Oath, To Swear

See also: To Lie, Lies, False Testimonies, Decalogue, Ten Commandments.

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"When God made the promise to Abraham, since he could not swear by anyone greater than himself, he swore by himself."  

For man, Scripture seems to say two contradictory things about oaths:

In the second commandment, it forbids to take the name of Yahweh in support of lying (Cf. Deuteronomy 5, 11).    

Then in the following chapter, it asks to swear by His name: You shall fear the Lord your God, you shall serve him; it is by his name that you shall swear..  

In his Sermon on the Mount, Jesus explains this Contradiction which is not one.          

He who feels the need to make an oath, it is because he is already not sure of himself nor of the opinion of the Neighbor towards him

"An oath is not necessary between honest people, and God, as far as he is concerned, has not taught you this; on the contrary, He made you say: 'You shall not bear false witness'—Prohibition of the Decalogue: Exodus 20,16 and Deuteronomy 5,20. The teaching on false testimony was already given by Jesus to his Apostles during the common retreat at Beautiful-Water, two months earlier: without adding anything else. Because man should be frank without needing anything other than faithfulness to his word. When Deuteronomy speaks of vows, even vows which come from a Heart that believes itself bound to God either out of need or out of thankfulness, it says: 'You must keep the word once it has gone out of your mouth, doing what you have promised the Lord your God, what you have voluntarily uttered.' It always speaks of given word, nothing other than the word. He who feels the need to make an oath is already unsure of himself and of the Neighbor's opinion of him. And he who demands the oath distrusts the sincerity and honesty of the one who pronounces it."

He who induces his Neighbor to trust him by an oath is a sacrilege, a thief, a traitor, a murderer

"As you see, this habit of oath-taking is a consequence of man's dishonesty. And it is a shame for man. Double shame because man is not even faithful to this shameful thing which is the oath, and mocking God just as easily as he mocks the Neighbor, he comes to perjure himself with the greatest ease and calm. Can there be a creature more abject than the perjurer? Often he uses a sacred formula, thus demanding the complicity and guarantee of God, or Good; he invokes the dearest affections: the father, the mother, the wife, the children, his dead, his life itself and his most precious organs, that he calls upon to support his lying words, thereby leading his Neighbor to trust him. He deceives him. He is a sacrilege, a thief, a traitor, a murderer. Of whom? But of God, since he mixes the Truth with the infamy of his lies and mocks it by defying it: 'Strike me, deny me if you can. You are there, I am here, and I laugh at it.' Yes!        

He is a thief, because he appropriates a esteem he does not deserve. The Neighbor, struck by his oath, grants it to him, and the serpent makes it an ornament by presenting himself as what he is not.

He is a traitor because by his oath he promises something he does not want to keep.            

He is a murderer because either he kills the honor of his fellow man by taking away through his false oath the Neighbor's esteem, or he kills his own Soul, because the perjurer is an abject sinner in the eyes of God who sees, even if no one else sees, the truth.      

One cannot deceive God with either lying words or hypocritical conduct. He sees... And He does not judge you by your oaths but by your Actions."

Never make oaths

"That is why I, regarding the command given, … substitute another command. I do not say as the ancients did: 'Do not swear falsely, but perform your oaths', but I tell you: 'Never make oaths.' Neither by the name of Heaven which is the throne of God, nor by the earth which is the footstool of his feet, nor by Jerusalem and its Temple which are the city of the great King and the house of the Lord our God.  

[…] Do not swear by your father’s head, nor by your mother’s, nor by your innocent wife or children. You have no right to do so. Are they by chance money or merchandise? Are they a signature on a paper?    

[…] Do not swear either by your head, your eyes, your tongue or your hands. You have no right to […] He might take you at your word."

Let your Yes be Yes

"[…] Let your speech be: Yes if it is Yes, no if it is no. Nothing more. What you say beyond that is the Evil One suggesting it to you, to then laugh at you because, unable to remember everything, you fall into lying and are mocked while making a reputation as liars. Sincerity, son. In word and in prayer. Do not be like the hypocrites. When they pray, they like to stand in synagogues or on street corners so that people see them and praise them as pious and righteous men, but when they are at home, they offend God and the Neighbor. Do you not see, upon reflection, that this is a form of perjury? Why want to sustain what is not true in order to gain esteem you do not deserve? Hypocritical prayer aims to say: 'Truly I am a saint. I swear it before those who see me pray and who cannot deny seeing me pray.' It is a veil covering real wickedness. Prayer made with this intention becomes a blasphemy."

In "The Gospel as Revealed to Me"

• Jesus prevents Judas from swearing.
• Teaching of Jesus on the ten commandments: "Do not bear false witness."
• Sermon on the Mount: Eh Good, I say to you, do not swear at all.
• Judas, already Satan-possessed, makes a vow of hate against Jesus.
• Judas swears before the plotting priests.
• Proscription of oath on the altar and the Temple.
• The Apostles swear an oath of fidelity to the Cross.

In foundational Christian texts

In the Bible

• "I have sworn by myself, declares the Lord, because you have done this and have not withheld your son, your only son, I will surely bless you and make your offspring as numerous as the stars in the sky and as the sand on the seashore, and your offspring will take possession of the strongholds of his enemies."
• "A man who makes many oaths multiplies iniquity, and the scourge will not depart from his house. If he is found guilty, his sin is upon him; if he does not pay attention, his sin is doubled. If he has sworn falsely, he will not be acquitted, for his house will be filled with punishment."
• "He has raised up Israel his servant, remembering his love, the oath he swore to our fathers, to Abraham and to his descendants forever."
• "When God made the promise to Abraham, since he could not swear by someone greater than himself, he swore by himself."
• "Above all, my brothers, do not swear—not by heaven or by earth or by anything else. Let your 'Yes' be yes, and your 'No,' no, so that you may not fall under condemnation."

The eighth commandment

• "You shall not bear false witness against your neighbor."
• "It has been said to those of old: You shall not swear falsely but shall perform to the Lord your oaths."      

In the Catechism of the Catholic Church

• The second commandment forbids false oaths. To swear or make an oath is to call God as witness to what one asserts. It is to invoke divine veracity as a pledge of one's own truthfulness. The oath binds the name of the Lord. "It is your God you shall fear; him you shall serve; by his name you shall swear." and
• The rejection of false oaths is a duty towards God. As Creator and Lord, God is the standard of all truth. Human word is either in agreement or opposition with God who is Truth itself. When truthful and legitimate, the oath illuminates the relation of human word to God's truth. The false oath calls God to witness a lie.
• Perjury is committed by one who under oath makes a promise he does not intend to keep, or who after promising under oath fails to fulfill it. Perjury constitutes a grave disrespect toward the Lord of all words. To pledge by oath to do something evil is contrary to the holiness of the Divine Name.
• Jesus expounded the second commandment in the Sermon on the Mount: "You have heard that it was said to those of old, 'You shall not swear falsely, but shall perform to the Lord your oaths.' But I say to you, do not swear at all... Let your language be 'Yes, yes,' 'No, no'; anything more comes from the Evil One."- and Jesus teaches that every oath involves a reference to God and that the Presence of God and His truth must be honored in every word. The discretion in calling upon God in speech goes hand in hand with respectful attention to His Presence, attested or mocked, in each of our assertions.
• Following Saint Paul (-), the tradition of the Church has understood Jesus' words as not opposing oaths when made for a grave and just cause (for example before a court). "An oath, that is the invoking of the divine Name as witness to the truth, can only be taken in truth, with Discernment and according to justice."(-)
• The holiness of the divine name requires not to use it for trivial matters, and not to take oaths in circumstances likely to be interpreted as approval of unjust authority that requires them. When oaths are demanded by illegitimate civil authorities, they may be refused. They must be refused when asked for purposes contrary to the dignity of persons or to the communion of the Church. ()

The eighth commandment

• The eighth commandment forbids distorting the truth in relationships with others. This moral prescription stems from the vocation of the holy people to witness their God who is and desires truth. Offenses against the truth express, by words or deeds, a refusal to engage in moral correctness: they are fundamental infidelities to God and thus undermine the foundation of the Covenant.          
• False testimony and perjury. When publicly uttered, a statement contrary to the truth is particularly grave. Before a court, it becomes false testimony. When taken under oath, it constitutes perjury. These actions contribute either to condemning an innocent, or to acquitting a guilty person or increasing the penalty incurred by the accused. They seriously compromise the administration of justice and the fairness of the judgment rendered by judges.