Greek word · G1964

ἐπιορκέω

epiorkeō

to break an oath

To swear falsely, i.e. to commit perjury by affirming under oath something you know is untrue. Also to break a sworn promise, failing to carry out what you swore to do. The noun epiorkos means 'perjurer, oath-breaker' (1 Tim 1:10). Behind the word lies horkos, 'oath'.

Appears once in the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

ἐπιορκέω, -ῶ

(ἐπίορκος), [in LXX: I Est.1:48, Wisdom of Solomon 14:28 * ;]

to swear falsely, forswear oneself: Matthew 5:33.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of Matthew 5:33

Range of meaning

To swear falsely, i.e. to commit perjury by affirming under oath something you know is untrue. Also to break a sworn promise, failing to carry out what you swore to do. The noun epiorkos means 'perjurer, oath-breaker' (1 Tim 1:10). Behind the word lies horkos, 'oath'. In Greek thought the oath itself was almost a sacred power that punished whoever violated it.

Against the English

KJV 'forswear thyself' was exact in 1611: it meant to perjure yourself. Today 'forswear' usually means 'renounce, give up', and 'swear' suggests foul language. 'Swear falsely' (YLT, ESV) and 'break your oath' (BSB, NIV) each catch one half of the word's range. 'Make false vows' (WEB, NASB 1995) brings in 'vow', which is not the word used here.

How it drifted

The English verb 'swear' has largely moved from 'take an oath' to 'use profanity', and 'forswear' has moved from 'perjure oneself' to 'renounce'.

Used elsewhere in the period

Used widely in classical and Hellenistic Greek for perjury. In Jewish Greek: Wisdom of Solomon 14:28 condemns idolaters who 'swear falsely lightly'. 1 Esdras 1:46 (LXX numbering) uses it of King Zedekiah breaking the oath he swore to Nebuchadnezzar in the Lord's name. Philo discusses perjury at length (On the Decalogue 84–95; Special Laws 2.2–38). The early Christian Didache (2:3) repeats the same command, 'You shall not swear falsely' (ouk epiorkēseis), probably drawing on the same tradition as Matthew.

Similar words

Where it appears

Matthew · 1

  1. Matthew 5:33 ἐπιορκήσεις, will you swear falsely,

    Again, you have heard that it was said to the ancients, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill your vows to the Lord.’

    Here: Covers both wrongs: swearing to something untrue (perjury) and failing to do what you swore to do. The future tense is the legal 'thou shalt not' style of biblical commands.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.