You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred?
The Pharisees teach that an oath by the altar itself is void and not binding, but swear by the gift upon it and you are caught, guilty of perjury if you break it. This reveals their twisted reasoning: they make the container more sacred than what it contains, and the gift more binding than God Himself.
AI summary
The temple makes the gold holy, not the other way round. Strip that gold and place it anywhere else, and it is common metal like any other. Only fools and blind men would call the derived thing more sacred than the source from which it draws all its sanctity.
AI summary
[Ye] fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gold, or the temple that sanctifieth the gold? (r) Causes the gold which is dedicated to a holy use to be considered holy.