Matthew 5:33 (DRB)

Passage

Again you have heard that it was said to them of old, thou shalt not forswear thyself: but thou shalt perform thy oaths to the Lord.

Nearby Context

Matthew 5:31 And it hath been said, Whosoever shall put away his wife, let him give her a bill of divorce.

Matthew 5:32 But I say to you, that whosoever shall put away his wife, excepting the cause of fornication, maketh her to commit adultery: and he that shall marry her that is put away, committeth adultery.

Matthew 5:33 Again you have heard that it was said to them of old, thou shalt not forswear thyself: but thou shalt perform thy oaths to the Lord.

Matthew 5:34 But I say to you not to swear at all, neither by heaven for it is the throne of God:

Matthew 5:35 Nor by the earth, for it is his footstool: nor by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great king:

Study Lenses

The verse centers on "again", "heard", "said", "thou", "shalt", "forswear", and "thyself". It is saying that the verse draws attention to "again" and "heard", so its meaning should be read from those terms before moving to application.

The nearby context moves from verse 32's "But I say to you that whosoever..." into verse 34's "But I say to you not to...", so "again" and "heard" belong inside that flow. In Matthew context, the local focus is Christ, faith, and discipleship.

A plain takeaway is to answer the verse's own emphasis on "again" and "heard" with trust shaped by these words, not by a vague optimism outside the passage.