Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Matthew 23:18
And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.
The altar – The altar of burnt-offerings, in the court of the priests. See the notes at Mat 21:12. It was made of brass, about 30 feet in length and breadth, and 15 feet in height, 2Ch 4:1. On this altar were offered all the beasts and bloody oblations of the temple.
The gift that is upon it – The gift or offering made to God, so called because it was devoted or given to him. The gift upon this altar was always beasts and birds.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
And whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing,…. These are again the words or savings of the scribes and Pharisees, and express their sentiments and practice: it was usual with them to swear by the altar; and this was reckoned either no sin at all, or such an oath was not accounted binding on a man; he might break, or keep it as he thought fit: of this kind of swearing, we have the following instances. One said to another r,
“swear to me that thou wilt not discover me, and he swore to him; by what did he swear? says R. Jose bar Chanina,
, “by the innermost altar”.”
Again, it is said of Zedekiah s,
“that he (Nebuchadnezzar) made him to swear; by what did he make him to swear? says R. Jose, by the covenant he made him to swear; Rabbi says , “by the altar” he made him to swear.”
And elsewhere t it is said of him,
“”and he also rebelled against king Nebuchadnezzar, who made him swear by God”, 2Ch 36:13. By what did he make him swear? says R. Jose bar Chanina, “by the horns of the innermost altar” he made him swear.”
But whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty: of perjury, if he does not make good his oath; he is bound to perform it, it is obligatory; whatever he swore should be a gift for the altar, he was indispensably obliged to bring it; for whatever he swore by “Korban”, or the gift, could never be put to any other use.
r Echa Rabbati, fol. 54. 1. s Midrash Kohelet, fol. 78. 1. t Midrash Megillat Esther, fol. 89. 1.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
He is guilty [] . In the rendering of this word the A. V. seems to have been shaped by the earlier and now obsolete sense of guilt, which was probably a fine or payment. Compare Anglo – Saxon gyld, a recompense, and German geld, money. There is a hint of this sense in Shakspeare, Henry Xiv (Second Part), Act 4 Sc. 4
“England shall double gild his treble guilt,”
where the play upon the words hovers between the sense of bedeck and recompense. Wyc. renders oweth, and Tynd., he is debtor. Rev., he is a debtor.
Fuente: Vincent’s Word Studies in the New Testament
18. And whosoever shall swear by the altar. Here our Lord does what ought to be done in correcting errors; for he leads us up to the source, and shows, by the very nature of an oath, that the temple is far more valuable than the gifts which are offered in it. He accordingly assumes this principle, that it is not lawful to swear but by the name of God alone. Hence it follows that, whatever forms men may employ in swearing, they must give to God the honor which is due to him; and hence also it follows in what manner and to what extent we are at liberty to swear by the temple, namely, because it is the residence or sanctuary of God; and by heaven, because there the glory of God shines. God permits himself to be called as a witness and judge, by means of such symbols of his presence, provided that he retain his authority unimpaired; for to ascribe any Divinity to heaven would be detestable idolatry. Now so far as God holds out to us a brighter mirror of his glory in the temple than in offerings, so much the greater reverence and sacredness is due to the name of the temple. We now perceive, therefore, in what sense Christ says that we swear by him who inhabits heaven, when we swear by heaven itself. His design is, to direct all forms of swearing to their lawful end and object.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
“And, ‘Whoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing, but whoever shall swear by the gift that is on it, he is a debtor’.”
Jesus gives a further example of their folly. They declare that to swear by the altar signified nothing, while to swear by the gifts on the altar was essentially binding, and made the person a debtor to fulfil their oath. This again revealed the same attitude of concentration on the means of worship (with which they felt closely connected), rather than on the central truth that they could only come to God through the shedding of blood as symbolised by the God-provided altar. We can compare here the great vision of Ezekiel where the Temple on the high mountain away from Jerusalem was a heavenly one. There was no suggestion that it be built. The only thing required to be built was an altar, for that was physically necessary so that they could approach God by the shedding of blood through His heavenly Temple. Once they had this they could worship without an earthly Temple through the heavenly Temple. Thus the altar was seen as having a central place in the worship of God.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
18 And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.
Ver. 18. But whosoever sweareth by the gift, &c. ] Ubi utilitas, ibi pietas, saith Epictetus, where there is gain there is godliness, . And, Deos quisque sibi utiles cudit, saith another. All the worldling’s ploughing, sailing, building, buying, buts upon commodity, he knows no other deity. These Pharisees strove to reduce all offerings to their own purses and paunches, though they rendered men thereby not only irreligious, but unnatural,Mat 15:5-6Mat 15:5-6 . See Trapp on “ Mat 15:5 “ See Trapp on “ Mat 15:6 “
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Mat 23:18. , by the gift) The error originated in the mistaken views entertained by the offerers with regard to their own righteousness. They esteemed their own gifts more highly than the Divine institution.- , upon it) sc. the altar.
Fuente: Gnomon of the New Testament
guilty: or, debtor, Mat 23:15, or bound
Reciprocal: Num 30:2 – to bind 2Ch 6:22 – the oath Mar 7:11 – It is Corban Gal 5:3 – a debtor
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
8-22
The same argument is made in these verses as that in verse 17 The attachment between the altar and the gift upon it, or between the temple and Him who dwells therein (who is God), or between heaven and the throne therein with its Occupant-that attachment makes the obligation
equal all around. The word guilty in verse 18 means the same as debtor in the 16th verse; the person is under obligation to perform the oath.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Mat 23:18. The altar; in the temple, the only authorized one.
The gift. The offering placed upon it. The order of hallowed things is again reversed (Mat 23:19). Since all are holy, our Lord declares that no oath can distinguish between them (Mat 23:20).