{"id":397,"date":"2014-09-17T12:00:11","date_gmt":"2014-09-17T12:00:11","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/?p=397"},"modified":"2014-08-30T21:19:29","modified_gmt":"2014-08-30T21:19:29","slug":"matthew-533-37-oaths-cultural-commentary","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.beliefnet.com\/columnists\/forbiblestudynerds\/2014\/09\/matthew-533-37-oaths-cultural-commentary.html","title":{"rendered":"Matthew 5:33-37; Oaths (Cultural Commentary)"},"content":{"rendered":"

In ancient Israel, an oath was both a ritual act and a binding promise.<\/p>\n

Oaths were invoked in court cases to (supposedly) ensure that witnesses would tell the truth. They were also given as proof of an unbreakable pledge of loyalty, or as a guarantee that a person would fulfill some obligation being incurred (such as a promise to repay a loan).<\/p>\n

People swore oaths by that which was valuable to them, such as families or personal wealth and security, and even their own lives (swearing \u201cby my head\u201d). The assumption was that failure to keep such an oath would either bring shame or personal loss. The highest, most binding ritual oath was one that brought God into the transaction because, it was assumed that God himself would inflict a curse upon any who failed to fulfill an oath made in his name.<\/p>\n

By the time of Jesus, though, the Pharisees had used an array of semantics to skillfully excuse themselves from the duty to keep most oaths.<\/p>\n

In much the same ways that disreputable lawyers today appeal to the \u201cfine print\u201d to get out of obvious obligations, Pharisees were experts at dissecting the oath ritual in order to find loopholes that justified their dishonest promises. For instance, in their reasoning, an oath sworn \u201cby the temple!\u201d in Jerusalem could be considered frivolous and assumed to mean nothing. A promise made \u201cby the gold of the temple,\u201d however, was binding and failure to fulfill that would incur punishment. (See Matthew 23:16)<\/p>\n

When Jesus preached against making oaths in Matthew 5:33-37, he was also indicting this kind of Pharisaical hypocrisy\u2014and calling all God followers to a higher standard of authenticity and integrity. As one theologian describes it, \u201cChrist teaches that form is irrelevant\u2026In the fellowship of honest people, a person\u2019s word is as binding as a sacred oath.\u201d<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Works Cited<\/a>:<\/p>\n

[HBD, 716; RBD, 742-743]<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u2126\u2126\u2126<\/p>\n

About: For Bible Study Nerds\u2122<\/a><\/p>\n

About: Mike Nappa<\/a><\/p>\n

Copyright \u00a9 2014 to present by\u00a0Nappaland Communications Inc<\/a>. All Rights Reserved.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

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