The Sermon on the Mount
or by the earth, for it is His footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. Matthew 5:35 · Berean Standard Bible
Don't swear by the earth or by Jerusalem either. Everything belongs to God, so there's no neutral ground to swear by. Every part of creation points back to Him.
People tried to find 'safe' things to swear by, things that weren't technically God's name. Jesus shows there's no such thing. God owns it all.
Jesus closes every loophole in the oath system.
There's nowhere to hide from God's ownership of everything. And there's no shortcut around simple honesty.
Jesus continues eliminating every possible object of oath-taking: the earth (God's footstool, Isaiah 66:1) and Jerusalem (the city of the great King, Psalm 48:2). Since everything ultimately belongs to God, every oath implicitly invokes Him.
The theological reasoning is airtight: if everything belongs to God, then swearing 'by' anything is really swearing by God indirectly.
Jesus, continuing the teaching on oaths.
Jesus shows that the whole created order belongs to God, eliminating every possible loophole in the oath system.
33Again, you have heard that it was said to the ancients, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill your vows to the Lord.’
34But I tell you not to swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne;
35or by the earth, for it is His footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
36Nor should you swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black.
37Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No,’ ‘No.’ Anything more comes from the evil one.
Read all of Matthew 5 — Jesus turns the world's values upside down. The blessed aren't the powerful — they're the poor in spirit, the grieving, the meek.
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