except for a tiny portion of it—even if what is left is no more than a single morsel. Such a ploy is spurious and feeble, and whenever a person resorts to it he has in truth broken his oath and done precisely what he had sworn not to do. By the same reasoning, this schemer would have to permit every legally responsible person to engage in whatever the Lawgiver has totally forbidden, so long as he omits a token fraction of it; for fulfilling or violating an oath parallels obedience or disobedience with respect to divine commands and prohibitions. Accordingly, one is not cleared of liability unless he performs the whole of what he has sworn to do, not merely part of it—just as he is not truly obedient unless he carries out the command in its entirety. Conversely, he incurs perjury by doing any portion of what he swore to avoid, just as he becomes disobedient by committing any portion of what is forbidden.” End quote.

Some people swear that they will not do a certain act, then commission someone else to do it in their stead. This, too, is a stratagem that does not release them from the responsibility of their oath—unless their intention was simply that they themselves would not personally perform the act; in that case, they are bound by what they intended.

In all events, oaths are a serious matter: it is impermissible to treat them lightly or to contrive devices to evade their ruling.