James 5:12 · World English Bible
But above all things, my brothers, don’t swear— not by heaven, or by the earth, or by any other oath; but let your “yes” be “yes”, and your “no”, “no”, so that you don’t fall into hypocrisy.
Piling oaths onto a promise is like painting gold over cracked wood. The loud words are meant to cover a heart that does not quite trust itself, and the polish is the flaw.
From the Sufism reading below.
The same verse, read by one tradition.
SUFISM
Piling oaths onto a promise is like painting gold over cracked wood. The loud words are meant to cover a heart that does not quite trust itself, and the polish is the flaw. A plain yes that truly means yes needs no decoration at all.
When the tongue promises more than the inner self will keep, the two drift apart and a person becomes double. Letting each small word match the state behind it closes that gap and makes speech honest again. And the One who listens sits closer than any heaven a person might swear by, already knowing what the oath is trying to prove.
Sufism lens
Where are you adding emphasis because some part of you does not quite trust your own yes?
He held that a person of character is slow to promise and quick to do, because the plain word and the deed should match. Extra assurance is a sign something is thin underneath.
True words are not ornamented and ornamented words are not true. The polish is usually there to cover something.
Say little and say it plainly, and let your conduct do the convincing. A person who has to keep insisting is arguing with himself.
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Sufism