Jesus On Oaths

[Open7]

I’m reading Matthew 5, and in verse 34 Jesus teaches that you should not swear any oaths.

In a commentary I read it said that oaths are permitted under certain circumstances, as long as they are not abused and used as a cover for deception.

Not to say all commentaries are perfect, but it gave examples of people taking oaths in the Bible, including Paul.

My main question is that if we are not to take this statement from Jesus as an absolute, then how do we know this when he does say it in black and white, to not take oaths. It doesn’t seem that the language he is using indicates that it’s not literal. It’s not the only time Jesus does this.

So I’m left a bit confused as to how far I should take some of his statements.

Hope this all makes sense, thanks

 

 

 

[ayin jade]

Commentaries are merely the words of men, and subject to being fallible. 

The bible is the word of God, infallible. 

Jesus said let your yes be yes and your no be no. 

[missmuffet]

What does the Bible say about keeping your vows / oaths?

https://www.gotquestions.org

ANSWER

There are about 30 biblical references to vows, most of which are from the Old Testament. The books of Leviticus and Numbers have several references to vows in relation to offerings and sacrifices. There were dire consequences for the Israelites who broke vows, especially vows to God.

The story of Jephthah illustrates the foolishness of making vows without understanding the consequences. Before leading the Israelites into battle against the Ammonites, Jephthah—described as a mighty man of valor—made a rash vow that he would give to the Lord whoever first came out of doors to meet him if he returned home as the victor. When the Lord granted him victory, the one who came out to meet him was his daughter. Jephthah remembered his vow and offered her to the Lord (Judges 11:29–40). Whether or not Jephthah should have kept this vow is dealt with in another article. What this account shows is the foolishness of rash vows.

Jesus taught concerning vows, “You have heard that it was said to the people long ago, ‘Do not break your oath, but keep the oaths you have made to the Lord.’ But I tell you, Do not swear at all: either by heaven, for it is God’s throne; or by the earth, for it is his footstool; or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make even one hair white or black. Simply let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes,’ and your ‘No ,’ ‘No’; anything beyond this comes from the evil one” (Matthew 5:33–37).

A little background information is helpful in understanding Jesus’ words here. The religious leaders of the day advocated keeping a vow if it was a public vow using God’s name; however, if the vow was made in the course of everyday conversation, referencing only “heaven” or “earth” or “Jerusalem,” it was not really binding. People had a loophole. They could lie or exaggerate in their conversations and lend themselves an air of credibility by saying, “I swear by heaven that this is true!” They could not be held to account because they did not specifically swear by God’s name and the vow was private. Jesus countered that idea. If you swear something, it had better be true, He says. In fact, all you need to say is “yes” or “no.” Your word should be good. There’s no need for overwrought expressions to bolster your case.

Psalm 15:4 describes a righteous person as one “who keeps an oath even when it hurts, and does not change their mind.” Jesus’ teaching in Matthew 5 supports this biblical principle. Oaths are binding, even when spoken frivolously or privately as part of everyday conversation. A promise is a promise, and there is no loophole in God’s eyes to allow a person to renege on an oath.

So, Jesus was not condemning all forms of promises, contracts, or agreements. Jesus was speaking of the kind of spontaneous vow made when a person says, “I cross my heart and hope to die” or “I swear on a stack of Bibles” or “I swear on my mother’s life.” Jesus warns against using those types of flippant oaths. His teaching in Matthew 5 is not meant to discourage careful, thought-out promises, such as wedding vows or a legal contract.

The principle here is clear for Christians: be careful about making vows, either to the Lord or to one another. The fact that we are prone to errors in judgment means that we may make vows foolishly or out of immaturity. Further, the informal vows we make (“I swear by all the angels in heaven!”) are completely unnecessary. Our word is our bond.

Edited July 29, 2022 by missmuffet

[Who me]

1 hour ago, Open7 said:

how far I should take some of his statements.

As Christians we take Jesus's words very seriously.

As has been said in normal conversation we do not try to make our statements more impressive or authoritive by swearing or by foul language.

We do not curse.

We do not blaspheme, in any way whether say blimey, omg, criky or any oyjer blasphous form of slang.

 

There are occasions when one seriously and soberly makes a vow.

Getting married is one, serving in a jury or as a witness in court, joining the military.

These are serious vows that we should keep..

[Omegaman 3.0]

It courts, you are usually permitted to say "I affirm that every thing I say with be truthful". I am not sure that is really different that "swearing to tell the truth", but it is a technically that makes some folks feel more comfortable. I read somewhere recently, where a person was sworn in with:

"Do you swear to the the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?"

The person said "I do".

On the stand, and attorney posed a question asking for a yes or no answer. The man said: "I cannot do that!"

The attorney asked :why  not?

The man replied: "Sir, I just took and oath the tell the whole truth, if I answer with a yes or no, that would not be the whole truth!"

[Open7]

Thanks for your help all. But, I’m still not feeling satisfied.

Jesus said ‘do not take an oath at all’. But there are still exceptions. I get what the exceptions are, and I get that there are silly kinds of oaths that shouldn’t be made, I get all that and can learn from what he is teaching. But regards of this, he did say ‘do not take an oath all all’. So if there are exceptions, then why would he say it black and white like this? Even if he happened to talk about it in more detail somewhere else, he said it still here in this black and white way. So I don’t get this😔

[Tzephanyahu]

3 hours ago, Open7 said:

Not to say all commentaries are perfect, but it gave examples of people taking oaths in the Bible, including Paul.

My main question is that if we are not to take this statement from Jesus as an absolute, then how do we know this when he does say it in black and white, to not take oaths. It doesn’t seem that the language he is using indicates that it’s not literal. It’s not the only time Jesus does this.

Hi @Open7

It's a good question.

Making an oath before the Father is indeed lawful, according to the Law.  Therefore, Paul taking a vow and anyone else recorded in the New Testament (when the Temple was standing) was doing a good and holy thing.

However, the Messiah taught us not to make vows at all, seemingly that we might not fall into condemnation when we (most likely) break them.  It's not that it's wrong to make vows but rather "why take a risk when you don't need to".

If you run a search in this forum or other Christian forums for "vows", you'll see many posters worrying about breaking vows they have made before God.  It's a very common concern.  Now, it's never good to break vows, especially towards Yahweh.  So the Messiah's advice is perfect - don't even make a vow at all.  But that doesn't mean vows in themselves are wrong.  We make vows to our wives, vows in a court of law and even in business all the time.

Vows are meant to be our "serious game face" before the Father.  To show we are dedicated to a worthy cause with all out mind, body and soul.  However, if we could all walk in a walk where our yes was yes and and our no was no (always), then what need would there be to make vow?

[Billiards Ball]

7 hours ago, Open7 said:

I’m reading Matthew 5, and in verse 34 Jesus teaches that you should not swear any oaths.

In a commentary I read it said that oaths are permitted under certain circumstances, as long as they are not abused and used as a cover for deception.

Not to say all commentaries are perfect, but it gave examples of people taking oaths in the Bible, including Paul.

My main question is that if we are not to take this statement from Jesus as an absolute, then how do we know this when he does say it in black and white, to not take oaths. It doesn’t seem that the language he is using indicates that it’s not literal. It’s not the only time Jesus does this.

So I’m left a bit confused as to how far I should take some of his statements.

Hope this all makes sense, thanks

 

 

 

I swear I don't understand your question. Just kidding.

Some of Jesus's prescriptions aren't absolutes but principles, in this case, be MOST careful with your oaths.

Note how Paul's oath led to him being taken under guard--eventually to Rome and martyrdom.

[Open7]

Thanks guys, you have all helped me. It still annoys me a bit, but I’ll move on from this now. I do wonder if he said this in a certain manner which would explains things more.

Love

[TrueFollowerOfChrist]

Oaths should not be necessary when Christians speak, but not all Christians are honest. Jesus told us to speak as if everything that came out of our mouths was an oath under God. However we are also commanded to follow the law of man, so if we are told to say an oath, we should. Either way, ALL of our speech should be honest and without deception, under oath or not.