Matthew 5:34

_BUT I SAY UNTO YOU, SWEAR NOT AT ALL; NEITHER BY HEAVEN; FOR IT IS GOD'S THRONE:_ No JFB commentary on this verse....

34._Swear not at all _Many have been led by the phrase, _not at all, _to adopt the false notion, that every kind of swearing is condemned by Christ. Some good men have been driven to this extreme rigor by observing the unbridled licentiousness of swearing, which prevailed in the world. The Anabaptists, too, have blustered a great deal, on the ground, that Christ appears to give no liberty to swear on any occasion, because he commands, _Swear not at all _But we need not go beyond the immediate context to obtain the exposition: for he immediately adds, _neither by heaven, nor by the earth _Who does not see that those kinds of swearing were added by way of exposition, to explain the former clause more fully by specifying a number of cases? The Jews had circuitous or indirect ways of swearing: and when they _swore by heaven, or by earth, _or _by the altar, _(Matthew 23:

33-37 There is no reason to consider that solemn oaths in a court of justice, or on other proper occasions, are wrong, provided they are taken with due reverence. But all oaths taken without necessity, or in common conversation, must be sinful, as well as all those expressions which are appeals to God, though persons think thereby to evade the guilt of swearing. The worse men are, the less they are bound by oaths; the better they are, the less there is need for them. Our Lord does not enjoin the precise terms wherein we are to affirm or deny, but such a constant regard to truth as would render oaths unnecessary....

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...

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, Matthew 23:22. 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

EXPOSITION MATTHEW 5:1 AND SEEING THE MULTITUDES; _i.e. _those spoken of in Matthew 4:25—the multitudes who were at that point of time following him. HE WENT UP. From the lower ground by the lake. INTO A MOUNTAIN; Revised Version, _into the mountain _(εἰς τὸ ὄρος);_ i.e. _not any special mountain, but "the mountain nearest the place spoken of—the mountain near by" (Thayer); in contrast to any lower place, whether that was itself fairly high ground (as probably Luke 9:28) or the shore of the lake. The actual spot here referred to may have been far from, or, and more probably ...

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, "they that swear בשמים, "by heaven", and by earth, are free.'' Upon the words in Song of Solomon 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

Matthew 5:17. _Think not that I am came to destroy the law, or the prophets: I am not come to destroy, but to fulfill._ The life, work, and words of Christ are not an emendation of the Old Testament, or an abrogation of it. It stands fast and firm, fulfilled, carried to perfection, filled to the full in Christ. Matthew 5:18. _For verily I say unto you, Till heaven and earth pass, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass from the law, till all be fulfilled. Whosoever therefore shall break one of these least commandments, and shall teach men so, he shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven: but whosoever shall do and teach them, the same shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven._ It is vain to teach the commandments without first doing them. The doi

5. THE PROCLAMATION OF THE KING CONCERNING HIS KINGDOM. CHAPTER S 5-7 _ 1. The Characteristics of the heirs of the Kingdom.(Matthew 5:1 .) 2. The Confirmation of the Law and its Expansion.(Matthew 5:17 .)_ CHAPTER 5 In the closing of the last chapter we saw our Lord Jesus Christ surrounded by a great multitude of people, which followed Him and who were attracted by the King's presence, before whom the various diseases had to flee. If we turn to the eighth chapter we find the continuation of these scenes we had in the last half of the fourth chapter. Between these two Chapter s are three very important ones, which are as such found only in this Gospel. The contents of the fifth, sixth and seventh Chapter s are in the form of a continued discourse of our Lord, commonly called “t

OATHS. Jesus sums up several OT passages, _e.g._ Exodus 20:7; Leviticus 19:12; Numbers 30:2; Deuteronomy 23:21. The use of oaths and vows by the Jews was much abused, and the Rabbis were continually discussing whether or no certain vows and oaths were binding. Jesus goes to the root of the matter by forbidding all oaths, and admits no limitations to the general principle, a position adopted by the Quakers as by Irenæ us, Origen, Chrysostom, and Jerome. The Essenes abstained from oaths except at their initiation. Yet Paul uses solemn expressions of appeal to God (_cf._ also...