Matthew 5:33-37 meaning

Jesus demonstrates that righteousness and harmony is not a matter of oaths, but plain honesty and simple truth-telling.

There is no apparent parallel account of this teaching in the Gospels.

Jesus next moves to the subject of making promises or vows. He again addresses the matter at the heart level. Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord’ (v 33). The reference to the ancients could mean the time period of the Old Testament in general. It could also be a specific reference to the Exodus generation who had received the Law from Moses. The ninth commandment was “You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor” (Exodus 20:16, Deuteronomy 5:20).

Regardless of which ancients Jesus has in view, it is clear that He is discussing a long-standing practice of making vows. To vow or make an oath by something was to say that your promise is as good or as lasting as the thing you are swearing by. If someone were to swear by this mountain, they are saying that “as long as this mountain is here so will I be or do what I am promising to you.” People typically swore by things that endured as a way of adding gravity to their oaths. The most permanent thing or person to swear by is of course God. Moses wrote in Psalm 90:2 of God that He is “from everlasting to everlasting.” To appeal to God by invoking the Lord’s name when making an oath was to be absolutely bound to that oath in the strongest possible terms.

Here is what the Law of Moses said about making vows to the Lord.

“You shall not swear falsely by My name, so as to profane the name of your God; I am the Lord”
(Leviticus 19:12).

“If a man makes a vow to the Lord, or takes an oath to bind himself with a binding obligation, he shall not violate his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth“
(Numbers 30:2).

“When you make a vow to the Lord your God, you shall not delay to pay it, for it would be sin in you, and the Lord your God will surely require it of you”
(Deuteronomy 23:21).

Moses’ admonition is echoed by Solomon:
“When you make a vow to God, do not be late in paying it; for He takes no delight in fools. Pay what you vow! It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay” (Ecclesiastes 5:4-5).

From these verses it is obvious that God takes His name very seriously. Anyone who violated an oath they made by invoking the Lord would face punishment from society, but also be accountable before God. Yet again, religious authorities created loopholes to “get away with” being deceitful and wiggle out of their promises while maintaining a facade of righteousness.

People would make vows not by God’s name but by heaven, or by the earth, or by Jerusalem, or some other thing. When they broke their promise or did not fulfill their vows they could set aside their feelings of guilt or dismiss their accusers with the thought that the vow did not have to be kept because it was not made to the Lord Himself.

With delicious irony, Jesus invokes His own divine name and authority—I say to you—in His next instruction. But I say to you, make no oath at all but rather simply let your statements be, ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ (vv 34, 37). In other words, just tell the truth and stop deceiving one another by trying to wriggle out of your agreements. And quit trying to add more weight behind your words than what you can vouch for.

All authority ultimately derives from God—no authority rests solely with us. So do not swear by heaven, for it is the throne of God (v 34). Do not swear by the earth, for it is God’s footstool (v 35). Do not swear by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King (v 35). The phrase the great King could refer to Himself, the Messiah, the Son of David, or to King David, who conquered Jerusalem and made it his capital city (Matthew 1:1, 2 Samuel 5:6-10). Do not swear by anything, just tell the truth.

With humor Jesus adds that you shall not even make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black (v 36). There are precious few things we can control, and the natural color of our hair is not one of them. Everything ultimately comes back to God. What we can control is whether or not we will trust God, and strive to keep and fulfill our promises. This we should do.

Any oaths beyond the plain truth telling of ‘Yes, yes’ (doing what we say we will do) or ‘No, no’ (not doing what we say we will not do) is of evil (v 37). The kingdom of heaven is full of righteousness (social harmony); harmony between people cannot exist without people being truthful. Trust is the bond which ties together social groups and gives them strength.

Biblical Text

³³ Again, you have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ ³⁴ But I say to you, make no oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, ³⁵ or by the earth, for it is the footstool of His feet, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. ³⁶ Nor shall you make an oath by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. ³⁷ But let your statement be, ‘Yes, yes’ or ‘No, no’; anything beyond these is of evil.

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Additional Resources

Book Theme

The Gospel of Matthew was written to demonstrate to the Jews of Jesus, the Messiah’s generation that He was indeed the Christ. Matthew thematically substantiates the Messianic identity of Jesus beginning with the genealogy of Jesus, which ran from Abraham, the father of Israel’s people through King David who was promised to have a son who would be on Israel’s throne forever. Throughout his Gospel account Matthew makes use of numerous prophecies both explicitly stated and by way of subtle allusion to support his thesis. Matthew further makes use of parallel events in Jesus’s life to those of Messianic figures from the Old Testament (Moses, Joseph, David, etc.) to bolster his argument.

Jesus came to offer the Jews the chance to participate in the inauguration of the Messianic Kingdom. To do this, they would have to receive and follow Him as their Messiah. Jesus’s message was “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (Matthew 4:17). Ultimately, they rejected Him as their Messiah and condemned Jesus to death by crucifixion. The Jews’ rejection of the Messiah opened the door for Gentiles to enter the kingdom (Matthew 8:11-12, 22:1-10). Matthew’s Gospel is therefore a call for the Jews repent of their murder of Jesus and to embrace Him for the divine Messiah He is.

Matthew shows how their rejection of Him and His brutal death was predicted not only by Jesus Himself, but also was foretold in the Jewish scriptures of the Messiah.

The main proof that Jesus was the Messiah was “the sign of Jonah” (Matthew 12:39, 16:4). This was Jesus’s death and resurrection from the dead. “Just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the sea monster, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth” (Matthew 12:40).

Because Matthew’s Gospel was written to people who were already members of God’s eternal family by virtue of their faith in God’s promise to send the Messiah, Matthew emphasizes the “reward of eternal life” (aka “The Prize of Eternal Life”) rather than “the Gift of Eternal Life”. In other words, Matthew’s Gospel focuses on how to “enter the kingdom” rather than how to “be born again”.

Matthew’s Gospel demonstrates how Jesus came to fulfill the law and open a way for God’s people to participate in the Messianic kingdom if they would follow His example of worshiping God from the heart by forgiving and serving others.

For “the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life a ransom for many” (Matthew 20:28). If we have faith to follow the example set forth by the resurrected Messiah, whom all authority on heaven and earth has been granted (Matthew 28:18) and take up our cross for His sake (Matthew 16:24-25), then we will become great in His kingdom (Matthew 20:26).

Finally, Matthew provides extensive samples of Jesus’s teachings including “the Sermon on the Mount”, “the Little Commission”, and “the Olivet Discourse” and many parables, alongside accounts of numerous miracles and wonders, personal moments with His twelve disciples, interactions with seekers, and increasingly as his Gospel account progresses: challenges and confrontations with His adversaries – the Pharisees, Scribes, and Priests.

Chapter Context

Chapters 5-7 form the “Sermon on the Mount.” Jesus withdraws from the large crowds and focuses on teaching His disciples. This is Jesus’ kingdom platform. Jesus is the second Moses prophesied by Moses, giving a new word from God from a different mountain. Jesus’s sermon has the same purpose as the word from God on Mount Sinai—it shows humans how to live constructively in fellowship with God and one another. Jesus’s emphasis is on the spirit behind the law. Without a change of heart, rules don’t work. Jesus initiated a new covenant, where the law was written on the heart (Jeremiah 31:31; Matthew 25:28).

The Sermon on the Mount transitions from Jesus speaking to “large crowds” to speaking to a “crowd” that consists of His disciples. The “large crowds” included Gentiles from the surrounding nations who had come to be healed of physical illnesses. It is likely Jesus would have spoken Greek to the “large crowds” as that was the language of commerce of that time. It is widely held that Jesus typically taught in Aramaic when speaking to Jews. It was the street language spoken by the Jews after they returned from Exile in Babylon.

But Jesus, like most Jews of His day would also have been multilingual. He would certainly have been able to read and speak from the Hebrew scriptures. And, as mentioned, He also would most certainly have known Greek, the common language of the Ancient world. It is likely that his adoptive father Joseph would have had work as a tradesman in the nearby Roman city of Sepphoris, which would have required knowing some Greek.

He might have also learned some Latin, the official language of the Roman government. Matthew may have originally written all or part of his Gospel narrative of Jesus the Messiah in Aramaic, Hebrew, or Greek. But regardless of which language He originally wrote in, his gospel was preserved in Greek. It is from Greek manuscripts that all our translations are ultimately based.

Matthew 5:33-37 meaning

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Additional Resources

Book Theme

Chapter Context

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The Bible Project - Matthew Summary Pt. 1

The Bible Project - Matthew Summary Pt. 2

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