Matthew 23:18

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Also, ‘Whoever takes an oath by the altar, it means nothing; but whoever takes an oath by the gift that is on it is bound by his oath.’

King James Version (1611)
And whosoeuer shall sweare by the Altar, it is nothing: but whosoeuer sweareth by the gift that is vpon it, he is guiltie.

King James Version
And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.

English Standard Version
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.'

New American Standard Bible
"And you say, 'Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the offering that is on it is obligated.'

New Century Version
And you say, ‘If people swear by the altar when they make a promise, that means nothing. But if they swear by the gift on the altar, they must keep that promise.'

Amplified Bible
"And [you scribes and Pharisees say], 'Whoever swears [an oath] by the altar, that is nothing (non-binding), but whoever swears [an oath] by the offering on it, he is obligated [as a debtor to fulfill his vow and keep his promise].'

New American Standard Bible (1995)
"And, 'Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the offering on it, he is obligated.'

Legacy Standard Bible
And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing, but whoever swears by the offering on it, he is obligated.'

Berean Standard Bible
And 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.'

Contemporary English Version
You also teach that it doesn't matter if a person swears by the altar. But you say that it does matter if someone swears by the gift on the altar.

Complete Jewish Bible
And you say, ‘If someone swears by the altar, he is not bound by his oath; but if he swears by the offering on the altar, he is bound.'

Darby Translation
And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gift that is upon it is a debtor.

Easy-to-Read Version
"And you say, ‘If anyone uses the altar to make a promise, that means nothing. But anyone who uses the gift on the altar to make a promise must keep that promise.'

Geneva Bible (1587)
And whosoeuer sweareth by the altar, it is nothing: but whosoeuer sweareth by the offering that is vpon it, offendeth.

George Lamsa Translation
And whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the offering that is on it, he is guilty.

Good News Translation
You also teach, ‘If someone swears by the altar, he isn't bound by his vow; but if he swears by the gift on the altar, he is bound.'

Lexham English Bible
And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing! But whoever swears by the gift that is on it is bound by his oath.'

Literal Translation
And you say , Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift on it, he is a debtor.

American Standard Version
And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gift that is upon it, he is a debtor.

Bible in Basic English
And, Whoever takes an oath by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever takes an oath by the offering which is on it, he is responsible.

Hebrew Names Version
'Whoever will swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever will swear by the gift that is on it, he is a debtor.'

International Standard Version
Again you say,And">[fn] 'Whoever swears an oath by the altar is excused,is nothing">[fn] but whoever swears by the gift that is on it must keep his oath.'owes a debt">[fn]

Etheridge Translation
And (that) whoever sweareth by the altar, it is nothing; but [fn] he swear by the oblation which is upon it, he is liable.

Murdock Translation
And, whoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing: but whoever shall swear by the oblation upon it, he is holden.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And whosoeuer sweareth by the aulter, it is nothyng: but whosoeuer sweareth by the gyft that is vpon it, he is a detter.

English Revised Version
And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gift that is upon it, he is a debtor.

World English Bible
'Whoever will swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever will swear by the gift that is on it, he is a debtor.'

Wesley's New Testament (1755)
And whosoever shall swear by the altar, ye say, it is nothing: but whosoever shall swear by the gift that is upon it, is bound.

Weymouth's New Testament
And you say, "`Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the offering lying on it is bound by the oath.'

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
And who euer swerith in the auter, it is no thing; but he that swerith in the yifte that is on the auter, owith.

Update Bible Version
And, Whoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever shall swear by the gift that is on it, he is a debtor.

Webster's Bible Translation
And whoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.

New English Translation
And, ‘Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing. But if anyone swears by the gift on it he is bound by the oath.'

New King James Version
And, "Whoever swears by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever swears by the gift that is on it, he is obliged to perform it.'

New Living Translation
And you say that to swear ‘by the altar' is not binding, but to swear ‘by the gifts on the altar' is binding.

New Life Bible
You say, ‘Whoever will promise by the altar, his promise does not have to be kept. But whoever makes a promise by the gift on the altar, then his promise has to be kept.'

New Revised Standard
And you say, ‘Whoever swears by the altar is bound by nothing, but whoever swears by the gift that is on the altar is bound by the oath.'

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
And, whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is, nothing, but, whosoever shall swear by the gift that is upon it, is bound:

Douay-Rheims Bible
And whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gift that is upon it is a debtor.

Revised Standard Version
And you say, 'If any one swears by the altar, it is nothing; but if any one swears by the gift that is on the altar, he is bound by his oath.'

Tyndale New Testament (1525)
And whosoever sweareth by the aulter it is nothinge: but whosoever sweareth by ye offeringe yt lyeth on ye aultre offendeth.

Young's Literal Translation
`And, whoever may swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whoever may swear by the gift that is upon it -- is debtor!

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And who so euer sweareth by the altare, that is nothinge: but who so euer sweareth by the offeringe that is vpo it, he is giltye.

Mace New Testament (1729)
again, if any one swear by the altar he is under no engagement but if he swear by the gift that is upon it, he is bound thereby.

Simplified Cowboy Version

Contextual Overview

¹³ "I've had it with you! You're hopeless, you religion scholars, you Pharisees! Frauds! Your lives are roadblocks to God's kingdom. You refuse to enter, and won't let anyone else in either. "You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You go halfway around the world to make a convert, but once you get him you make him into a replica of yourselves, double-damned. "You're hopeless! What arrogant stupidity! You say, ‘If someone makes a promise with his fingers crossed, that's nothing; but if he swears with his hand on the Bible, that's serious.' What ignorance! Does the leather on the Bible carry more weight than the skin on your hands? And what about this piece of trivia: ‘If you shake hands on a promise, that's nothing; but if you raise your hand that God is your witness, that's serious'? What ridiculous hairsplitting! What difference does it make whether you shake hands or raise hands? A promise is a promise. What difference does it make if you make your promise inside or outside a house of worship? A promise is a promise. God is present, watching and holding you to account regardless. "You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You keep meticulous account books, tithing on every nickel and dime you get, but on the meat of God's Law, things like fairness and compassion and commitment—the absolute basics!—you carelessly take it or leave it. Careful bookkeeping is commendable, but the basics are required. Do you have any idea how silly you look, writing a life story that's wrong from start to finish, nitpicking over commas and semicolons? "You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You burnish the surface of your cups and bowls so they sparkle in the sun, while the insides are maggoty with your greed and gluttony. Stupid Pharisee! Scour the insides, and then the gleaming surface will mean something. "You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You're like manicured grave plots, grass clipped and the flowers bright, but six feet down it's all rotting bones and worm-eaten flesh. People look at you and think you're saints, but beneath the skin you're total frauds. "You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You build granite tombs for your prophets and marble monuments for your saints. And you say that if you had lived in the days of your ancestors, no blood would have been on your hands. You protest too much! You're cut from the same cloth as those murderers, and daily add to the death count. "Snakes! Reptilian sneaks! Do you think you can worm your way out of this? Never have to pay the piper? It's on account of people like you that I send prophets and wise guides and scholars generation after generation—and generation after generation you treat them like dirt, greeting them with lynch mobs, hounding them with abuse. "You can't squirm out of this: Every drop of righteous blood ever spilled on this earth, beginning with the blood of that good man Abel right down to the blood of Zechariah, Barachiah's son, whom you murdered at his prayers, is on your head. All this, I'm telling you, is coming down on you, on your generation. "Jerusalem! Jerusalem! Murderer of prophets! Killer of the ones who brought you God's news! How often I've ached to embrace your children, the way a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, and you wouldn't let me. And now you're so desolate, nothing but a ghost town. What is there left to say? Only this: I'm out of here soon. The next time you see me you'll say, ‘Oh, God has blessed him! He's come, bringing God's rule!'" ¹⁴Religious Fashion Shows Now Jesus turned to address his disciples, along with the crowd that had gathered with them. "The religion scholars and Pharisees are competent teachers in God's Law. You won't go wrong in following their teachings on Moses. But be careful about following them. They talk a good line, but they don't live it. They don't take it into their hearts and live it out in their behavior. It's all spit-and-polish veneer. "Instead of giving you God's Law as food and drink by which you can banquet on God, they package it in bundles of rules, loading you down like pack animals. They seem to take pleasure in watching you stagger under these loads, and wouldn't think of lifting a finger to help. Their lives are perpetual fashion shows, embroidered prayer shawls one day and flowery prayers the next. They love to sit at the head table at church dinners, basking in the most prominent positions, preening in the radiance of public flattery, receiving honorary degrees, and getting called ‘Doctor' and ‘Reverend.' "Don't let people do that to you, put you on a pedestal like that. You all have a single Teacher, and you are all classmates. Don't set people up as experts over your life, letting them tell you what to do. Save that authority for God; let him tell you what to do. No one else should carry the title of ‘Father'; you have only one Father, and he's in heaven. And don't let people maneuver you into taking charge of them. There is only one Life-Leader for you and them—Christ. "Do you want to stand out? Then step down. Be a servant. If you puff yourself up, you'll get the wind knocked out of you. But if you're content to simply be yourself, your life will count for plenty. "I've had it with you! You're hopeless, you religion scholars, you Pharisees! Frauds! Your lives are roadblocks to God's kingdom. You refuse to enter, and won't let anyone else in either. ¹⁵ "You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You go halfway around the world to make a convert, but once you get him you make him into a replica of yourselves, double-damned. ¹⁶"You're hopeless! What arrogant stupidity! You say, ‘If someone makes a promise with his fingers crossed, that's nothing; but if he swears with his hand on the Bible, that's serious.' What ignorance! Does the leather on the Bible carry more weight than the skin on your hands? And what about this piece of trivia: ‘If you shake hands on a promise, that's nothing; but if you raise your hand that God is your witness, that's serious'? What ridiculous hairsplitting! What difference does it make whether you shake hands or raise hands? A promise is a promise. What difference does it make if you make your promise inside or outside a house of worship? A promise is a promise. God is present, watching and holding you to account regardless. ²³"You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You keep meticulous account books, tithing on every nickel and dime you get, but on the meat of God's Law, things like fairness and compassion and commitment—the absolute basics!—you carelessly take it or leave it. Careful bookkeeping is commendable, but the basics are required. Do you have any idea how silly you look, writing a life story that's wrong from start to finish, nitpicking over commas and semicolons? ²⁵"You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You burnish the surface of your cups and bowls so they sparkle in the sun, while the insides are maggoty with your greed and gluttony. Stupid Pharisee! Scour the insides, and then the gleaming surface will mean something. ²⁷"You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You're like manicured grave plots, grass clipped and the flowers bright, but six feet down it's all rotting bones and worm-eaten flesh. People look at you and think you're saints, but beneath the skin you're total frauds. ²⁹"You're hopeless, you religion scholars and Pharisees! Frauds! You build granite tombs for your prophets and marble monuments for your saints. And you say that if you had lived in the days of your ancestors, no blood would have been on your hands. You protest too much! You're cut from the same cloth as those murderers, and daily add to the death count. ³³"Snakes! Reptilian sneaks! Do you think you can worm your way out of this? Never have to pay the piper? It's on account of people like you that I send prophets and wise guides and scholars generation after generation—and generation after generation you treat them like dirt, greeting them with lynch mobs, hounding them with abuse.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

guilty: or, debtor, Matthew 23:15, or bound

Reciprocal: Numbers 30:2 - to bind 2 Chronicles 6:22 - the oath Mark 7:11 - It is Corban Galatians 5:3 - a debtor

Cross-References

Genesis 34:20
So Hamor and his son Shechem went to the public square and spoke to the town council: "These men like us; they are our friends. Let them settle down here and make themselves at home; there's plenty of room in the country for them. And, just think, we can even exchange our daughters in marriage. But these men will only accept our invitation to live with us and become one big family on one condition, that all our males become circumcised just as they themselves are. This is a very good deal for us—these people are very wealthy with great herds of livestock and we're going to get our hands on it. So let's do what they ask and have them settle down with us."

Ruth 4:1
Boaz went straight to the public square and took his place there. Before long the "closer relative," the one mentioned earlier by Boaz, strolled by. "Step aside, old friend," said Boaz. "Take a seat." The man sat down.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing,.... These are again the words or savings of the scribes and Pharisees, and express their sentiments and practice: it was usual with them to swear by the altar; and this was reckoned either no sin at all, or such an oath was not accounted binding on a man; he might break, or keep it as he thought fit: of this kind of swearing, we have the following instances. One said to another r,

"swear to me that thou wilt not discover me, and he swore to him; by what did he swear? says R. Jose bar Chanina,

במזבח הפנימי, "by the innermost altar".''

Again, it is said of Zedekiah s,

"that he (Nebuchadnezzar) made him to swear; by what did he make him to swear? says R. Jose, by the covenant he made him to swear; Rabbi says במזבח, "by the altar" he made him to swear.''

And elsewhere t it is said of him,

""and he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who made him swear by God", 2 Chronicles 36:13. By what did he make him swear? says R. Jose bar Chanina, "by the horns of the innermost altar" he made him swear.''

But whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty: of perjury, if he does not make good his oath; he is bound to perform it, it is obligatory; whatever he swore should be a gift for the altar, he was indispensably obliged to bring it; for whatever he swore by "Korban", or the gift, could never be put to any other use.

r Echa Rabbati, fol. 54. 1. s Midrash Kohelet, fol. 78. 1. t Midrash Megillat Esther, fol. 89. 1.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The altar - The altar of burnt-offerings, in the court of the priests. See the notes at Matthew 21:12. It was made of brass, about 30 feet in length and breadth, and 15 feet in height, 2 Chronicles 4:1. On this altar were offered all the beasts and bloody oblations of the temple.

The gift that is upon it - The gift or offering made to God, so called because it was devoted or “given” to him. The gift upon this altar was always beasts and birds.