Nor should you swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black.
Parallel translations
- WEB Neither shall you swear by your head, for you can’t make one hair white or black.
- KJV Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.
- NKJV Nor shall you swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black.
- NASB Nor shall you take an oath by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black.
- NLT Do not even say, ‘By my head!’ for you can’t turn one hair white or black.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. It exposes human powerlessness and the folly of self-confident oaths.
Overview
Even swearing by oneself is hollow, for we control nothing, not even the color of our hair. The image humbles human pretension and undercuts any oath that presumes on what is God's alone. Disciples are to rely not on oaths but on plain truthfulness.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Luke 12:25Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
- Matt 6:27Who of you by worrying can add a single hour to his life?
- Matt 23:16–21Woe to you, blind guides! You say, ‘If anyone swears by the temple, it means nothing; but if anyone swears by the gold of the temple, he is bound by his oath.’
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Matthew presents Jesus as the promised King — son of David, son of Abraham — the new Moses and true Israel in whom every prophecy reaches 'that it might be fulfilled.'
How Matthew 5:36 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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