d: for whether is
greater, the gift, or the altar that sanctifieth the gift? Whoso
therefore shall swear by the altar, sweareth by it, and by all things
thereon. And whoso shall swear by the temple, sweareth by it, and by him
that dwelleth therein. And he that shall swear by heaven, sweareth by
the throne of God, and by him that sitteth thereon." Thus did the Lord
condemn the infamous enactments of the schools and the Sanhedrin
concerning oaths and vows; for they had established or endorsed a code
of rules, inconsistent and unjust, as to technical trifles by which a
vow could be enforced or invalidated. If a man swore by the temple, the
House of Jehovah, he could obtain an indulgence for breaking his oath;
but if he vowed by the gold and treasure of the Holy House, he was bound
by the unbreakable bonds of priestly dictum. Though one should swear by
the altar of God, his oath could be annulled; but if he vowed by the
corban gift or by the gold upon the altar,[1136] his obligation was
imperative. To what depths of unreason and hopeless depravity had men
fallen, how sinfully foolish and how wilfully blind were they, who saw
not that the temple was greater than its gold, and the altar than the
gift that lay upon it! In the Sermon on the Mount the Lord had said
"Swear not at all";[1137] but upon such as would not live according to
that higher law, upon those who persisted in the use of oaths and vows,
the lesser and evidently just requirement of strict fidelity to the
terms of self-assumed obligations was to be enforced, without
unrighteous quibble or inequitable discrimination.

"Woe unto you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! for ye pay tithe of
mint and anise and cummin, and have omitted the weightier matters of the
law, judgment, mercy, and faith: these ought ye to have done, and not to
leave the other undone. Ye blind guides, which strain at a gnat, and
swallow a camel." The law of the tithe had been a characteristic feature
of the theocratic requirements in Israel from the days of Moses; and the
practise really long antedated the exodus. As literally construed, the
law required the tithing of flocks and herds, fruit and grain,[1138] but
by traditional extension all products of the soil had been included. The
conscientious tithing of all one's possessions, even pot-herbs and other
garden produce, was approved by the Lord; but He denounced as rank
hypocrisy the observance of such requirements as an excuse for
neglecting