In light of the fact that the Bible affirms the use of oaths in certain contexts, Jesus likely has a specific kind of oath in mind. The kind of oath that was prevalent in the day when he ministered where it seemed as if people were in the habit of swearing incessantly and thoughtlessly about ordinary matters. 1 Based on his words to his disciples (Matthew 5:34–36), as well as his later rebuke of the Pharisees (Matthew 23:16–22), we can also discern that the Israelites had developed an elaborate system when it came to oaths. Indeed, the Mishnah refers to a legalistic system by which some oaths were considered to be binding and others were not, it all depended on how close an oath was to invoking God as witness. The system was meant to be a means of protecting the divine name against oath breaking by introducing other surrogate objects by which one could swear. 2 Over time the system descended into rules for when lying and deception was permissible. 3
34 But I say to you, Do not take an oath at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God,