What Does Matthew 23:18 Mean in the King James?
And, Whosoever shall swear by the altar, it is nothing; but whosoever sweareth by the gift that is upon it, he is guilty.
The analysis reads the King James wording.
King James Version The King James Version, first published in 1611. Selah Verse shows the standard text.
THE KEY
The word rendered “guilty” also means “owes”: the oath leaves the speaker under obligation to what the words invoke.
THE MEANING
Here, an oath is weighed selectively: sworn by the altar, it is dismissed as nothing; sworn by its gift, the speaker is liable. Yet the gift rests on the altar, so the distinction cannot hold apart what the oath binds together.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
An oath can be made weightless by naming the altar instead of the gift.
THE ROOT
ὀφείλει
opheílei
GROWS FROM
ὀφείλω (opheílō), ὀφειλ-
To owe, be indebted, or be under obligation.
“is guilty” in this verse is opheílei. The Greek carries the sense of owing or being obligated within the word translated “guilty.” The oath leaves its speaker answerable, with a debt-like obligation attached to the words.
ALSO GROWS
opheilétēs: A debtor; one who owes.
ὀφειλέτης
The debtor noun makes the verse’s liability concrete: the oath-speaker stands answerable, not outside the obligation.
opheílēma: A debt; that which is owed.
ὀφείλημα
This word names what remains due, revealing the debt-like force within the verse’s language of guilt.
THE PATTERN
Words of oath carry the force of the sacred reality they invoke, and cannot be made weightless by selective distinctions.
And ye shall not swear by my name falsely, neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God: I am the LORD.But let your communication be, Yea, yea; Nay, nay: for whatsoever is more than these cometh of evil.Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?THE THREAD
Ye fools and blind: for whether is greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift?The next line identifies the altar as what sets apart the gift, so the two cannot be ranked as independent objects for oath-taking. The speaker’s obligation follows the relation that gives the gift its sacred standing.
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