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your oaths. But I say to you, do not swear at all. Why did He not come at once to theft, but to false witness, passing over that commandment? Because he who steals, sometimes also swears; but he who knows neither how to swear nor to lie, much more will he not choose to steal. So that by this He overthrew that sin also; for falsehood comes from stealing. What then is, You shall perform to the Lord your oaths? That is, You shall be truthful when you swear. But I say to you, do not swear at all. 5. Then, leading them further away from swearing by God, He says: Neither by heaven, for it is God’s throne; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King; still speaking from the prophets, and showing Himself not to be opposed to the ancients; for they had a custom of swearing by these things; and He shows this custom towards the end of the Gospel. But observe for me whence He elevates the elements: not from their own nature, but from God's relation to them, spoken of in condescension. For since the tyranny of idolatry was great, lest the elements might seem to be honorable in themselves, He has set down this reason which we have mentioned, which again passed over to the glory of God. For He did not say, Because heaven is beautiful and great; nor, Because the earth is useful; but, Because the one is God’s throne, and the other, His footstool, on every side pushing them toward the Lord. Neither by your head, He says, because you cannot make one hair white or black. Again here, not admiring man, He dissuaded him from 57.261 swearing by his head; for he might even have been worshipped himself; but referring the glory to God, and showing that you are not even master of yourself, and therefore not of the oaths by your head. For if one would not give his own child to another, much more will God not surrender His own work to you. For even if the head is yours, it is another’s property; and you are so far from being its master, that you cannot do even the least thing to it. For He did not say, You cannot bring forth a hair; but, You cannot even change its quality. What then, he says, if someone demands an oath, and brings compulsion? Let the fear of God be more powerful than the compulsion. Since if you are going to put forward such excuses, you will keep none of the commandments. For concerning your wife you will also say: What then, if she is quarrelsome and extravagant? And concerning the right eye: What then, if I love it, and am set on fire? And concerning the licentious gaze: What then, if I am not able not to look? And concerning anger toward a brother: What then, if I am rash, and not able to control my tongue? and thus you will simply trample upon all that has been said. And yet concerning human laws you nowhere dare to put this forward, nor to say: What then, if this or that? but both willingly and unwillingly you accept what is written. Besides, you will never endure compulsion. For he who has heard the beatitudes before, and has prepared himself to be such as Christ commanded, will endure no such compulsion from anyone, being venerable and reverend to all. But let your yes be yes, and your no, no; for what is more than these is from the evil one. What then is what is more than the yes and the no? The oath, not perjury. For that is both confessed, and no one needs to learn that it is from the evil one, and not superfluous, but contrary; but what is superfluous, what is added over and above, that is the oath. What then, he says, was from the evil one? and if it was from the evil one, how was it a law? You will say this same thing also concerning the wife: how is what was formerly permitted now considered adultery? What then can be said to these things? That what was said then was due to the weakness of those receiving the laws; since to be served by the savor of burnt offerings is very unworthy of God, just as to lisp is unworthy of a philosopher. Such a thing, then, was now considered adultery, and swearing to be from the evil one, when virtue had advanced. But if these were laws of the devil from the beginning, they would not have accomplished so much. For if not those

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τοὺς ὅρκους σου. Ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν, μὴ ὀμόσαι ὅλως. Τίνος ἕνεκεν οὐκ εὐθέως ἦλθεν ἐπὶ τὴν κλοπὴν, ἀλλ' ἐπὶ τὴν ψευδομαρτυρίαν, ὑπερβὰς ἐκείνην τὴν ἐντολήν; Ὅτι ὁ μὲν κλέπτων, ἔστιν ὅτε καὶ ὀμνύει· ὁ δὲ μήτε ὀμνύναι, μήτε ψεύδεσθαι εἰδὼς, πολλῷ μᾶλλον οὐχ αἱρήσεται κλέπτειν. Ὥστε διὰ ταύτης κἀκείνην ἀνέτρεψε τὴν ἁμαρτίαν· τὸ γὰρ ψεῦδος ἀπὸ τοῦ κλέπτειν. Τί δέ ἐστιν, Ἀποδώσεις τῷ Κυρίῳ τοὺς ὅρκους σου; Τουτέστιν, Ἀληθεύσεις ὀμνύς. Ἐγὼ δὲ λέγω ὑμῖν, μὴ ὀμόσαι ὅλως. εʹ. Εἶτα περαιτέρω αὐτοὺς ἀπάγων τοῦ κατὰ Θεοῦ ὀμνύναι, φησί· Μήτε κατὰ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ, ὅτι θρόνος ἐστὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ· μήτε ἐν τῇ γῇ, ὅτι ὑποπόδιόν ἐστι τῶν ποδῶν αὐτοῦ· μήτε κατὰ Ἱερουσαλὴμ, ὅτι πόλις ἐστὶ τοῦ μεγάλου βασιλέως· ἀπὸ τῶν προφητικῶν ἔτι φθεγγόμενος, καὶ δεικνὺς ἑαυτὸν οὐκ ἐναντιούμενον τοῖς παλαιοῖς· καὶ γὰρ ἔθος εἶχον κατὰ τούτων ὀμνύναι· καὶ δείκνυσι πρὸς τῷ τέλει τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου τοῦτο τὸ ἔθος. Σὺ δέ μοι θέα πόθεν ἐπαίρει τὰ στοιχεῖα· οὐκ ἀπὸ τῆς οἰκείας φύσεως, ἀλλ' ἀπὸ τῆς τοῦ Θεοῦ πρὸς αὐτὰ σχέσεως τῆς κατὰ συγκατάβασιν εἰρημένης. Ἐπειδὴ γὰρ πολλὴ ἡ τῆς εἰδωλολατρείας τυραννὶς ἦν, ἵνα μὴ δόξῃ τὰ στοιχεῖα δι' ἑαυτὰ εἶναι τίμια, ταύτην τέθεικε τὴν αἰτίαν ἣν εἰρήκαμεν, ἣ πάλιν εἰς τὴν τοῦ Θεοῦ δόξαν διέβαινεν. Οὐδὲ γὰρ εἶπεν· Ἐπειδὴ καλὸς καὶ μέγας ὁ οὐρανός· οὐδὲ, Ἐπειδὴ χρησίμη ἡ γῆ· ἀλλ', Ἐπειδὴ τοῦ Θεοῦ ὁ μέν ἐστι θρόνος, ἡ δὲ, ὑποπόδιον, πανταχόθεν αὐτοὺς ἐπὶ τὸν ∆εσπότην συνωθῶν. Μήτε κατὰ τῆς κεφαλῆς σου, φησὶν, ὅτι οὐ δύνασαι μίαν τρίχα λευκὴν ποιῆσαι, ἢ μέλαιναν. Πάλιν ἐνταῦθα οὐ θαυμάζων τὸν ἄνθρωπον, ἀπήγαγε τοῦ 57.261 κατὰ τῆς κεφαλῆς ὀμνύναι· καὶ γὰρ ἂν καὶ αὐτὸς προσεκυνήθη· ἀλλὰ τὴν δόξαν ἐπὶ τὸν Θεὸν ἀνάγων, καὶ δεικνὺς ὅτι οὐδὲ σαυτοῦ εἶ κύριος, οὐκοῦν οὐδὲ τῶν κατὰ τῆς κεφαλῆς ὅρκων. Εἰ γὰρ τὸ παιδίον οὐκ ἄν τις δοίη τὸ ἑαυτοῦ ἑτέρῳ, πολλῷ μᾶλλον ὁ Θεὸς τὸ ἔργον τὸ ἑαυτοῦ οὐ προήσεταί σοι. Εἰ γὰρ καὶ σὴ ἡ κεφαλὴ, ἀλλ' ἑτέρου τὸ κτῆμα· καὶ τοσοῦτον ἀφέστηκας τοῦ κύριος εἶναι, ὅτι οὐδὲ τὸ πάντων ἔσχατον ἐργάσασθαι ἐν αὐτῇ δυνήσῃ. Οὐ γὰρ εἶπεν, Οὐ δύνασαι ἐξενεγκεῖν τρίχα· ἀλλ', Οὐδὲ ἀλλάξαι αὐτῆς τὴν ποιότητα. Τί οὖν, ἂν ἀπαιτῇ τις ὅρκον, φησὶ, καὶ ἀνάγκην ἐπάγῃ; Ὁ τοῦ Θεοῦ φόβος τῆς ἀνάγκης ἔστω δυνατώτερος. Ἐπεὶ εἰ μέλλοις τοιαύτας προβάλλεσθαι προφάσεις, οὐδὲν φυλάξεις τῶν ἐπιταχθέντων. Καὶ γὰρ καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς γυναικὸς ἐρεῖς· Τί οὖν, ἐὰν μάχιμος ᾖ καὶ δαπανηρά; Καὶ ἐπὶ τοῦ ὀφθαλμοῦ τοῦ δεξιοῦ· Τί οὖν, ἐὰν φιλῶ αὐτὸν, καὶ διακαίωμαι; Καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς ὄψεως τῆς ἀκολάστου· Τί οὖν, ἐὰν μὴ δύνωμαι μὴ ὁρᾷν; Καὶ ἐπὶ τῆς πρὸς τὸν ἀδελφὸν ὀργῆς· Τί οὖν, ἐὰν προπετὴς ὦ, καὶ μὴ δύνωμαι γλώττης κρατεῖν; καὶ πάντα ἁπλῶς οὕτω καταπατήσεις τὰ εἰρημένα. Καίτοιγε ἐπὶ τῶν νόμων τῶν ἀνθρωπίνων οὐδαμοῦ τοῦτο τολμᾷς προβαλέσθαι, οὐδὲ εἰπεῖν· Τί οὖν, ἐὰν τὸ καὶ τό; ἀλλὰ καὶ ἑκὼν καὶ ἄκων καταδέχῃ τὰ γεγραμμένα. Ἄλλως δὲ, οὐδὲ ἀνάγκην ὑποστήσῃ ποτέ. Ὁ γὰρ τῶν ἔμπροσθεν μακαρισμῶν ἀκούσας, καὶ τοιοῦτον ἑαυτὸν παρασκευάσας, οἶον ἐπέταξεν ὁ Χριστὸς, οὐδεμίαν παρ' οὐδενὸς ὑποστήσεται τοιαύτην ἀνάγκην, αἰδέσιμος ὢν παρὰ πᾶσι καὶ σεμνός. Ἔστω δὲ ὑμῖν τὸ ναὶ, ναὶ, καὶ τὸ οὒ, οὔ· τὸ δὲ περισσὸν τούτων ἐκ τοῦ πονηροῦ ἐστι. Τί οὖν ἐστι τὸ περισσὸν τοῦ ναὶ καὶ τοῦ οὔ; Ὁ ὅρκος, οὐ τὸ ἐπιορκεῖν. Ἐκεῖνο γὰρ καὶ ὡμολογημένον ἐστὶ, καὶ οὐδεὶς δεῖται μαθεῖν, ὅτι ἐκ τοῦ πονηροῦ ἐστι, καὶ οὐ περιττὸν, ἀλλ' ἐναντίον· τὸ δὲ περιττὸν, τὸ πλέον καὶ ἐκ περιουσίας προσκείμενον, ὅπερ ἐστὶν ὁ ὅρκος. Τί οὖν, φησὶν, ἐκ τοῦ πονηροῦ ἦν; καὶ εἰ ἐκ τοῦ πονηροῦ ἦν, πῶς νόμος ἦν; Τὸ αὐτὸ δὴ τοῦτο καὶ περὶ τῆς γυναικὸς ἐρεῖς· πῶς μοιχεία νῦν νενόμισται τὸ πρότερον ἐπιτετραμμένον; Τί οὖν πρὸς ταῦτα ἔστιν εἰπεῖν; Ὅτι τῆς ἀσθενείας τῶν δεχομένων τοὺς νόμους ἦν τὰ λεγόμενα τότε· ἐπεὶ καὶ τὸ κνίσσῃ θεραπεύεσθαι σφόδρα ἀνάξιον Θεοῦ, ὥσπερ καὶ τὸ ψελλίζειν ἀνάξιον φιλοσόφου. Μοιχεία τοίνυν ἐνομίσθη νῦν τὸ τοιοῦτον, καὶ ἐκ τοῦ πονηροῦ τὸ ὀμνύναι, ὅτε ἐπέδωκε τὰ τῆς ἀρετῆς. Εἰ δὲ διαβόλου ταῦτα ἐξ ἀρχῆς ἦσαν νόμοι, οὐκ ἂν τοσοῦτον κατώρθωσαν. Καὶ γὰρ εἰ μὴ ἐκεῖνα