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Read the Bible

New American Standard Bible

Matthew 23:18

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

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

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

Dictionaries:

- American Tract Society Bible Dictionary - Corban;   Pharisees;   Bridgeway Bible Dictionary - Hypocrisy;   Matthew, gospel of;   Pharisees;   Baker Evangelical Dictionary of Biblical Theology - Anger;   Blindness;   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;   Sanctification, Sanctify;   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;   Loans;   Manuscripts;   Mental Characteristics;   Oath;   Organization (2);   Paradox;   Profaning, Profanity;   Reality;   Sabbath ;   Sanctify, Sanctification;   Self-Control;   Teaching of Jesus;   Temple (2);   Woe;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Blindness;   Oath;   Scribes;   The Hawker's Poor Man's Concordance And Dictionary - Corban;   Pharisee;   Scribe;   People's Dictionary of the Bible - Pharisees;   Scribe;   Smith Bible Dictionary - Oath,;   Scribes;   Watson's Biblical & Theological Dictionary - Corban;   Vow;  

Encyclopedias:

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

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 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 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you shut the kingdom of heaven in front of people; for you do not enter it yourselves, nor do you allow those who are entering to go in. 15 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you travel around on sea and land to make one proselyte; and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as yourselves. 16 "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'Whoever swears by the temple, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the gold of the temple is obligated.' 17 "You fools and blind men! Which is more important, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold? 18 "And you say, 'Whoever swears by the altar, that is nothing; but whoever swears by the offering that is on it is obligated.'19 "You blind men, which is more important, the offering or the altar that sanctifies the offering? 20 "Therefore, the one who swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it. 21 "And the one who swears by the temple, swears both by the temple and by Him who dwells in it. 22 "And the one who swears by heaven, swears both by the throne of God and by Him who sits upon it. 23 "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe mint and dill and cumin, and have neglected the weightier provisions of the Law: justice and mercy and faithfulness; but these are the things you should have done without neglecting the others.

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 came to the gate of their city and spoke to the people of their city, saying,
Ruth 4:1
Now Boaz went up to the gate and sat down there, and behold, the redeemer of whom Boaz spoke was passing by, so he said, "Come over here, friend, sit down here." And he came over and sat down.
Jeremiah 32:12
and I gave the deed of purchase to Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Mahseiah, in the sight of Hanamel my uncle's son and in the sight of the witnesses who signed the deed of purchase, in the sight of all the Jews who were sitting in the courtyard of the guard.

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.


 
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