Matthew 23:22 - Printer Friendly

ESV: And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.

NIV: And anyone who swears by heaven swears by God’s throne and by the one who sits on it.

NASB: And the one who swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.

CSB: And the one who takes an oath by heaven takes an oath by God’s throne and by him who sits on it.

NLT: And when you swear ‘by heaven,’ you are swearing by the throne of God and by God, who sits on the throne.

KJV: And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.

NKJV: And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.

During this passage, Jesus has warned of judgment coming upon the scribes and Pharisees for foolish teachings about taking oaths. The danger of taking an oath on the God of heaven is that if a person is unable or unwilling to keep the oath, they will be breaking their word to God. Instead, Jesus has taught that people should simply say "yes" or "no" and then do it (Matthew 5:33–37). Adding "enhancements" to a promise suggests a faulty view of what it means to be trustworthy.

Traditional teachers of that era, however, used a system in which a person might be able to swear an oath by something that is sacred without directly swearing by God Himself. They have told the people to swear by the gold of the temple, or by the gift on the altar, without swearing by the temple or alter themselves. Jesus has shown this is ridiculous. You cannot separate the sacredness of altar from the sacrifice or the temple from the gold inside of it.

In the end, everything is God's. Everything a person might swear by, in truth, leads back to God. To swear an oath of any kind by anything connected to God in any way is to swear an oath to God, making the one who swears it vulnerable to God's judgment for breaking it.

Jesus now returns to a point that may have prompted the Pharisees to make these rules in the first place. Apparently, some had decided that swearing by God's throne was acceptable, while swearing by God was not. Others thought that maybe swearing by heaven would be better than swearing by God's throne. Jesus shows that swearing by any of them is the same as swearing by God. To teach that these things are separate from Him is foolishness (Matthew 23:16–21).

Matthew 23:13–36 contains seven layers of condemnation, from Jesus, towards the religious leaders of His era. Each of these is introduced with the word "woe," which is an exclamation like "oh!" or "alas!" Pronouncing God's judgment on these men, He repeatedly describes them as "blind" and "hypocrites." Convincing others of their views only adds victims to hell. They follow the letters of manmade law to the tiniest detail but miss the real meaning of Scripture: God's heart for justice, mercy, and faithfulness. Their outer appearance of righteousness hides inner lives full of greed, self-indulgence, hypocrisy, and lawlessness. Those in Jesus' generation will pay for many of the righteous people unjustly killed in the past.

After thoroughly dismantling scribes, Pharisees, and Sadducees in debate, Jesus even more thoroughly condemns these religious leaders for their religious hypocrisy. They do all their religious acts and works to be seen and approved of by other people. Jesus pronounces God's judgment on the scribes and Pharisees in a series of seven "woe to you" statements. He repeatedly calls them "blind" and "hypocrites." He concludes with a lament for Jerusalem and her children who rejected His protection. God's judgment is coming.

Matthew 23 concludes Matthew's multi-chapter account of all of Jesus' interactions in the temple during the last week before His arrest and crucifixion. After silencing the religious leaders with parables and brilliant responses (Matthew 21—22), He pronounces God's judgment on the scribes and Pharisees in a series of seven "woe to you" statements. Jesus mourns for the judgment that will come on Jerusalem for her rejection of God. This leads Jesus to leave the temple, sadly remarking on its impending destruction (Matthew 24:1–2). As the disciples ask about this, Jesus begins an extended teaching on the end times in chapter 24.

The Gospel of Matthew clearly shows the influence of its writer's background, and his effort to reach a specific audience. Matthew was one of Jesus' twelve disciples, a Jewish man, and a former tax collector. This profession would have required literacy, and Matthew may have transcribed some of Jesus' words as they were spoken. This book is filled with references to the Old Testament, demonstrating to Israel that Jesus is the Promised One. Matthew also includes many references to coins, likely due to his former profession. Matthew records extensive accounts of Jesus' teaching, more than the other three Gospels.