Catena Aurea [Latin + English] on Matthew 5:33-37

Author	Work	Latin	English
Gloss	Unknown	Docuerat supra dominus non esse iniuriam proximo inferendam, prohibendo iram cum homicidio, concupiscentiam cum adulterio, et dimissionem uxoris cum libello repudii; nunc autem consequenter docet ab iniuria Dei abstinendum, cum prohibet non solum periurium tamquam malum, sed etiam iuramentum tamquam mali occasionem; unde dicit iterum audistis quia dictum est antiquis: non periurabis. Dicitur enim in Levitico: non periurabis in nomine meo; et ne creaturas facerent sibi deos, praecepit reddere Deo iuramenta, et non iurare per creaturas; unde subditur redde autem domino iuramenta tua; idest, si iurare contigerit, per creatorem iurabis, non per creaturam; unde dicitur in Deuteronomio: dominum Deum tuum timebis, et per nomen eius iurabis.	The Lord has taught to abstain from injuring our neighbor, forbidding anger with murder, lust with adultery, and the putting away a wife with a bill of divorce. He now proceeds to teach to abstain from injury to God, forbidding not only perjury as an evil in itself but even all oaths as the cause of evil, saying, You have heard it said by them of old, You shall not forswear yourself it is written in Leviticus, You shall not forswear yourself in My name (Lev 19:12); and that they should not make gods of the creature, they are commanded to render to God their oaths, and not to swear by any creature, Render to the Lord your oaths; that is, if you shall have occasion to swear, you shall swear by the Creator and not by the creature. As it is written in Deuteronomy, You shall fear the Lord your God, and shall swear by His name
Jerome	Commentary on Matthew	Hoc autem quasi parvulis fuerat lege concessum, ut quomodo victimas immolabant Deo, ne eas idolis immolarent, sic et iurare permitterentur in Deum non quod recte hoc facerent, sed quod melius esset Deo hoc exhibere quam Daemoniis.	This was allowed under the Law, as to children; as they offered sacrifice to God, that they might not do it to idols, so they were permitted to swear by God; not that the thing was right, but that it were better done to God than to demons.
Pseudo-Chrysostom	Opus Imperfectum, Homily 12	Nemo enim frequenter iurat qui non aliquando periuret; sicut qui fecit consuetudinem multa loqui, aliquando loquitur importuna.	For no man can swear often, but he must sometimes forswear himself; as he who has a custom of much speaking will sometimes speak foolishly.
Augustine	Contra Faustum, 19,23	Quia vero periurare grave peccatum est, longius autem remotus est a periurio qui nec iurare consuevit quam qui verum iurare proclivis est, maluit nos dominus non iurantes non recedere a vero, quam verum iurantes, appropinquare periurio; unde subdit ego autem dico vobis: non iurare omnino.	Inasmuch as the sin of perjury is a grievous sin, he must be further removed from it who uses no oath, than he who is ready to swear on every occasion, and the Lord would rather that we should not swear and keep close to the truth, than that swearing we should come near to perjury.
Augustine	On the Sermon on the Mount, I, 51	In quo Pharisaeorum iustitiam, quae est non peierare, confirmat: non enim potest periurare qui non iurat. Sed quoniam ille iurat qui adhibet Deum testem, considerandum est ne contra hoc praeceptum domini apostolus fecisse videatur, quia saepe hoc modo iuravit cum dixit: quae scribo vobis ecce coram Deo, quia non mentior. Et: testis est mihi Deus, cui servio in spiritu meo. Nisi forte quis dicat tunc cavendam esse iurationem cum aliquid dicitur per quod iuratur: ut non iuraverit, quia non dixit per Deum, sed dixit testis est mihi Deus. Ridiculum est hoc putare; sed tamen etiam sciat hoc modo iurasse apostolum dicentem: quotidie morior per gloriam vestram, fratres. Quod ne quis ita existimet dictum tamquam si diceretur: vestra gloria me fecit quotidie mori, Graeca exemplaria diiudicant, in quibus quod scriptum est, ni tin kauchisin himeteran, idest per gloriam vestram, non nisi a iurante dicitur.	This precept also confirms the righteousness of the Pharisees, not to forswear; inasmuch as he who swears not at all cannot forswear himself. But as to call God to witness is to swear, does not the Apostle break this commandment when he says several times to the Galatians, The things which I write to you, behold, before God, I lie not (Gal 1:20). So the Romans, God is my witness, whom I serve in my spirit (Rom 1:9). Unless perhaps someone may say, it is no oath unless I use the form of swearing by some object; and that the Apostle did not swear in saying, God is my witness. It is ridiculous to make such a distinction; yet the Apostle has used even this form, I die daily, by your boasting. That this does not mean, 'your boasting has caused my dying daily,' but is an oath, is clear from the Greek.
Augustine	De Mendacio, 15	Sed pleraque in verbis intelligere non valentes, in factis sanctorum colligimus quemadmodum oporteat accipi quod facile in aliam partem duceretur, nisi exemplis revocaretur. Iuravit apostolus in epistolis suis, et sic ostendit quomodo accipiendum est quod dictum est dico autem vobis non iurare omnino, ne scilicet iurando, ad facilitatem iurandi veniatur, ex facilitate autem iurandi veniatur ad consuetudinem, a consuetudine in periurium decidatur. Et ideo non invenitur iurasse nisi scribens, ubi consideratio cautior non habet linguam praecipitem. Et tamen dominus omnino ait non iurare: non enim concessit ut id liceret scribentibus. Sed quia praecepti violati reum Paulum praesertim in epistolis conscriptis nefas est dicere, est intelligendum illud quod positum est, omnino, ad hoc positum, ut quantum in te est non affectes, vel quasi pro bono cum aliqua delectatione appetas iusiurandum.	But what we could not understand by mere words, from the conduct of the saints we may gather in what sense should be understood what might easily be drawn the contrary way, unless explained by example. The Apostle has used oaths in his Epistles, and by this shows us how that ought to be taken, I say to you, Swear not at all, namely, lest by allowing ourselves to swear at all we come to readiness in swearing, from readiness we come to a habit of swearing, and from a habit of swearing we fall into perjury. And so the Apostle is not found to have used an oath but only in writing, the greater thought and caution which that requires not allowing of slip of the tongue. Yet it is the Lord's command so universal, Swear not at all, that He would seem to have forbidden it even in writing. But since it would be an impiety to accuse Paul of having violated this precept, especially in his Epistles, we must understand the words at all as implying that, as far as lays in your power, you should not make a practice of swearing, not aim at it as a good thing in which you should take delight.
Augustine	Contra Faustum, 19,23	In scriptis ergo ubi est consideratio maior, pluribus locis apostolus iurasse invenitur, ne quisquam putaret etiam verum iurando peccari, sed potius intelligeret humanae fragilitatis corda non iurando tutius a periurio conservari.	Therefore in his writings, as writing allows of greater circumspection, the Apostle is found to have used an oath in several places, that none might suppose that there is any direct sin in swearing what is true; but only that our weak hearts are better preserved from perjury by abstaining from all swearing whatever.
Jerome	Commentary on Matthew	Denique considera, quod hic salvator non per Deum iurare prohibuit, sed per caelum, per terram et per Hierosolymam et per caput tuum: hanc enim per elementa iurandi pessimam consuetudinem semper habuere Iudaei. Qui iurat, aut veneratur aut diligit eum per quem iurat; Iudaei autem per Angelos et urbem Ierusalem et templum et elementa iurantes, creaturas venerabantur Dei honore; cum in lege praeceptum sit ut non iuremus nisi per dominum Deum nostrum.	Lastly, consider that the Savior does not here forbid to swear by God, but by the Heaven, the Earth, by Jerusalem, by a man's head. For this evil practice of swearing by the elements the Jews had always, and are thereof often accused in the prophetic writings. For he who swears, shows either reverence or love for that by which he swears. Thus when the Jews swore by the Angels, by the city of Jerusalem, by the temple and the elements, they paid to the creature the honor and worship belonging to God; for it is commanded in the Law that we should not swear but by the Lord our God.
Augustine	On the Sermon on the Mount, I, 51	Vel ideo additum est neque per caelum, quia Iudaei non putabant se teneri iuramento, si per ista iurassent; ac si dicat: cum iuras per caelum et terram, non te arbitreris non debere domino iusiurandum tuum, quia per eum iurare convinceris cuius caelum thronus est et cuius terra scabellum est; quod non est sic dictum quasi habeat Deus collocata membra in caelo et in terra, ut nos cum sedemus: sed illa sedes Dei iudicium significat. Et quoniam in hoc universo mundi corpore maximam speciem caelum habet, sedere in caelo dicitur tamquam praestantior sit excellenti pulchritudine vis divina; terramque dicitur calcare, quod minimam speciem ordinet in extremis. Spiritualiter autem sanctas animas caeli nomine significat, et terrae, peccatrices: quoniam: spiritualis omnia iudicat. Peccatori autem dictum est: terra es et in terram ibis. Et qui in lege manere voluit, sub lege ponitur; et ideo congruenter dicit scabellum pedum eius. Sequitur neque per Hierosolymam, quia civitas est magni regis; quod melius dicitur quam si diceret mea, cum tamen hoc dixisse intelligatur. Et quia ipse utique est dominus. Domino iusiurandum debet qui per Hierosolymam iurat. Sequitur neque per caput tuum iuraveris. Quid enim poterat quisquam magis ad se pertinere arbitrari quam caput suum? Sed quomodo nostrum est ubi potestatem faciendi unum capillum album aut nigrum non habemus? Propter quod dicitur quia non potes unum capillum album facere aut nigrum. Ergo Deo debet iusiurandum quisquis etiam per caput suum iurare voluerit. Et hinc etiam cetera intelliguntur.	Or, it is added, By the Heaven, &c. because the Jews did not consider themselves bound when they swore by such things. As if He had said, When you swear by the Heaven and the Earth, think not that you do not owe your oath to the Lord your God, for you are proved to have sworn by Him whose throne the heaven is, and the earth His footstool; which is not meant as though God had such limbs set upon the heaven and the earth, after the manner of a man who is sitting; but that seat signifies God's judgment of us. And since in the whole extent of this universe it is the heaven that has the highest beauty, God is said to sit upon the heavens as showing divine power to be more excellent than the most surpassing show of beauty; and He is said to stand upon the earth, as putting to lowest use a lesser beauty. Spiritually by the heavens are denoted holy souls, by the earth the sinful, seeing He that is spiritual judges all things (1 Cor 2:15). But to the sinner it is said, Earth you are, and to earth you shall return (Gen 3:19). And he who would abide under a law, is put under a law, and therefore He adds, it is the footstool of His feet. Neither by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the Great King; this is better said than 'it is mine,' though it is understood to mean the same. And because He is also truly Lord, whoso swears by Jerusalem, owes his oath to the Lord. Neither by your head. What could any think more entirely his own property than his own head? But how is it ours when we have not power to make one hair black or white? Whose then swears by his own head also owes his vows to the Lord; and by this the rest may be understood.
Chrysostom	Homily 17 on Matthew	Attendite autem, quod elementa mundi extollit, non ex propria natura, sed ex habitudine quam habent ad Deum, ne idololatriae daretur occasio.	Note how he exalts the elements of the world, not from their own nature, but from the respect which they have to God, so that there is opened no occasion of idolatry.
Rabanus	Commentarium in Matthaeum, 2.6	Qui autem iurare prohibuit*, quomodo loqui oporteat docuit, subdens sit autem sermo vester: est, est, non, non; idest quod est, sufficiat dicere: est; quod non est, sufficiat dicere: non est. Sive ideo dicitur bis, est, est, non, non, ut quod ore affirmas, operibus probes; et quod verbis negas, factis non confirmes. *[Note: All published copies of CA have prohibuit. Rabanus commentary in Migne has "non prohibuit" PL 107:824-826]	Having forbidden swearing, He instructs us how we ought to speak, Let your speech be yea, yea; nay, nay. That is, to affirm anything it is sufficient to say, 'It is so'; to deny, to say, 'It is not so.' Or, yea, yea; nay, nay, are therefore twice repeated, that what you affirm with the mouth you should prove in deed, and what you deny in word you should not establish by your conduct.
Hilary of Potiers	Commentary on Matthew	Vel aliter. In fidei simplicitate viventibus iurare opus non est cum quibus semper quod est, est, quod non, non; et per hoc eorum et opus et sermo omnis in verbo est. Hieronymus. Evangelica igitur veritas non recipit iuramentum, cum omnis sermo fideli pro iuramento sit.	Otherwise, they who live in the simplicity of the faith have not need to swear, with them ever, what is is, what is not is not; by this their life and their conversation are ever preserved in truth.
Jerome	Commentary on Matthew	Evangelica igitur veritas non recipit iuramentum, cum omnis sermo fideli pro iuramento sit.	Therefore Evangelic verity does not admit an oath, since the whole discourse of the faithful is instead of an oath.
Augustine	On the Sermon on the Mount, I, 51	Quapropter qui intelligit non in bonis sed in necessariis iurationem habendam, refrenet se quantum potest, ut non ea utatur nisi in necessitate, cum videt pigros esse homines ad credendum quod utile est credere, nisi iuratione firmetur. Hoc ergo est bonum et appetendum, quod hic dicitur sit sermo vester: est, est, non, non. Quod autem his abundantius est, a malo est, idest, si iurare cogeris, scias de necessitate venire infirmitatis eorum quibus aliquid suades; quae utique infirmitas malum est. Itaque non dixit: quod amplius est, malum est; tu enim non malum facis qui bene uteris iuratione, ut alteri persuadeas quod utiliter persuades; sed a malo est illius cuius infirmitate iurare cogeris.	And he who has learned that an oath is to be reckoned not among things good, but among things necessary, will restrain himself as much as he may, not to use an oath without necessity, unless he sees men loathe to believe what it is for their good they should believe, without the confirmation of an oath. This then is good and to be desired, that our conversation be only, yea, yea; nay, nay; for what is more than this comes of evil; that is, if you are compelled to swear, you know that it is by the necessity of their weakness to whom you would persuade anything; which weakness is surely an evil. What is more than this is thus evil; not that your do evil in this just use of an oath to persuade another to something beneficial for him; but it is an evil in him whose weakness thus obliges you to use an oath.
Chrysostom	Homily 17 on Matthew	Vel a malo est, idest ab infirmitate eorum quibus lex iurare permisit. Ita enim Christus non monstrat veterem legem Diaboli esse; sed a veteri imperfectione ducit ad abundantem novitatem.	Or, of evil, that is, from their weakness to whom the Law permitted the use of an oath. Not that by this the old Law is signified to be from the Devil, but He leads us from the old imperfection to the new abundance.

Aphrahat, Demonstration 23, 63-66: On False Swearing

Aphrahat, Demonstration 23, On the Grapecluster, 63-66, February 345.

Source: Lehto, Adam Isaac. 2003. “Divine Law, Asceticism, and Gender in Aphrahat’s Demonstrations, with a Complete Annotated Translation of the Text and Comprehensive Syriac Glossary.” Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Toronto. Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20170208203149/http://www.collectionscanada.gc.ca/obj/s4/f2/dsk4/etd/NQ78456.PDF

Excerpt from Demonstration 23, On the Grapecluster, 63-66 

63. Above all, our Life-giver has commanded us: "Do not swear falsely. Whoever swears will be condemned at the judgement." How can the person who is convinced that there is one God swear on him and be false? Take note that it is clear that whoever strays from these commandments has denied God. For to swear and to deceive in one's oath is an exceeding evil before God, for our Saviour, with a great warning, commanded in his teaching, "Do not swear by heaven, which is the throne of God" For if you swear falsely by heaven, how can you lift your eyes to heaven and make petition to the one who sits in heaven? "And do not swear by the earth, which is a footstool beneath his feet,” lest, after you have sworn falsely by the earth, each time you pray on it, it shakes beneath you, since year have deceived the footstool of the feet of God. “And do nor swear on Jerusalem, for It is the city of the great King," lest, after you have sworn falsely on the place of worship, your face is ashamed to stand there and pray, and your prayer does not rise up from the house which you have betrayed, and your will is not accomplished. "And do not swear by you heat for you are not able to make a single strand of your hair either black or white," lest, after you have sworn on your head and have broken faith, your head is put to shame, since the name of your Lord had been commemorated on it, as the apostle said. "The head of a man is Christ,” O you who swears by your head and deceives! If the three great and glorious names (Father, Son, and Spirit of holiness) are established in you, those which were commemorated on your head when you received the sign of your life, and if baptism is established in you, then you will not betray your head. Know that you have no authority to swear by your head. Rather, "Let your words be 'Yes, yes', and 'no, no.” And he said "Anything more than this is from the Evil One.” For to deceive by swearing on God is more evil than all the sins that people do. If a person transgresses one of God's commands, he stands and prays and petitions God, so that perhaps he might forgive him. But the one who swears falsely on God, to whom can he petition? How can he petition God, of whom he is a lying servant, the God who is not established in him when he prays?

64. The kings of Israel committed great and serious sins. Some of them abandoned God and worshipped idols. Some of them committed adultery with the wives of their companions. They also murdered and fornicated. But they are not given as much blame as is placed on the heads of those who swear falsely. When the people of Israel were conquered by Nebuchadnezzar, the wicked king under whom the whole land was subjugated, he led hostages from among them to Babylon. [The rest of] them and their kings he left in the land, through a covenant without an oath. They established it [by saying], "We will serve you." Jehoiachim established the covenant without oaths, but afterwards rebelled and broke faith, and when he broke faith he was killed. [Nebuchadnezzar] appointed Jehoiachin his son to the kingship after him, and [Jehoiachim] established a covenant without oaths, saying "I will not rebel." But he was deceptive in his covenant and he rebelled against the king of Babylon. Then Nebuchadnezzar sent [men] and bound him in chains and escorted him to Babylon, and he was in prison there for thirty-seven years. And [Nebuchadnezzar] appointed Zedekiah his uncle to the kingship. Then Nebuchadnezzar thought and took counsel: "How can I leave him in the kingship and be sure that he will not rebel?" His counsellors said to him, "Ask the priests who know the Law." So Nebuchadnezzar called the priests and said to them, "How do I know that you will serve me and not rebel?" And they said to him. "We and our king swear by the God of Israel, and we establish [this] covenant through an offering which ascends on the altar." Then Nebuchadnezzar said, "I swear to you by the God of Israel: if you swear falsely on him, he will destroy you by my hand. I will not swear to you by the gods of Babylon." Then Zedekiah and the priests and the nobles brought a calf, laid their hands on its head and slaughtered it. The priests took blood from the calf and poured it around the altar, and put the fat up on the altar as a sweet fragrance. They took the calf and cut it in two, and the leaders of Judah, namely, the priests and the scribes of the people, and Zedekiah, the king, as well, passed through the halves. They established a covenant with an oath on the God of Israel. “We will not rebel." And Nebuchadnezzar believed them. But afterwards they betrayed their oaths on the God of Israel and rebelled against the king of Babylon. At that time, Jeremiah and Ezekiel were prophesying to them, Jeremiah in Jerusalem and Ezekiel in captivity in Babylon. And when they broke their oath and rebelled, Jeremiah the prophet called out to them: "O men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem, Zedekiah, the king, and all of Judah! Serve the king of Babylon and live. Do not break the oaths that you have sworn. Remember that you cut the calf in two and passed between its halves." But they did not listen to the prophet. When he repeatedly called out to them, they took him and threw him into a muddy pit, and some of them said. "Come, let us strike him on his tongue and not listen to what he is saying"

65. Ezekiel also sent word to them from Babylon: "Do not break the oaths on the God of Israel that you have sworn!" But they did not listen to him. And when they did not listen to him, he spoke to them in prophecy: "Even as I live, says the Lord of lords, I will punish Zedekiah who broke faith with the God of Israel and treated my oaths with contempt and made my covenant cease." And Jeremiah called out and warned them, "Serve the king of Babylon and live, and let not this city become a desolation!" But again they did not listen to him. And when they had broken [their) oaths and had not listened to the prophets, the army of the Chaldeans came against them and surrounded Jerusalem from the ninth year of Zedekiah to the eleventh year. And when they rebelled Jeremiah also said to them, "Go out to the king of Babylon, and you will live and not die." But they did not listen to him. And the city remained in anguish for a long time: the Chaldean surrounded it for nineteen months, from the tenth [day] of the tenth month (which is January) of the ninth year [of Zedekiah], to the fifth month (which is Ab) of the eleventh year [of Zedekiah]. The city was captured on the ninth day of the fifth month. The Chaldeans entered Jerusalem and set fire to the house of God, upon which (the leaden of Judah) had sworn and deceived (Nebuchadnezzar). They overturned the altar, upon which had been offered unacceptable fragrances from the calf of oaths. They took all the utensils used in the service of the house of the Clod of Israel. They burned the houses of the nobles who had sworn falsely, and the priests were taken captive and went to Babylon. And when Zedekiah escaped and went out from the city, the army of the Chaldean, seized him in the Plain of Jericho. They bound him in chains, together with the nobles who had sworn with him. They brought him to the king of Babylon in the region of Hamath. And it is written that he spoke judgement upon him, and said to him, "Why did you falsify the oaths on the God of Israel? Now, I am putting them [back] on your head!" And he put out his eyes and bound him with chains. He killed his sons in before his eyes, and killed the nobles who had sworn falsely. And he led him bound to Babylon, and he was there until the day of [his] death. He destroyed Jerusalem because of the false oath, and their kingdom was given to Nebuchadnezzar, who believed in the God who exacts payment for oaths in his name.

66. Concerning this our Life-giver waned. "Do not swear on yourselves,” for the Lord will not acquit the one who swears falsely on his name. Otherwise, if a person teaches his mouth to utter oaths in every situation. he will stumble, since he has taught his mouth to utter oaths. His tongue becomes a conduit for oaths. We know, my friend, that many people among the brotherhood swear falsely and compel [others] to swear also. They kill themselves and their companions die, because they transgress the commandment which our Saviour taught.