Nor should you swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black.
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
Swearing by your head was common among the Jews, but Christ condemns it because you cannot make even one hair white or black, your head is not in your power, it belongs to God, and therefore you have no right to pledge what you do not possess.
AI summary
I came not to sweep away the foundation of the Old Testament but to fulfill it, establish it, unfold it, embody it in living form. Fear not that I will subvert God's living oracles; rather, enshrine them in reverence, affection, and character.
AI summary
Commenting on Matthew 5:17-48