ἐπιορκ-έω G1964
to swear falsely, break an oath, commit perjury
This verb means to swear falsely or forswear oneself—to take an oath with no intention of keeping it, or to break a sacred promise. Jesus uses it in Matthew 5:33 when teaching about oaths, contrasting faithful oath-keeping with perjury. In Homer, characters swear by the gods with solemn promises; this verb describes the violation of such sacred commitments. The multilingual glosses (Spanish perjurarás, French se-parjurer) uniformly identify this as perjury, showing cross-cultural recognition of oath-breaking as a serious moral offense.
Senses
1. sense 1 — In the Sermon on the Mount (Matthew 5:33), Jesus prohibits breaking oaths, referencing the traditional Jewish teaching against perjury. The cross-linguistic consistency—all major European languages render this as 'perjure' or 'break oath'—reflects the universal gravity of oath violations across Mediterranean cultures. The classical background shows this was opposed to εὐορκέω (keeping oaths faithfully), establishing a clear moral binary. 1×
AR["تَحْنَثْ"]·ben["মিথ্যা-শপথ-করবে;"]·DE["ἐπιορκήσεις"]·EN["you-shall-break-oath"]·FR["se-parjurer"]·heb["תִשָּׁבֵעַ"]·HI["झूठी-शपथ-खाएगा"]·ID["bersumpah-palsu"]·IT["epiorkeseis"]·jav["sumpah-palsu"]·KO["거짓-맹세하라"]·PT["jurarás-falsamente"]·RU["клянись-ложно"]·ES["perjurarás"]·SW["ape-uongo"]·TR["yalancı-yemin-edeceksin"]·urd["جھوٹی-قسم-کھانا"]
Related Senses
H0559 1. say, speak, tell (5297×)G3004 1. say, tell, speak (2226×)H1696 1. speak, say, tell (Piel) (1105×)H7121 1. call, summon, name (575×)H6680 1. command, order, charge (483×)H6030b 1. answer, respond, reply (289×)G2980 1. speak, talk (277×)H5046 1. Hifil: to tell, report (237×)G0611 1. answer or respond verbally (232×)H1288 1. Piel: bless, invoke blessing (227×)H7650 1. swear, take an oath (Niphal) (154×)H3789 1. Qal passive participle: written, recorded (112×)H1984b 1. praise, laud (Piel) (111×)H7592 1. ask, inquire, question (96×)H3034 1. give thanks, praise (Hifil) (94×)G1321 1. teach, instruct actively (92×)H3789 2. Qal active: write, compose (89×)G1125 1. to write, compose (a letter or document) (84×)H5046 2. Hifil: to declare, proclaim (79×)H7892a 1. song, musical composition (78×)
BDB / Lexicon Reference
ἐπιορκ-έω, also ἐφιορκέω Refs 3rd c.BC+, etc.: future -ήσω Refs 8th c.BC+: aorist ἐπιώρκησα Refs, infinitive -ορκῆσαι Refs 5th c.BC+: perfect ἐπιώρκηκα Refs:—swear falsely, forswear oneself, οὐδ᾽ ἐπιορκήσω πρὸς δαίμονος 8th c.BC: Ilias Homerus Epicus “Illiad” 19.188: also, c.accusative, of things sworn by, τὰς βασιληΐας ἱστίας ἐπιώρκηκε has sworn falsely by the royal hearth, Refs 5th c.BC+; [θεούς] Refs 4th c.BC+; opposed to εὐορκέω, Legal cited in Refs __II. simply, ={ὄμνυμι}, swear, Refs