Charles Ellicott Commentary Matthew 23:16

"Woe unto you, ye blind guides, that say, Whosoever shall swear by the temple, it is nothing; but whosoever shall swear by the gold of the temple, he is a debtor." — Matthew 23:16 (ASV)

Whoever swears by the temple — For the general teaching of the Pharisees on oaths, see the notes on Matthew 5:33-37.

It is not easy to trace the currents of thought that run through corrupt casuistry. The probable line of reasoning that led to this distinction was that the “gold of the Temple”—not the gold used in its structural ornamentation, but the coin or bullion that was part of the Corban, or sacred treasure (Matthew 15:5)—had received a more special consecration than the structure itself. An oath by the gold was therefore thought to involve a higher obligation than an oath by the Temple or the altar. We see something of the same feeling in the popular casuistry that makes the binding force of an oath depend on “kissing the Book,” or in that of medieval Christendom, which saw in the relics of a saint something more sacred than the Gospels.

The principle involved in our Lord’s teaching goes further than its immediate application, sweeping away the arbitrary distinction of different degrees of sanctity in the various parts of the same structure. Here, as in Matthew 5:33-37, the line of reasoning is that the Temple includes the altar, the altar includes the gift, and heaven includes the Throne. Thus, every oath formula, explicitly or implicitly, leads back to the great reality of God.