Reflection on Mt 5:33-34
In the Old Testament, the person taking an oath took God as witness and called down upon himself a curse which was incurred by those who broke the oath or did not tell the truth. The person sometimes put himself under oath by God (1Sam 20:3; 1Sam 25:26), sometimes by man who was thus bound to avenge the broken oath. To make the oath stronger, sometimes an animal was offered for sacrifice. It was cut in two and the person taking the oath passed between the parts of it. Perhaps the symbolical meaning was that if a person breaks the oath (Gen 15:8-18; cf. Jer 34:18), he will suffer the fate of the animal. The Israelites took an oath before the altar of the Lord (1Ki 8:31) or by the temple (Mt 23:16f).
The Law strictly forbade a false oath (Lev 19:12), but entrusted punishment entirely to God (1Ki 8:31f; Zec 5:4).
Concerning the New Testament, Jesus points out in the Sermon on the Mount that true Christians must not swear at all for the reason that they build their relationships on truthfulness and justice. They only need to say a simple and clear word. Jesus says: “…do not swear at all…” And He adds: “…nor by the earth, nor by Jerusalem, nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black. But let your ‘Yes’ be ‘Yes’, and your ‘No’, ‘No’. For whatever is more than these is from the evil one.” (v. 35-37)
Concerning marital oath, it is in fact a covenant between a man, a woman and God. “What God has joined together, let not man separate.”
There are various forms of oath in the world: military oath, loyalty oath… The question of free will is a problem here and, moreover, God is not taken here as witness.
Jesus points out that there was a command given in the Old Testament with regard to an oath not to swear falsely. However, He Himself tells us not to swear at all. Let what we say be simply ‘Yes’ or ‘No’. This applies to honest Christians, of course. Concerning the rule not to betray a secret to the enemy, and the question of truth and lie in this respect, it is something different. The enemy has no right to ask me about discreet questions. If I reveal them, I will do harm to myself and to many others. To appeal in this case to the words that a Christian should simply say Yes or No means to misuse the words of Christ. In an extraordinary situation, there is a rule that I must not reveal the mysteries to the enemy, as we pray before Holy Communion in the Divine Liturgy (Byzantine rite).
Another form is personal oath to God. For instance, when someone prays for a miraculous healing, one promises God to donate a certain sum of money for charity or mission purposes. But let us not make rash decisions lest we should be able to fulfil our promise.
A sad case of oath, not to God, was the Apostle Peter denying his Lord Jesus Christ with an oath before a servant girl. Jesus says: “Whoever denies Me before men, him I will also deny before My Father who is in heaven.” Peter repented of his sin. Jesus forgave him, and Peter remained the first among the apostles.
Download: Reflection on Mt 5:33-34
