Matthew 5:36

Neither shall you swear by your head, for you can’t make one hair white or black.

World English Bible
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Other translations

WEBBE

Neither shall you swear by your head, for you can’t make one hair white or black.

BSB

Nor should you swear by your head, for you cannot make a single hair white or black.

KJV

Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black.

ASV

Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, for thou canst not make one hair white or black.

BBE

You may not take an oath by your head, because you are not able to make one hair white or black.

Original Greek

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The early church

"Neither by thy head," saith He, "because thou canst not make one hair white or black." Here again, not as wondering at man, hath He withdrawn him from swearing by his head (for so man himself would be worshipped), but as referring the glory to God, and signifying that thou art not master even of thyself, and of course therefore not of the oaths made by thy head. For if no one would give up his own child to another, much more will not God give up His own work to thee. For though it be thy head, yet is it the property of another; and so far from being master thereof, thou shalt not be able to do with it, no not the least thing of all. For He said not, "Thou canst not make one hair grow;" but, "Not so much as change its quality."
John Chrysostom · d. 407Homilies on Matthew
Lastly, consider that the Saviour does not here forbid to swear by God, but by the Heaven, the Earth, by Jerusalem, by a man's head. For this evil practice of swearing by the elements the Jews had always, and are thereof often accused in the prophetic writing's. For he who swears, shows either reverence or love for that by which he swears. Thus when the Jews swore by the Angels, by the city of Jerusalem, by the temple and the elements, they paid to the creature the honour and worship belonging to God; for it is commanded in the Law that we should not swear but by the Lord our God.
Jerome · d. 420Catena Aurea (Aquinas, 1274)

Commentary

Matthew Henry · Verses 33–37

There is no reason to consider that solemn oaths in a court of justice, or on other proper occasions, are wrong, provided they are taken with due reverence. But all oaths taken without necessity, or in common conversation, must be sinful, as well as all those expressions which are appeals to God, though persons think thereby to evade the guilt of swearing. The worse men are, the less they are bound by oaths; the better they are, the less there is need for them. Our Lord does not enjoin the precise terms wherein we are to affirm or deny, but such a constant regard to truth as would render oaths unnecessary.

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Cross-references: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge. Hebrew and Greek data from STEPBible.org (Tyndale House, Cambridge), CC BY 4.0. Library: sources.