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Thursday, July 17th, 2025
the Week of Proper 10 / Ordinary 15
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Read the Bible

The Holy Bible, Berean Study Bible

Matthew 23:20

So then, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

- Nave's Topical Bible - Blindness;   Church;   Ecclesiasticism;   Hypocrisy;   Oath;   Pharisees;   Satire;   Teachers;   Temple;   The Topic Concordance - Blindness;   Guidance;   Hypocrisy;   Torrey's Topical Textbook - Oaths;   Pharisees, the;  

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Pharisees;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Hypocrisy;   Matthew, gospel of;   Pharisees;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Anger;   Blindness;   Destroy, Destruction;   Ethics;   Fool, Foolishness, Folly;   Worship;   Charles Buck Theological Dictionary - Supralapsarians;   Fausset Bible Dictionary - Pharisees;   Scribes;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Altar;   Blindness;   Matthew, the Gospel of;   Oaths;   Salutation;   Hastings' Dictionary of the Bible - Hypocrite;   Judas Iscariot;   Scribes;   Sin;   Text of the New Testament;   Hastings' Dictionary of the New Testament - Altar ;   Anger (2);   Children of God;   Claim;   Common Life;   Courage;   Discourse;   Error;   Judgment;   Law of God;   Manuscripts;   Mental Characteristics;   Oath;   Organization (2);   Paradox;   Profaning, Profanity;   Reality;   Sabbath ;   Sanctify, Sanctification;   Self-Control;   Teaching of Jesus;   Woe;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Blindness;   Oath;   Scribes;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Pharisee;   Scribe;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Pharisees;   Scribe;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Oath,;   Scribes;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Vow;  

Encyclopedias:

- Condensed Biblical Cyclopedia - Jesus of Nazareth;   International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Matthew, the Gospel of;   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Hypocrisy;  

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Therefore, the one who takes an oath by the altar takes an oath by it and by everything on it.
King James Version (1611)
Who so therefore shall sweare by the Altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.
King James Version
Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.
English Standard Version
So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.
New American Standard Bible
"Therefore, the one who swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it.
New Century Version
The person who swears by the altar is really using the altar and also everything on the altar.
Amplified Bible
"Therefore, whoever swears [an oath] by the altar, swears both by it and by everything [offered] on it.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it.
Legacy Standard Bible
Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it.
Contemporary English Version
Anyone who swears by the altar also swears by everything on it.
Complete Jewish Bible
So someone who swears by the altar swears by it and everything on it.
Darby Translation
He therefore that swears by the altar swears by it and by all things that are upon it.
Easy-to-Read Version
Whoever uses the altar to make a promise is really using the altar and everything on the altar.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Whosoeuer therefore sweareth by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.
George Lamsa Translation
Therefore he who swears by the altar, he swears by it and by everything that is on it.
Good News Translation
So then, when a person swears by the altar, he is swearing by it and by all the gifts on it;
Lexham English Bible
Therefore the one who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything that is on it.
Literal Translation
Then the one swearing by the altar swears by it, and by all things on it.
American Standard Version
He therefore that sweareth by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.
Bible in Basic English
He, then, who takes an oath by the altar, takes it by the altar and by all things on it.
Hebrew Names Version
He therefore who swears by the altar, swears by it, and by everything on it.
International Standard Version
Therefore, the one who swears an oath by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.
Etheridge Translation
He therefore who sweareth by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things that are upon it.
Murdock Translation
He therefore who sweareth by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all that is upon it.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Who so therfore sweareth by the aulter, sweareth by it, and by all thynges theron.
English Revised Version
He therefore that sweareth by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.
World English Bible
He therefore who swears by the altar, swears by it, and by everything on it.
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
He therefore that sweareth by the altar, sweareth by it and by all things thereon.
Weymouth's New Testament
He who swears by the altar swears both by it and by everything on it;
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Therfor he that swerith in the auter, swerith in it, and in alle thingis that ben ther on.
Update Bible Version
He therefore that swears by the altar, swears by it, and by all things thereon.
Webster's Bible Translation
Whoever therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things upon it.
New English Translation
So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.
New King James Version
Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.
New Living Translation
When you swear ‘by the altar,' you are swearing by it and by everything on it.
New Life Bible
Whoever makes a promise by the altar, promises by it and by everything on it.
New Revised Standard
So whoever swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it;
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
He therefore that hath sworn by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all that is upon it;
Douay-Rheims Bible
He therefore that sweareth by the altar sweareth by it and by all things that are upon it.
Revised Standard Version
So he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it;
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
Whosoever therfore sweareth by ye aultre sweareth by it and by all yt there on is.
Young's Literal Translation
`He therefore who did swear by the altar, doth swear by it, and by all things on it;
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Therfore who so sweareth by the altare, sweareth by the same, and by all that is theron:
Mace New Testament (1729)
whoever swears by the altar, swears not only by the altar, but by every thing upon it.
Simplified Cowboy Version

Contextual Overview

13Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You shut the kingdom of heaven in men's faces. You yourselves do not enter, nor will you let in those who wish to enter. 15Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You traverse land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are. 16Woe to you, blind guides! You say, 'If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' 17You blind fools! Which is greater: the gold, or the temple that makes it sacred? 18And you say, 'If anyone swears by the altar, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gift on it, he is bound by his oath.' 19You blind men! Which is greater: the gift, or the altar that makes it sacred? 20So then, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.21And he who swears by the temple swears by it and by the One who dwells in it. 22And he who swears by heaven swears by God's throne and by the One who sits on it. 23Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You pay tithes of mint, dill, and cumin, but you have disregarded the weightier matters of the law: justice, mercy, and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Reciprocal: Hebrews 6:16 - swear

Cross-References

Genesis 23:7
Then Abraham rose and bowed down before the people of the land, the Hittites.
Genesis 23:10
Now Ephron was sitting among the sons of Heth. So in the presence of all the Hittites who had come to the gate of his city, Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham,
Genesis 23:14
Ephron answered Abraham,
Genesis 25:9
His sons Isaac and Ishmael buried him in the cave of Machpelah near Mamre, in the field of Ephron son of Zohar the Hittite.
Genesis 50:5
my father made me swear an oath when he said, 'I am about to die. You must bury me in the tomb that I dug for myself in the land of Canaan.' Now let me go and bury my father, and then return."
Genesis 50:13
They carried him to the land of Canaan and buried him in the cave at Machpelah in the field near Mamre, which Abraham had purchased from Ephron the Hittite as a burial site.
2 Samuel 24:24
"No," replied the king, "I insist on paying a price, for I will not offer to the LORD my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
2 Kings 21:18
And Manasseh rested with his fathers and was buried in his palace garden, the garden of Uzza. And his son Amon became king in his place.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Whosoever therefore shall swear by the altar,.... Not that Christ allowed of swearing by the altar, or by the temple, or by heaven, or by any creature, animate or inanimate; for such swearing is elsewhere disapproved of by him, and forbid, but if a man did swear by the altar, he ought to know, and consider that he not only

sweareth by it, but by all the gifts, and offerings that are brought, and laid upon it,

and by all things thereon; whatever gifts and sacrifices are offered upon it; which, by being put there, become holy, as the altar itself: so that he that swears by the altar, swears also by the gifts of the altar; and consequently, according to their own traditions, such oaths must be binding.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Matthew 23:20. Whoso - shall swear by the altar — As an oath always supposes a person who witnesses it, and will punish perjury; therefore, whether they swore by the temple or the gold, (Matthew 23:16), or by the altar or the gift laid on it, (Matthew 23:18), the oath necessarily supposes the God of the temple, of the altar, and of the gifts, who witnessed the whole, and would, even in their exempt cases, punish the perjury.


 
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