Mateus 5

Mateus 5:36-37

Pentecost summarizes what Jesus is saying "Let your character, your reputation for honesty, your word be so obviously true and undefiled and without duplicity, that no man would think it necessary to put you under an oath because he suspects you are of deception… Some words can have a double meaning, and some words can be interpreted in two different ways. But there is only one possible way of interpreting yes. Yes does not mean no. There is only one way you can interpret no. You can never interpret that as meaning consent. When you say yes, it means yes; when you say no, it means no. The Lord demanded that one's speech be so trustworthy that men would not have to debate what was meant and interpret what was said. They would know what was meant because he was an honest man.' (Pentecost, J. D. Design for living: Lessons in Holiness from the Sermon on the Mount. Kregel Publications) The Believer's Study Bible has a good summary note "Complete honesty should be typical of the kingdom citizen, so that no oath is necessary to guarantee trustworthiness for one's "yes" or "no." The law regarding oaths was based upon the third Commandment. False testimony resulted in severe consequences, since it consisted of taking God's name in vain (Ex. 20:7; Lev. 19:11, 12; Num. 30:2; Deut. 19:16-20). The rabbis taught that oaths which omitted God's name could be broken and were not binding. Jesus maintains that God is involved in heaven, earth, Jerusalem, and all things. Hence, all oaths are binding, and any attempt to avoid an oath while pretending to keep it profanes the divine name. The reference is neither to taking oaths in court nor to profanity. (Believer's Study Bible. Thomas Nelson) ANYTHING BEYOND THESE IS OF EVIL: to de perisson touton ek tou ponerou estin (3SPAI) Mt 13:19; 15:19; John 8:44; Ephesians 4:25; Colossians 3:9; James 5:12 A good prayer to avoid anything beyond yes and no is that of David… Set a guard, 0 LORD, over my mouth; Keep watch over the door of my lips. (Psalm 141:3) The phrase "of evil" is rendered "of the evil one" in some of the translations (NIV, NKJV, NET). The NET Bible adds that The term ("evil") may be understood as specific and personified, referring to the devil, or possibly as a general reference to evil. It is most likely personified, however, since it is articular (i.e, it has a definite article "the" preceding it). It therefore seems very reasonable to translate and interpret this as a reference to the devil who is the master deceiver and whose pattern of guileful, manipulative speech is to be scrupulously avoided by all citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. In John we read that Jesus declares to a group of unbelieving Jews that "You are of your father the devil, and you want to do the desires of your father. He was a murderer from the beginning, and does not stand in the truth, because there is no truth in him.Whenever he speaks a lie, he speaks from his own nature; for he is a liar, and the father of lies. (John 8:44) James has a warning explaining why it is better to simply speak the truth "But above all, my brethren, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or with any other oath; but let your yes be yes, and your no, no; so that (here's the reason one should simply speak the truth without oaths) you may not fall under judgment. (James 5:12) James is not forbidding the taking of a solemn oath per se (see discussion below). Jesus and James are stressing the need for integrity in speech, and the sinfulness of carelessly or flippantly using God's name or a sacred object to guarantee truthful speech. Beyond (4053)(perissos from peri - around, all-around, over and above) properly means "all around, more than (abundantly). Beyond what is anticipated. Exceeding expectation. Going past the expected limit. Exceeding some number or measure, more than enough, more than is necessary, superadded. Superabundance, extraordinary, profuse, abundant. Perissos - primarily, "what is above and over, super-added," hence came to denote "what is superior and advantageous," Romans 3:1 , in a comparison between Jew and Gentile; only here with this meaning. (Vine) Perissos is the root of Paul's word in Eph 3:20 huperekperissou which is one of the numerous compounds of huper- beyond, over and above, of which Paul is fond. Of twenty-eight words compounded with this preposition in the New Testament, Paul alone uses twenty. For Liddell-Scott-Jones - click and scroll down. Also includes Thayer's. Friberg - (1) of what exceeds usual expectation extraordinary, remarkable (Mt 5.47); neuter as a substantive = the advantage (Ro 3.1); adverbially = exceedingly, greatly (Mk 6.51); (2) of what exceeds necessity abundant; have abundantly (Jn 10.10); (3) superfluous, unnecessary (2Cor 9.1); (4) as a colloquial substitute for comparative - what is more than, what goes beyond (Mt 5.37); (5) comparative perissoteros, tera, on used as a popular substitute for pleion (more) and mallon (more, rather); (a) as adding a degree of intensity to a noun greater, more severe, more excellent, more abundant, etc. (Mk 12.40; 1C 12.23); (b) perissoteron with the genitive of comparison much more than, even more than (Mk 12.33; Lk 7.26); (c) neuter singular perissoteron - as an adverb even more, exceedingly, more abundantly (Heb 6.17) (Analytical Lexicon of the Greek New Testament- Barbara Friberg and Neva F. Mille Timothy Friberg-) Zodhiates - (I) Particularly as exceeding a certain measure, with the gen. meaning more than (Matt. 5:37, “what is beyond” [author’s translation] or more than these [cf. Sept.: Ex. 10:5; 2Kgs. 25:11; 1Sa 30:9]). In the sense of superfluous (2Cor. 9:1). (II) Generally, superabundant, abundant, much, great. (A) Positive, only as advantage used in the neut. perissón abundant, in superabundance (John 10:10, “that they might have it more abundantly”). With the prep. ek (1537), by means of, or expressing measure followed by the gen. perissoú, beyond measure, vehemently (Mark 6:51; 14:31). (B) By implication, in a comparative sense, more abundant, distinguished, excellent, better (Matt. 5:47). The art. and the neut. tó perrissón, excellence, preeminence (Rom. 3:1 [cf. Matt. 11:9; Luke 7:26]; Sept. Dan. 5:12; 6:4). (Complete Word Study Dictionary- New Testament)