Matthew 5:35 is part of Jesus’ teaching against swearing oaths that appeal to something greater than yourself to make your word credible. He names two things people used as guarantees, the earth and the city of Jerusalem, and says both belong to God, so swearing by them is still swearing by God. Jesus speaks these words during the Sermon on the Mount, addressing his disciples and the crowds gathered on the hillside in Galilee.
Nor by the earth, for it is the footstool of his feet; nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King.
Matthew 5:35 (WEB)
What Matthew 5:35 Means
The verse finishes a list of oaths Jesus rules out in Matthew 5:34 to 36. The phrase “nor by the earth” refers to the ground people pointed to when they made a promise, as if the soil were a witness that would hold them to their word. Jesus answers that the earth is “the footstool of his feet,” meaning God rests his feet upon it the way a king rests his feet on a low stool. Whatever you swear by, you are really invoking the one who made it and owns it.
The second clause, “nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King,” works the same way. Jerusalem held the temple and was the holiest city in Jewish life, so people swore by it to add weight to their words. Jesus says the city belongs to God, “the great King,” so it cannot serve as an independent guarantee. The verse does not forbid speaking of the earth or the city in ordinary conversation. It forbids using them as a substitute for simple honesty.
The Context of Matthew 5:35
Matthew, traditionally identified as the tax collector who became one of the twelve apostles, wrote this Gospel for a community with strong Jewish roots, probably in the decades after the fall of Jerusalem in AD 70. The Sermon on the Mount, in chapters 5 to 7, sets out Jesus’ vision for life under God’s rule, and this section sits within his teaching on how his followers should treat one another. Matthew 5:33 quotes the familiar Old Testament command to keep vows made to the Lord, which many people had learned to satisfy with carefully worded oaths.
Read in that setting, the verse shows Jesus pushing past legal technicalities toward a plain integrity. Verse 37 gives the conclusion: let your “Yes” mean yes and your “No” mean no, because anything beyond that comes from the evil one. The surrounding verses about divorce and the eye for an eye command show the same concern, that God’s people should live with a truthfulness that needs no elaborate protection.
Key Phrases in Matthew 5:35
Psalm 24:1
The earth is the LORD’s, with its fullness; the world, and those who dwell therein.
(WEB)
This psalm declares that the earth and everything in it belong to the Lord. It supports the logic of Matthew 5:35 by reminding you that the ground you might swear by already belongs to God and is not a neutral witness.
James 5:12
But above all things, my brothers, don’t swear— not by heaven, or by the earth, or by any other oath; but let your “yes” be “yes”, and your “no”, “no”; so that you don’t fall into hypocrisy.
(WEB)
James gives a parallel instruction against swearing oaths, urging believers to let their yes be yes and their no be no. He reinforces Jesus’ call to plain, reliable speech that needs no heavenly or earthly backing.
A Short Prayer From Matthew 5:35
Lord, you own the earth and the city of your great name, and nothing in creation stands apart from your rule. Forgive me for the times I reach for stronger words to make my promises sound believable when my honesty should be enough. Teach me to speak truthfully in small things and in large, so that my yes can be trusted and my no can be respected. Let my life show that I belong to you. Amen.
