Matthew 23:22

THE MESSAGE

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.

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

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 "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

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.