The Greek noun footstool is translated by a phrase (“the resting place for his feet”) in Good News Translation. The picture is that of God as king; he is seated upon his throne (verse 34), with his feet resting upon a footstool. See Isaiah 66.1 and 1 Chronicles 28.2.

According to at least one source, the Jews are known to have taken vows by Jerusalem, though not oaths. However, the principle would be the same, since it is the city of the great King, that is, of God. In the Greek text the preposition used before Jerusalem is not the same as that used before heaven and earth, though most all translations translate it by. It literally means “toward,” and so one scholar suggests that it may reflect the rabbinic teaching that a vow made “by Jerusalem” is not valid unless it is sworn “toward Jerusalem” (that is, while facing in the direction of Jerusalem). The reference to Jerusalem as the city of the great King is an allusion to Psalm 48.2. The great King is, of course, God.

By the earth and by Jerusalem will be translated the same way as “by heaven” in verse 34. Even though the text has “toward Jerusalem,” the sense is still that one swears “in the name of or by Jerusalem.”

The footstool can be “the small stool where he rests his feet” or “the place for resting his feet.”

The city of the great King can be “the city where the great King rules (or, lives).” Two sentences that may be better are “the city where God the great King rules” or “the city that belongs to God, the great King.”

Quoted with permission from Newman, Barclay M. and Stine, Philip C. A Handbook on the Gospel of Matthew. (UBS Handbook Series). New York: UBS, 1988. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .