Again, ye have heard that it was said to them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:
Perjury is impiety toward God and injustice toward man combined; it renders a man obnoxious to divine wrath. The ancients understood this so well they turned their swearing formulas into curses upon themselves, wishing God's judgment if they lied. This shows how deeply nations have always felt that God must curse the false swearer, if He be God.
AI summary
Commenting on Matthew 5:33-37
An oath is an act of religious worship. To swear profanely in ordinary discourse, to swear by creatures as if they were divine, to swear lightly on trifling occasions, these are all horrid provocations. Christ forbids voluntary oaths in common conversation because swearing is no casual thing; it is worship, and to trifle with worship is to mock God.
AI summary
The Jews had introduced countless casual oaths into common speech, considering them allowable and freely broken so long as they did not swear by Jehovah's name. But to swear by heaven, earth, the temple, or the head was to treat God's own creation irreverently; you cannot trifle with what belongs to God without trifling with God Himself.
AI summary