be a bible quote, many of us presume it’s also about taking the L
Whereas I translate it literally: “You will give your oaths to the Lord.” Meaning only swear to God. Because, as you can see from the following verses, Jesus rebukes his followers from swearing by other things than God, like heaven, earth, Jerusalem, or their heads. Or, in Matthew 23, by the temple and its gold,
Not swearing by anything but God is in fact a biblical idea. Moses told the Hebrews to only swear by him:
Deuteronomy 6.13 Schocken Bible- Y
HWH your God you are to hold-in-awe, - him you are to serve,
- by his name you are to swear!
Joshua reiterated the idea:
Joshua 23.6-8 JPS 6 “But be most resolute to observe faithfully all that is written in the Book of the Teaching of Moses, without ever deviating from it to the right or to the left,7 and without intermingling with these nations that are left among you. Do not utter the names of their gods or swear by them; do not serve them or bow down to them.8 But hold fast to the LORD your God as you have done to this day.”
The pagans round about Israel’s territory would no doubt try to make treaties with them, swear by their gods, and want the Israelis to likewise swear by their gods. And most good polytheists would shrug and go, “Well they’re not my gods, but these pagans sure take ’em seriously, so why not?” Well I’ll tell you why not: You’re legitimizing false gods. Or, because you’re swearing by gods you don’t respect, you’re planning to violate those treaties. Either way you’re doing evil.
I have a coworker who likes to say, “By almighty Zeus,” and I had fun with him a while ago by reminding him, “You realize in Greek mythology Zeus was just mighty, not almighty. The Almighty’s a whole other god.” Yeah, he’s aware of this; he says it because it’s fun to say, not because he’s making actual oaths. We’re not meant to take those oaths seriously. But shouldn’t all our oaths be serious?
Anyway, Jesus closes the Pharisee loopholes by pointing out the people were ultimately swearing to God:
- “By heaven” doesn’t fly with him. “Heaven” is most cultures’ euphemism for God. (China especially, ’cause they like to downplay
how theist they actually are.) Matthew regularly refers to God’s kingdom as “the heavenly kingdom.”Mt 3.2, 4.17, 5.3, 7.21, 8.11, etc. Swear by heaven, and God knows exactly what you really mean. - “By the land (of Israel)” or “by the earth” doesn’t work either. It’s God’s earth. You may imagine the devil took it over as much as you like; God called the earth his footstool, in
Isaiah 66.1 . (“Footstool for my feet” comes fromthe Septuagint, the translation Jesus quotes here.) - “By Jerusalem”—well, that’s God’s city. New Jerusalem especially.
- “By my head”—well, that’s kinda stupid. How are our heads worth swearing by? Some of these heads are decidedly empty.
As for swearing by one’s head: Jesus pointed out, “You’re not able to make one hair white or black.”
Jesus likewise closed loopholes in Matthew 23.
Matthew 23.16-22 NET 16 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple is bound by nothing. But whoever swears by the gold of the temple is bound by the oath.’17 Blind fools! Which is greater, the gold or the temple that makes the gold sacred?18 And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing. But if anyone swears by the gift on it he is bound by the oath.’19 You are blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred?20 So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.21 And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and the one who dwells in it.22 And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and the one who sits on it.”
I do like how Eugene Petersen swapped the ancient ideas for present-day behavior in The Message:
Matthew 23.16-22 The Message 16 “You’re hopeless! What arrogant stupidity! You say, ‘If someone makes a promise with his fingers crossed, that’s nothing; but if he swears with his hand on the Bible, that’s serious.’17 What ignorance! Does the leather on the Bible carry more weight than the skin on your hands?18 And what about this piece of trivia: ‘If you shake hands on a promise, that’s nothing; but if you raise your hand that God is your witness, that’s serious’?19 What ridiculous hairsplitting! What difference does it make whether you shake hands or raise hands?20-22 A promise is a promise. What difference does it make if you make your promise inside or outside a house of worship? A promise is a promise. God is present, watching and holding you to account regardless.”
That’s Jesus’s general idea. A promise is a promise. When we promised God, carry it out. And when we promise others, carry that out too.
Christians shouldn’t need to swear.
Lots of Christians interpret Jesus’s “Make your word, ‘Yes yes; no no” as “But let your ‘yes’ mean ‘yes,’ and your ‘no’ mean ‘no.’ ”
What Jesus is doing, is that Hebrew practice of saying something twice to show you mean it. You know, like his “Amen amen.” By “Yes yes,” he means yes indeed; by “no no” he means “Really, I mean it, no.” Any “yes” which really means no is evil. Same with a “no” which means yes.
I sometimes add, “And let your maybe be maybe.” People think I’m joking, but I’m quite serious: Lots of people say “maybe” instead of no, and it’s just as much a lie as saying yes. It implies there’s a chance for yes—and sometimes it’s another white lie we tell to get people off our back. Kids have been burned so often by parents and teachers, this is what I run into:
- ME. “Maybe.”
- KID. [groaning] “You mean no.”
- ME. “No, I mean maybe. If I meant no, I’d say no. I didn’t say no, ’cause maybe I can do ‘yes.’ Now let me think about it.”
If your “maybe” always turns into no, stop saying maybe. It’s just another white lie. And while you’re at it, get rid of the white lies. You don’t need to lie to smooth things over; you simply need to be kind—or say nothing.
Lastly, many bibles render Jesus’s words so they sound like he’s blaming Satan for lies: “For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.”
Jesus’s solution is simple: Stick to the truth. We should never have to swear to anything when everyone knows we always tell the truth.
