Charles Ellicott Commentary James 5:12

"But above all things, my brethren, swear not, neither by the heaven, nor by the earth, nor by any other oath: but let your yea be yea, and your nay, nay; that ye fall not under judgment." — James 5:12 (ASV)

The question of the lawfulness of oaths has often perplexed both the teachers of the Church and its simpler hearers of God’s word. The text, taken as it stands, would support the views of the Essenes, and many of the Paulicians, and other ancient sects. With equal force it might be urged by the followers of Peter Waldo, or the Unitas Fratrum (the Moravians), or the Society of Friends.

Swear not.—The words are put quite distinctly in Greek and English—neither by the heaven, nor by the earth. And it sounds like special pleading, worthy of a rabbi, to hear a theologian like Huther say that “swearing by the name of God is not mentioned,” and that, accordingly, such an oath is not prohibited. “We must not imagine,” he continues (and his argument should be presented fairly), “that this is included in the last member of the clause, the Apostle evidently intending by it (i.e., ‘neither by any other oath’) to point only at certain formulas, of which several are mentioned in Matthew 5:34-37.

“Had he intended to forbid swearing by the name of God, he would most certainly have mentioned it expressly; for not only is it in the Law, in contradistinction to other oaths, commanded (Deuteronomy 10:20; Psalms 63:11), but in the prophets it is announced as a token of the future turning of men to God” (Isaiah 65:16; Jeremiah 12:16; Jeremiah 23:7–8).

There were, we learn, many subtle distinctions in Jewish oaths; and the unlucky foreigner who trusted in an apparently firm one, too often found out his mistake.

Certainly all such subterfuges are utterly condemned, and further, every word which breaks the letter or spirit of God’s Third Commandment.

As to the higher judicial forms of oaths, remembering that our Lord answered such before Caiaphas (Matthew 26:63–64), we can fearlessly conclude, with the 39th Article of Religion, that “a man may swear, when the magistrate requires, in a cause of faith and charity, provided it is done according to the prophet’s teaching—in justice, judgment, and truth.”

Let your yea be yea...—Let your word be as your bond, needing no strengthening by any invocation of God or holy things, “lest you fall into judgment”—not “condemnation,” though condemnation certainly might follow.