5:36a

Nor: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible here translates as Nor is the same Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as “or” in 5:35a and 5:35b. As before, this word introduces another example.

should you swear by your head: The clause swear by your head means that people should not “make an oath using/saying the words ‘by my head.’” This is prohibited just as the other items in 5:34–35.

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

Do not make an oath using the words ‘my head’
-or-
Don’t even swear, ‘By my head!’ (New Living Translation (1996))
-or-
Do not swear indicating your own head as witness/proof

In the Greek text, both the verb for swear and the pronoun for your are singular.

5:36b

for: The Greek word that the Berean Standard Bible translates as for introduces the basis for the command not to swear by your head (in 5:36a).

Here are some other ways to translate this:

Do not swear by your head, because you cannot make one hair white or black.
-or-
You cannot make one hair white or black, so do not swear by your head.

you cannot make a single hair white or black: A person cannot permanently change the natural color of his hair. God is the one who controls a person’s head just as he controls heaven and earth. So a person cannot prove that his oath is true by saying “by my head.” He must not promise to do something by saying “by my head.”

Here are some other ways to translate this clause:

you cannot make one hair on your head become white or black (New Century Version)

-or-

you can’t turn one hair white or black (New Living Translation (2004))

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