Mat 23:16-22, Jam 5:12 | Barnes | STEP | Verse 16. Whosoever shall swear , etc. . The temple . . It is nothing . It amounts to nothing. It is not binding. The gold of the temple . Either the golden vessels in the temple, the candlestick, etc., or the gold with which the doors and other parts of the temple were covered; or the gold in the treasury. This, it seems, they considered far more sacred than any other part of the temple, but it is not known why. He is a debtor . He is bound to keep his oath. He is guilty if he violates it. (d) "ye blind guides"

Matthew 23:16-22

Verse 16. Whosoever shall swear, etc. Mt 5:33-37.

The temple. Mt 21:12.

It is nothing. It amounts to nothing. It is not binding.

The gold of the temple. Either the golden vessels in the temple, the candlestick, etc., or the gold with which the doors and other parts of the temple were covered; or the gold in the treasury. This, it seems, they considered far more sacred than any other part of the temple, but it is not known why.

He is a debtor. He is bound to keep his oath. He is guilty if he violates it.

(d) "ye blind guides" Mt 15:14 Verse 17. The temple that sanctifieth the gold. To sanctify is to make holy. The gold had no holiness but what it derived from the temple. If in any other place, it would be no more holy than any other gold. It was foolish, then, to suppose that that was more holy than the temple from which it received all the sanctity which it possessed.

(e) "ye fools and blind" Psa 94:8 Verse 18. The altar. The altar of burnt-offerings, in the court of the priests. Mt 21:12. It was made of brass, about thirty feet in length and breadth, and fifteen feet in height, 2Chr 4:1. On this altar were offered all the beasts and bloody oblations of the temple.

The gift that is upon it. The gift or offering made to God, so called because it was devoted or given to him. The gift upon this altar was always beasts and birds.

(1) "is guilty" or, "debtor", or "bound" Verse 19. The altar that sanctifieth the gift. The altar, dedicated to God, gave all the value or holiness to the offering, and must therefore be the greatest, or of the most importance. If, therefore, either bound to the fulfillment of an oath, it must be the altar.

(f) "sanctifieth the gift" Ex 29:37, 30:29 Verse 21. Him that dwelleth therein. That is, God. The temple was his house, his dwelling. In the first, or Solomon's temple, he dwelt between the cherubims, in the most holy place. He manifested himself there by a visible symbol, in the form of a cloud resting on the mercy-seat, 1Kgs 8:10,13, Ps 80:1.

(g) "him that dwelleth" 2Chr 6:2, Ps 26:8 Verse 22. The throne of God. Heaven is his throne, Mt 5:34. It is so called as being the place where he sits in glory. Jesus says, here, that all who swear at all, do in fact swear by God, or the oath is good for nothing. To swear by an altar, a gift, or a temple, is of no force, unless it be meant to appeal to God himself. The essential thing in an oath is calling God to witness our sincerity. If a real oath is taken, therefore, God is appealed to. If not, it is foolish and wicked to swear by anything else.

(h) "throne of God" Ps 11:4, Isa 66:1, Mt 5:34

James 5:12

Verse 12. But above all things. That is, be especially careful on this point; whatever else is done, let not this be. The manner in which James speaks of the practice referred to here, shows that he regarded it as a sin of a very heinous nature; one that was by all means to be avoided by those whom he addressed. The habit of swearing by various things was a very common one among the Jews, and it was important to guard those who from among them had been converted to Christianity on that subject.

Swear not. Mt 5:33-34 for this command illustrated. Nearly the same things are mentioned here as objects by which they were accustomed to swear which are referred to by the Saviour.

But let your yea be yea. Let there be a simple affirmation, unaccompanied by any oath or appeal to God or to any of his works. A man who makes that his common method of speech is the man who will be believed. Mt 5:37.

Lest ye fall into condemnation. That is, for profaning the name of God. "The Lord will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain," Ex 20:7.

(a) "swear not" Mt 5:34