Matthew 23:22

English Standard Version

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

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
And the one who takes an oath by heaven takes an oath by God’s throne

King James Version (1611)
And he that shall sweare by heauen, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.

King James Version
And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.

New American Standard Bible
"And the one who swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.

New Century Version
The person who swears by heaven is also using God's throne and the One who sits on that throne.

Amplified Bible
"And whoever swears [an oath] by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"And whoever swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.

Legacy Standard Bible
And whoever swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.

Berean Standard Bible
And he who swears by heaven swears by God's throne and by the One who sits on it.

Contemporary English Version
To swear by heaven is the same as swearing by God's throne and by the one who sits on that throne.

Complete Jewish Bible
And someone who swears by heaven swears by God's throne and the One who sits on it.

Darby Translation
And he that swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him that sits upon it.

Easy-to-Read Version
Whoever uses heaven to make a promise is using God's throne and the one who is seated on it.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And he that sweareth by heauen, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.

George Lamsa Translation
And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him who sits on it.

Good News Translation
and when someone swears by heaven, he is swearing by God's throne and by him who sits on it.

Lexham English Bible
And the one who swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by the one who sits on it.

Literal Translation
And the one swearing by Heaven swears by the throne of God, and by the One sitting on it.

American Standard Version
And he that sweareth by the heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.

Bible in Basic English
And he who takes an oath by heaven, takes it by the seat of God, and by him who is seated on it.

Hebrew Names Version
He who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him who sits on it.

International Standard Version
And the one who swears an oath by heaven swears by God's throne and by the one who sits on it.Psalm 11:4; Matthew 5:34; Acts 7:49;">[xr]

Etheridge Translation
And whosoever sweareth by heaven, sweareth by the throne of Aloha, and by Him who sitteth thereon.

Murdock Translation
And he who sweareth by heaven, sweareth by throne of God, and by him that sitteth on it.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And he that sweareth by heauen, sweareth by the seate of God, and by hym that sitteth theron.

English Revised Version
And he that sweareth by the heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.

World English Bible
He who swears by the heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him who sits on it.

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And he that sweareth by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.

Weymouth's New Testament
and he who swears by Heaven swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And he that swerith in heuene, swerith in the trone of God, and in hym that sittith ther on.

Update Bible Version
And he that swears by the heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him that sits thereon.

Webster's Bible Translation
And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth upon it.

New English Translation
And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and the one who sits on it.

New King James Version
And he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by Him who sits on it.

New Living Translation
And when you swear ‘by heaven,' you are swearing by the throne of God and by God, who sits on the throne.

New Life Bible
Whoever makes a promise by heaven, promises by the throne of God and by Him Who sits there.

New Revised Standard
and whoever swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by the one who is seated upon it.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, he that hath sworn by heaven, sweareth by the throne of God, and by him who sitteth thereupon.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And he that sweareth by heaven sweareth by the throne of God and by him that sitteth thereon.

Revised Standard Version
and he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
And he that sweareth by heve swereth by the seate of God and by hym that sytteth theron.

Young's Literal Translation
and he who did swear by the heaven, doth swear by the throne of God, and by Him who is sitting upon it.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And who so sweareth by heauen, sweareth by the seate of God, and by him that sytteth theron.

Mace New Testament (1729)
and he that swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon.

Simplified Cowboy Version
The cowboy who gives his word by heaven gives his word on the Boss's throne and by the one who sits on it.

Contextual Overview

¹³ "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.' You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it. And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faithfulness. These you ought to have done, without neglecting the others. You blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel! "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you clean the outside of the cup and the plate, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. You blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup and the plate, that the outside also may be clean. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs, which outwardly appear beautiful, but within are full of dead people's bones and all uncleanness. So you also outwardly appear righteous to others, but within you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you build the tombs of the prophets and decorate the monuments of the righteous, saying, ‘If we had lived in the days of our fathers, we would not have taken part with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' Thus you witness against yourselves that you are sons of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up, then, the measure of your fathers. You serpents, you brood of vipers, how are you to escape being sentenced to hell? Therefore I send you prophets and wise men and scribes, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and persecute from town to town, so that on you may come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah the son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the sanctuary and the altar. Truly, I say to you, all these things will come upon this generation. "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, the city that kills the prophets and stones those who are sent to it! How often would I have gathered your children together as a hen gathers her brood under her wings, and you were not willing! See, your house is left to you desolate. For I tell you, you will not see me again, until you say, ‘Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.'" ¹⁴Seven Woes to the Scribes and Pharisees Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, "The scribes and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat, so do and observe whatever they tell you, but not the works they do. For they preach, but do not practice. They tie up heavy burdens, hard to bear, and lay them on people's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to move them with their finger. They do all their deeds to be seen by others. For they make their phylacteries broad and their fringes long, and they love the place of honor at feasts and the best seats in the synagogues and greetings in the marketplaces and being called rabbi by others. But you are not to be called rabbi, for you have one teacher, and you are all brothers. And call no man your father on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Neither be called instructors, for you have one instructor, the Christ. The greatest among you shall be your servant. Whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you shut the kingdom of heaven in people's faces. For you neither enter yourselves nor allow those who would enter to go in. ¹⁵ Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you travel across sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. ¹⁶ "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' ¹⁷ You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? ¹⁸ And you say, ‘If anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.' ¹⁹ You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? ²⁰ So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. ²¹ And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and by him who dwells in it. ²² And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

by the: Matthew 5:34, Psalms 11:4, Isaiah 66:1, Acts 7:49, Revelation 4:2, Revelation 4:3

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And he that shall swear by heaven,.... As the Jews were wont to do in common, but did not look upon such an oath as obligatory on them; :-, though such an one

sweareth by the throne of God; for heaven is God's throne, where he sits, and, in an eminent manner, displays the glory of his majesty:

and by him that sitteth thereon, by God himself. Thus swearing by anything that has any relation to God, is implicitly swearing by him; and therefore ought to be considered as binding, as if he was expressed in it; since an appeal cannot be made to things inanimate, nor indeed to any creature, but to God, the searcher of hearts.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The throne of God - Heaven is his throne, Matthew 5:34. It is so called as being the place where he sits in glory. Jesus says, here, that all who swear at all do, in fact, swear by God, or the oath is good for nothing. To swear by an altar, a gift, or a temple is of no force unless it be meant to appeal to God himself. The essential thing in an oath is calling God to witness our sincerity. If a real oath is taken, therefore, God is appealed to. If not it is foolish and wicked to swear by anything else.