John Trapp on Matthew 23:20

Verse 20. Whoso therefore shall [illegible: 1 word] ] It was not lawfull to swear by the altar, or by any creature whatsoever, Jer. 5. 7. (much [illegible: 1 word] by idols, Amos 8. 14. I my self, saith Latimer, have used in mine earnest matters to say, Yea by S. Mary, which indeed isSerm. in 3. Sun. in Advent. naught.) But though these oaths be formally naught, yet they are finally binding: and being broken they are plain perjury, becauseFieri non debuit factum valet. they are all reduced to God himself, no otherwise then if they had been taken expressely by the name of God. Hence it is that the oaths of Papists, Turks, Heathens (though superstitious) are obligatory, [non-Latin text not transcribed], quasi [non-Latin text not transcribed], An oath is an hedge, which a man may not break.