And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him that dwelleth therein.
When you make a promise using the temple as your guarantee, you're actually making that promise before God himself, because that's his house.
You can't separate the building from the one who lives there.
📚 Historical Context
In the first century, Jewish religious leaders often made oaths by sacred objects like the temple to avoid directly invoking God's name, believing it made their promises less binding if they swore by something indirect. Jesus, in Matthew 23, was addressing the hypocrisy of the scribes and Pharisees during His ministry in Jerusalem, pointing out that such oaths still involved God, who dwelt in the temple. This teaching was part of a larger critique of empty religious practices that lacked true devotion.
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