Why Did Jesus Outlaw Oaths?
In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus declares, “Do not take an oath at all” (Matthew 5:34). To take an “oath” (Hebrew: שְׁבוּעָה; shevuah) or to make a “vow” (Hebrew: נֶדֶר; neder) means swearing to a particular assertion or action before God. The Torah encourages anyone who would make any such vow to carry out the verbal contract quickly: “If you make a vow (נֶדֶר; neder) to the Lord your God, you shall not delay fulfilling it, for the Lord your God will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin” (Deuteronomy 23:21). In other words, if a person makes a promise to God and does not make good on the pledge, then that person commits a transgression against the Lord. Still, the Torah is perfectly comfortable the notion that one would formulate such an oath. So, why does Yeshua prohibit taking oaths altogether?
Jesus is aware that the Torah promotes keeping one’s promise to God. He notes, “Again, you have heard that it was said to those of old, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn.’ And I say to you, do not take an oath at all” (Matthew 5:33). In recalling this ancient statute about not swearing falsely, Yeshua draws on texts like Numbers 30:2: “If a man vows a vow (יִדֹּר נֶדֶר; yidor neder) to the Lord, or swears an oath (הִשָּׁבַע שְׁבֻעָה; hishavah shevuah) to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.” Or, in Leviticus 19:12, God states, “You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God.” This command refers to the common Israelite phrase that one would invoke before taking an oath: “As the Lord lives…” (חַי־יְהוָה; hai-Hashem) (e.g., Judges 8:19; 1 Samuel 14:39; 2 Samuel 12:25; 1 Kings 2:24). The Hebrew word translated “Lord” is actually the four-letter personal name of God—a name whose utterance could spell disaster for anyone who invoked it and failed to live up to their oath.
The danger of defaulting on a promise made with God’s name is what Jesus wants believers avoid. He notes the Torah prohibition against swearing falsely, and comes to a logical conclusion: it’s better not to swear at all—that way, you will never swear falsely and thereby fall into judgment. Centuries before Jesus of Nazareth, another Jesus (ben Sira) said, “Do not let your mouth form the habit of oath-taking... [because] one who swears continually by the holy Name will not remain free from sin. Someone who often swears heaps up obligations.... If one neglects [a sworn] obligation, the sin is doubly great” (Sirach 23:9-10). Ben Sira’s logic is exactly what’s behind the statement in the Gospel, and both of these sources draw on the common source of Israel’s Scriptures: “It is better that you should not vow (לֹא־תִדֹּר; lo-tidor) than that you should vow and not render [your oath to God]” (Ecclesiastes 5:5).
Thus, the messianic advice in the Sermon on the Mount does not undercut prior Scripture. Instead, in an effort to protect us from transgressing the command against swearing falsely, Jesus cautions against invoking the holy Name via vows. Instead, it is better to just “let you ‘yes’ be ‘yes’ and ‘no’ be ‘no’” (Matthew 5:35). The later rabbinic sage, Samuel bar Isaac, would restate this motto, saying, “The ‘yes’ of the righteous one is ‘yes’ and ‘no’ is ‘no’” (Ruth Rabbah 7:6). These dicta do not prohibit making promises—either to God or neighbor—but they avoid the formal invocation of the divine Name, and thereby obviate false oaths. In this way, the words of Jewish sages throughout the ages—from Qohelet, to Ben Sira, to Yeshua, to Bar Isaac—protects people from transgressing the Torah.
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