Matthew 23:16 - Exposition

Fourth woe— against evasive distinctions in oaths. Ye blind guides. They were by profession leaders and guides, and yet by their literalism and externalism they lost the true significance of the Scriptures which they taught, and the ritual of which they were the exponents. The Lord repeats the epithet "blind "( Matthew 23:17 , Matthew 23:19 , Matthew 23:24 ). Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing. Our Lord seems to refer more especially to oaths connected with vows, of which he had already spoken ( Matthew 15:5 , Matthew 15:6 ). The arbitrary distinction between oaths was indeed an instance of moral blindness. An oath by the temple was not binding; it might be broken or evaded with impunity. By the gold of the temple— i.e. by the sacred treasure and ornaments therein— he is a debtor ( ὀφει ì λει ); he is bound by his oath. The casuistry employed by the Jews in this matter was well known, and had become proverbial among the heathen. F.M. quotes Martial, 11:94—

" Ecce negas, jurasque mihi per templa Tonantis,

'Non credo: jura, verpe, per Anchialum . '"

"Anchialum" is equivalent to am chai aloh, "as God liveth," the Jew ( verpus, "circumcised") being bound by no oath but one that contained some letters of the Divine name or some attribute of God.