...Jewish canons {m}, which say,
“ that swear בשמים, “ heaven”, and by earth, are free.’’
Upon the words in So 2:7, “I adjure you”, c. is asked {n},
“ what does she adjure them? R. Eliezer says, by the heavens, and the earth by the hosts, the host above, and the host below.’’
So Philo the Jew says {o} that the most high and ancient cause need not to be immediately mentioned in swearing; but the “earth”, the sun, the stars, ουρανον, “heaven”, and the Whole World. So R. Aben Ezra, and R. David Kimchi, explain Am 4:2. “The Lord God hath sworn by his holiness”; that is, say they, בשמים, “by heaven”: which may be thought to justify them, in this form of swearing; though they did not look upon it as a binding oath, and therefore if broken they were not criminal {p}.
“He that swears בשמים by heaven, and by the earth, and by the sun, and the like; though his intention is nothing less than to him that created them, this is no oath.’’
Therefore, seeing the context of the times and theology which Jesus in His Sermon on the Mount was speaking against, we must take this into consideration lest we make the words of the Lord say things which He did not intend. Notice the things which He enumerates, “heavenearthJerusalemyour head...” Isn’t it interesting that there is no mention of taking an oath in the Name of God? If the Lord Jesus was doing away with all oaths, which were only to be taken in God’s Name (Deut. 6:13), then it would have been easy for Him to say “Do not take an oath in God’s Name” or “Do not swear at all by God’s Name” and go on with the other things. But this was not the intent of our Savior. Therefore, Calvin notes on v. 34, “he immediately adds, neither by heaven, nor by the earth Who does not see that those kinds of swearing were added by way of exposition, to explain the former clause more fully by specifying a number of cases?” As with the whole discourse, Jewish misunderstandings of God’s Law. So, at this point also. His discussion concerns the Third Commandment (Ex. 20:7; Lev. 19:12). The Jews, intentionally made oaths by that which is not the Name of God (in contradiction to Deut. 6:13), so as to make it easy for them to break their oaths. But that was not the intent of God. When a person takes an oath by God, they are to perform that which they promised. They are not to break their oaths lest they profane the glorious Name of God. The Jews made distinctions in the things which they took an oath by. This is evident in Matthew 23 where we read of our Lord’s accusation of the hypocrisy of the Pharisees and Scribes:
Matt. 23:16-22 “Woe to you, blind guides, who say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it is nothing, but if anyone 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 anyone swears by the altar, it is nothing, but if anyone swears by the ...