Matthew 23:22

The NET Bible®

And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and the one who sits on it.

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 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 "But woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You keep locking people out of the kingdom of heaven! For you neither enter nor permit those trying to enter to go in. "Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You cross land and sea to make one convert, and when you get one, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves! "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple is bound by nothing. But whoever swears by the gold of the temple is bound by the oath.' Blind fools! Which is greater, the gold or the temple that makes the gold sacred? 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.' You are blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and the one who dwells in it. And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and the one who sits on it. "Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You give a tenth of mint, dill, and cumin, yet you neglect what is more important in the law—justice, mercy, and faithfulness! You should have done these things without neglecting the others. Blind guides! You strain out a gnat yet swallow a camel! "Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. Blind Pharisee! First clean the inside of the cup, so that the outside may become clean too! "Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs that look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of the bones of the dead and of everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you look righteous to people, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness. "Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You build tombs for the prophets and decorate the graves of the righteous. And you say, ‘If we had lived in the days of our ancestors, we would not have participated with them in shedding the blood of the prophets.' By saying this you testify against yourselves that you are descendants of those who murdered the prophets. Fill up then the measure of your ancestors! You snakes, you offspring of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell? "For this reason I am sending you prophets and wise men and experts in the law, some of whom you will kill and crucify, and some you will flog in your synagogues and pursue from town to town, so that on you will come all the righteous blood shed on earth, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah, whom you murdered between the temple and the altar. I tell you the truth, this generation will be held responsible for all these things! "O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the prophets and stone those who are sent to you! How often I have longed to gather your children together as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you would have none of it! Look, your house is left to you desolate! For I tell you, you will not see me from now until you say, ‘ Blessed is the one who comes in the name of the Lord! '" ¹⁴Seven Woes Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples, "The experts in the law and the Pharisees sit on Moses' seat. Therefore pay attention to what they tell you and do it. But do not do what they do, for they do not practice what they teach. They tie up heavy loads, hard to carry, and put them on men's shoulders, but they themselves are not willing even to lift a finger to move them. They do all their deeds to be seen by people, for they make their phylacteries wide and their tassels long. They love the place of honor at banquets and the best seats in the synagogues and elaborate greetings in the marketplaces, and to have people call them ‘Rabbi.' But you are not to be called ‘Rabbi,' for you have one Teacher and you are all brothers. And call no one your ‘father' on earth, for you have one Father, who is in heaven. Nor are you to be called ‘teacher,' for you have one teacher, the Christ. The greatest among you will be your servant. And whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted. "But woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You keep locking people out of the kingdom of heaven! For you neither enter nor permit those trying to enter to go in. ¹⁵ "Woe to you, experts in the law and you Pharisees, hypocrites! You cross land and sea to make one convert, and when you get one, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves! ¹⁶ "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘Whoever swears by the temple is bound by nothing. But whoever swears by the gold of the temple is bound by the oath.' ¹⁷ Blind fools! Which is greater, the gold or the temple that makes the gold sacred? ¹⁸ 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.' ¹⁹ You are blind! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? ²⁰ So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it. ²¹ And whoever swears by the temple swears by it and the one who dwells in it. ²² And whoever swears by heaven swears by the throne of God and the one who sits on it.

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.