Later text
Matthew 5:33BSB
Again, you have heard that it was said to the ancients, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill your vows to the Lord.’
Intertextuality Pair
Allusion
Later text
Matthew 5:33BSB
Again, you have heard that it was said to the ancients, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill your vows to the Lord.’
Earlier text
You must not swear falsely by My name and so profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.
The fourth antithesis's formulation "you shall not break your oath, but shall perform to the Lord what you have sworn" reflects the Holiness Code's prohibition in Leviticus 19:12: "You shall not swear by my name falsely, and so profane the name of your God" (lo tishav'u bishmi lashaker). Matthew 5:33 constructs a composite summary of the OT oath regulations (drawing also on Numbers 30:2 and Deuteronomy 23:21-23), of which the Leviticus prohibition against false swearing is a central component. Jesus's response does not merely tighten oath requirements but transcends the entire framework of oath-taking by calling for a radical integrity of speech that makes oaths unnecessary. The deeper logic is that oaths invoke divine witness because human speech cannot be trusted on its own — but in the kingdom community, yes is to mean yes and no is to mean no, rendering oath-protocols superfluous. Jesus thus fulfills the spirit of Leviticus 19:12 by eliminating the need for the system it regulates.