Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Matthew 5:37
But let your communication - Your word; what you say.Be, Yea - Yes. This does not mean that we should always use the word “yea,” for it might as well have been translated “yes”; but it means that we should simply affirm or declare that a thing is so.More than these - More than these affirmations.Cometh of evil - Is evil. Proceeds from some evil disposition or purpose. And from this we may learn:1. That profane swearing is always the evidence of a depraved heart. To trifle with the name of God,... read more
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Matthew 5:36
Neither shalt thou swear by thy head - This was a common oath. The Gentiles also used this oath. To swear by the head was the same as to swear by the life; or to say, I will forfeit my life if what I say is not true. God is the Author of the life, and to swear by that, therefore, is the same as to swear by him.Because thou canst not make one hair white or black - You have no control or right over your own life. You cannot even change one single hair. God has all that control; and it is... read more