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the Week of Proper 10 / Ordinary 15
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Read the Bible

Revised Standard Version

Matthew 23:20

So he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it;

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:

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

Dictionaries:

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

Encyclopedias:

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

Parallel Translations

Christian Standard Bible®
Therefore, the one who takes an oath by the altar takes an oath by it and by everything on it.
King James Version (1611)
Who so therefore shall sweare by the Altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.
King James Version
Whoso therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.
English Standard Version
So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.
New American Standard Bible
"Therefore, the one who swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it.
New Century Version
The person who swears by the altar is really using the altar and also everything on the altar.
Amplified Bible
"Therefore, whoever swears [an oath] by the altar, swears both by it and by everything [offered] on it.
New American Standard Bible (1995)
"Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it.
Legacy Standard Bible
Therefore, whoever swears by the altar, swears both by the altar and by everything on it.
Berean Standard Bible
So then, he who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.
Contemporary English Version
Anyone who swears by the altar also swears by everything on it.
Complete Jewish Bible
So someone who swears by the altar swears by it and everything on it.
Darby Translation
He therefore that swears by the altar swears by it and by all things that are upon it.
Easy-to-Read Version
Whoever uses the altar to make a promise is really using the altar and everything on the altar.
Geneva Bible (1587)
Whosoeuer therefore sweareth by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.
George Lamsa Translation
Therefore he who swears by the altar, he swears by it and by everything that is on it.
Good News Translation
So then, when a person swears by the altar, he is swearing by it and by all the gifts on it;
Lexham English Bible
Therefore the one who swears by the altar swears by it and by everything that is on it.
Literal Translation
Then the one swearing by the altar swears by it, and by all things on it.
American Standard Version
He therefore that sweareth by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.
Bible in Basic English
He, then, who takes an oath by the altar, takes it by the altar and by all things on it.
Hebrew Names Version
He therefore who swears by the altar, swears by it, and by everything on it.
International Standard Version
Therefore, the one who swears an oath by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.
Etheridge Translation
He therefore who sweareth by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things that are upon it.
Murdock Translation
He therefore who sweareth by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all that is upon it.
Bishop's Bible (1568)
Who so therfore sweareth by the aulter, sweareth by it, and by all thynges theron.
English Revised Version
He therefore that sweareth by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things thereon.
World English Bible
He therefore who swears by the altar, swears by it, and by everything on it.
Wesley's New Testament (1755)
He therefore that sweareth by the altar, sweareth by it and by all things thereon.
Weymouth's New Testament
He who swears by the altar swears both by it and by everything on it;
Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Therfor he that swerith in the auter, swerith in it, and in alle thingis that ben ther on.
Update Bible Version
He therefore that swears by the altar, swears by it, and by all things thereon.
Webster's Bible Translation
Whoever therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things upon it.
New English Translation
So whoever swears by the altar swears by it and by everything on it.
New King James Version
Therefore he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by all things on it.
New Living Translation
When you swear ‘by the altar,' you are swearing by it and by everything on it.
New Life Bible
Whoever makes a promise by the altar, promises by it and by everything on it.
New Revised Standard
So whoever swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it;
J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
He therefore that hath sworn by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all that is upon it;
Douay-Rheims Bible
He therefore that sweareth by the altar sweareth by it and by all things that are upon it.
Tyndale New Testament (1525)
Whosoever therfore sweareth by ye aultre sweareth by it and by all yt there on is.
Young's Literal Translation
`He therefore who did swear by the altar, doth swear by it, and by all things on it;
Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Therfore who so sweareth by the altare, sweareth by the same, and by all that is theron:
Mace New Testament (1729)
whoever swears by the altar, swears not only by the altar, but by every thing upon it.
Simplified Cowboy Version

Contextual Overview

13 "But woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! because you shut the kingdom of heaven against men; for you neither enter yourselves, nor allow those who would enter to go in. 14 * [No text] 15 Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for you traverse sea and land to make a single proselyte, and when he becomes a proselyte, you make him twice as much a child of hell as yourselves. 16 "Woe to you, blind guides, who say, 'If any one swears by the temple, it is nothing; but if any one swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.' 17 You blind fools! For which is greater, the gold or the temple that has made the gold sacred? 18 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.' 19 You blind men! For which is greater, the gift or the altar that makes the gift sacred? 20 So he who swears by the altar, swears by it and by everything on it; 21 and he who swears by the temple, swears by it and by him who dwells in it; 22 and he who swears by heaven, swears by the throne of God and by him who sits upon it.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Reciprocal: Hebrews 6:16 - swear

Cross-References

Genesis 23:7
Abraham rose and bowed to the Hittites, the people of the land.
Genesis 23:10
Now Ephron was sitting among the Hittites; and Ephron the Hittite answered Abraham in the hearing of the Hittites, of all who went in at the gate of his city,
Genesis 23:14
Ephron answered Abraham,
Genesis 25:9
Isaac and Ish'mael his sons buried him in the cave of Mach-pe'lah, in the field of Ephron the son of Zohar the Hittite, east of Mamre,
Genesis 50:5
My father made me swear, saying, 'I am about to die: in my tomb which I hewed out for myself in the land of Canaan, there shall you bury me.' Now therefore let me go up, I pray you, and bury my father; then I will return."
Genesis 50:13
for his sons carried him to the land of Canaan, and buried him in the cave of the field at Mach-pe'lah, to the east of Mamre, which Abraham bought with the field from Ephron the Hittite, to possess as a burying place.
2 Samuel 24:24
But the king said to Arau'nah, "No, but I will buy it of you for a price; I will not offer burnt offerings to the LORD my God which cost me nothing." So David bought the threshing floor and the oxen for fifty shekels of silver.
2 Kings 21:18
And Manas'seh slept with his fathers, and was buried in the garden of his house, in the garden of Uzza; and Amon his son reigned in his stead.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Whosoever therefore shall swear by the altar,.... Not that Christ allowed of swearing by the altar, or by the temple, or by heaven, or by any creature, animate or inanimate; for such swearing is elsewhere disapproved of by him, and forbid, but if a man did swear by the altar, he ought to know, and consider that he not only

sweareth by it, but by all the gifts, and offerings that are brought, and laid upon it,

and by all things thereon; whatever gifts and sacrifices are offered upon it; which, by being put there, become holy, as the altar itself: so that he that swears by the altar, swears also by the gifts of the altar; and consequently, according to their own traditions, such oaths must be binding.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Matthew 23:20. Whoso - shall swear by the altar — As an oath always supposes a person who witnesses it, and will punish perjury; therefore, whether they swore by the temple or the gold, (Matthew 23:16), or by the altar or the gift laid on it, (Matthew 23:18), the oath necessarily supposes the God of the temple, of the altar, and of the gifts, who witnessed the whole, and would, even in their exempt cases, punish the perjury.


 
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