Reference: VOW
American
A promise made to God of doing some good thing or abstaining from some lawful enjoyment, under the influence of gratitude for divine goodness, of imminent danger, the apprehension of future evils, or the desire of future blessings. To fulfill a vow binding one to sin, was to all sin to sin; but no considerations of inconvenience or loss could absolve one from a vow, Ps 15:4; Mal 1:14. Jacob, going into Mesopotamia, vowed the tenth of his estate, and promised to offer it at Beth-el, to the honor of God, Ge 28:20-22. Moses enacted several laws for the regulation and execution of vows. "If thou shalt forbear to vow, it shall be no sin in thee; that which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt keep and perform," De 23:21,23; Ec 5:4-5. The vows of minors, etc., were not binding without the consent of the head of the family, Nu 30. A man might devote himself or his children to the Lord, Nu 6:2. Jephthah devoted his daughter, Jg 11:30-40; and Samuel was vowed and consecrated to the service of the Lord, 1Sa 1:11,27-28. If men or women vowed themselves to the Lord, they were obliged to adhere strictly to his service, according to the conditions of the vow; but in some cases they might be redeemed, Le 27. These self-imposed services were more in keeping with the ancient dispensation, in which outward sacrifices and observances had so large a share, than with enlightened Christianity. See CORBAN, and NAZARITES.
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Jacob made a vow. He said: If God will be with me and will watch over me on my trip and give me food to eat and clothes to wear, and if I return safely to my father's home, then Jehovah will be my God. read more. This stone I placed as a marker will be the house of God. I will certainly give you a tenth of everything you give me.
Tell the Israelites: 'A man or a woman may make a special vow to live as a Nazirite dedicated to Jehovah.
When you vow to Jehovah your God do not delay the payback. It would be sin, and Jehovah your God will surely require it of you.
Be careful to perform the promise that comes from your lips, just as you have voluntarily vowed to Jehovah your God. Keep your promise.
Jephthah promised Jehovah: If you give me victory over the Ammonites, I will sacrifice with a burnt offering the first person that comes out of my house to meet me, when I return from the victory. I will offer that person to you as a sacrifice. (Jeremiah 19:5) read more. Jephthah crossed the river to fight the Ammonites, and Jehovah gave him victory. He struck at them from Aroer to the area around Minnith, twenty cities in all, and as far as Abel Keramim. It was a great slaughter. The Ammonites were defeated by Israel. Jephthah went back home to Mizpah. His daughter came out to meet him, dancing and playing the tambourine. She was his only child. When he saw her, he ripped his clothes in sorrow and said: Oh, my daughter! My heart is breaking! Why must it be you? I have made a solemn promise to Jehovah, and I cannot take it back! She said: If you made a promise to Jehovah, do what you said you would do to me, since Jehovah has given you revenge on your enemies, the Ammonites. She asked her father: Do this for me. Leave me alone for two months, so that I can go with my friends to wander in the mountains and grieve that I must die a virgin. He sent her away for two months. She and her friends went up into the mountains and grieved because she was going to die unmarried and childless. She returned to her father after two months. He did what he had promised Jehovah, and she died still a virgin. This was the origin of the custom in Israel. The Israelite women would go out for four days every year to grieve for the daughter of Jephthah of Gilead.
O Jehovah of Hosts: If you will truly notice the sorrow of your servant. Remember me. Do not turn away from me. If you will give me a son, then I will give him to you, Jehovah, all the days of his life. His hair will never be cut.
I asked him for this child. He gave me what I asked of him. So I am dedicating (giving) (granting) him to Jehovah. As long as he lives, he will belong to Jehovah. Then they worshiped Jehovah there.
The one who despises those rejected by God but honors those who reverence (respect) Jehovah. The one who makes a promise and does not break it even though he is hurt by it.
Do not be late in paying a vow you make to God. He takes no delight in fools. Pay what you vow! It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.
The cheater who sacrifices a worthless animal to me will be cursed. For he has in his flock a good animal that he promised to give me! I am a great King, Jehovah of Hosts declares. People of all nations will respect my name!
Fausets
To be taken voluntarily; but when taken to be conscientiously fulfilled (De 23:21-23; Ec 5:5; Ne 1:11; Psalm 1.14; Pr 20:25). The Nazarite however was often dedicated froth infancy by the parent. (See NAZARITE.) For instances (See JACOB (Ge 28:20-22 with Ge 31:13; 35:1-4). (See JACOB.) Vows were of three kinds:
(1) vow of devotion, neder;
(2) of abstinence, 'esar (See CORBAN) ;
(3) of destruction, cherem (Ezr 10:8; Mic 4:13) (See ANATHEMA.)
A man could not devote to sacred uses the firstborn of man or beast, as being devoted already (Le 27:26). The law of redeeming vowed land is given (Le 27:15,24; 25:27). An animal fit for sacrifice could not be redeemed; any attempting it had to bring both the animal and its changeling (Le 27:9-10,33). An animal unfit for sacrifice, adding a fifth (Le 27:12-13).
A devoted person became a servant of the sanctuary (2Sa 15:8). The vow of a daughter or a wife was void if disallowed by the father or husband, otherwise it was binding (Nu 30:3-16). The wages of impurity was excluded from vows (De 23:17-18); "dog" means "Sodomite" (Mic 1:7). In Ashtoreth's and the Babylonian Mylitta's worship prostitution for hire devoted to the idol was usual (Le 19:29; 2Ki 23:7). The head was shaven after a vow (Ac 18:18; 21:24).
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Jacob made a vow. He said: If God will be with me and will watch over me on my trip and give me food to eat and clothes to wear, and if I return safely to my father's home, then Jehovah will be my God. read more. This stone I placed as a marker will be the house of God. I will certainly give you a tenth of everything you give me.
I am the God of Bethel. That is where you anointed a pillar and made a vow to me. Arise and leave this land. Return to the land of your birth.'
God said to Jacob: Go to Bethel and dwell there. Make an altar to God who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau. Jacob said to his family and those who were with him: Get rid of the foreign gods that you have. Wash yourselves until you are ritually clean. Change your clothes. read more. After that let us go to Bethel. I will make an altar there to God, who answered me when I was troubled and who has been with me wherever I have gone. So everyone gave Jacob their idols and their earrings. He buried them under the oak (big) tree near Shechem.
Do not dishonor your daughter by making her a prostitute, or the country will turn to prostitution and be filled with people who are perverted.
you must pay enough to make up for what the present owner will lose on it before the next Year of Celebration, when the property would become yours again.
If the vow is to give the kind of animal that people offer to Jehovah, it will be considered holy. Do not exchange or substitute animals, a good one for a bad one or a bad one for a good one. If you do exchange one animal for another, then both animals will be holy.
The priest will determine what its value is. The value will be whatever the priest decides. If you want to buy it back, you must pay its full value plus one-fifth more.
In the jubilee year the field will go back to the person from whom it was bought, to whom it belongs as family property.
A firstborn animal already belongs to Jehovah because it was born first. Therefore, it cannot be set apart as holy. Whether it is a bull or a sheep, it belongs to Jehovah.
You must not look to see if it is good or bad or exchange it. If you do exchange it, both the first animal and its substitute will be holy. They may not be bought back.'
A young girl, who still lives in her father's house, might make a vow to Jehovah that she will do something or swear an oath that she will not do something. She must do everything that she vowed or promised unless her father raises an objection when he hears about it. read more. If her father forbids her to fulfill the vow when he hears about it, she is not required to keep it. Jehovah will forgive her, because her father refused to let her keep it. If an unmarried woman makes a vow, whether deliberately or carelessly, or promises to abstain from something, and then marries, she must do everything that she vowed or promised unless her husband raises an objection when he hears about it. If her husband forbids her to fulfill the vow when he hears about it, she is not required to keep it. Jehovah will forgive her. A widow or a divorced woman must keep every vow she makes and every promise to abstain from something. If a married woman makes a vow or promises to abstain from something, her husband may hear about it but may say nothing and not object. Then her vow or oath must be kept. But if her husband cancels it when he hears about it, nothing she said in her vow or oath has to be kept. Her husband has canceled it. Jehovah will free her from this vow or oath. A husband decides whether or not his wife has to keep any vow to do something or any oath to do without something. If he says nothing to her about it day after day, this means he decided that she must keep her vow or oath. She must keep it because he said nothing to her when he heard about it. If he cancels it later, he will suffer the consequences. These are the laws Jehovah gave Moses for husbands and wives, and for fathers with young daughters still living at home.
None of the daughters of the sons of Israel shall be a temple prostitute. Do not bring the hire (fee) of a harlot or the wages of a dog into the house of Jehovah your God for any vow offering. Both of these are an abomination to Jehovah your God.
When you vow to Jehovah your God do not delay the payback. It would be sin, and Jehovah your God will surely require it of you. It would not be sin if you refrain from vowing. read more. Be careful to perform the promise that comes from your lips, just as you have voluntarily vowed to Jehovah your God. Keep your promise.
When I lived at Geshur in Syria (Aram), I promised Jehovah that if he would take me back to Jerusalem, I would worship him in Hebron.
And that if anyone did not come before three days were past, as ordered by the rulers and the responsible men, all his goods would be put under the curse. He himself would be cut off from the meeting of the people who had come back.
O Jehovah, let your ear take note of the prayer of your servant. Of the prayers of all your servants, who take delight in worshipping your name: give help, O Jehovah, to your servant this day, and let him have mercy in the eyes of this man. Now I was the king's wine-servant.
It is dangerous to make a vow to God before counting the cost.
It is better that you should not vow than that you should vow and not pay.
All her images will be broken to pieces! All that she has earned will be burned with fire. I will destroy all her idols. She gathered them for the price of a prostitute and for the price of a prostitute they will return.
Arise and thresh, O daughter of Zion! I will make your horn like iron and I will make your hoofs like brass. You will pulverize many nations into pieces. I will devote their profit and wealth to Jehovah the Lord of the whole earth.
Paul stayed many days. Then he left the brothers and sailed for Syria. Also with Paul were Priscilla and Aquila. Paul clipped this hair short in Cenchreae because of a vow.
Take these men and join in on their purification rites. Let them shave their heads. All will know there is no truth in the things they have heard about you, that you walk orderly and keep the law.
Watsons
VOW, a promise made to God, of doing some good thing hereafter. The use of vows is observable throughout Scripture. When Jacob went into Mesopotamia, he vowed to God the tenth of his estate, and promised to offer it at Bethel, to the honour of God, Ge 28:22. Moses enacts several laws for the regulation and execution of vows. A man might devote himself, or his children, to the Lord. Jephthah devoted his daughter, Jg 11:30-31. Samuel was vowed or consecrated to the service of the Lord before his birth, by his pious mother Hannah; and was really offered to him, to serve in the tabernacle, 1Sa 1:21, &c. If a man and woman vowed themselves to the Lord, they were obliged to adhere strictly to his service, according to the conditions of the vow; but in some cases they might be redeemed. A man from twenty years of age till sixty, gave fifty shekels of silver; and a woman thirty, Le 27:3. From the age of five years to twenty, a man gave twenty shekels, and a woman ten; from a month old to five years, they gave for a boy five shekels, and for a girl three. A man of sixty years old, or upward, gave fifteen shekels, and a woman of the same age gave ten. If the person was poor, and could not procure this sum, the priest imposed a ransom upon him, according to his abilities. If any one had vowed an animal that was clean, he had not the liberty of redeeming it, or of exchanging it, but was obliged to sacrifice it to the Lord. If it was an unclean animal, and such as was not allowed to be sacrificed, the priest made a valuation of it; and if the proprietor would redeem it, he added a fifth part to the value, by way of forfeit. They did the same in proportion, when the thing vowed was a house or a field. They could not devote the first born, because in their own nature they belonged to the Lord, Le 27:28-29. Whatever was devoted by way of anathema, could not be redeemed, of whatever nature or quality it was. An animal was put to death, and other things were devoted for ever to the Lord. The consecration of Nazarites was a particular kind of vow. The vows and promises of children were void, of course, except they were ratified either by the express or tacit consent of their parents. It was the same with the vows of a married woman; they were of no validity, except confirmed by the express or tacit consent of her husband, Numbers 30. But widows, or liberated wives, were bound by their vows, whatever they were.
Whosoever invokes the awful name of God to witness, any untruth, knowing it to be such, is guilty of taking it in vain. Our Lord did not mean to preclude solemn appeals to heaven, whether oaths or vows, in courts of justice, or in important compacts. For an oath, or appeal to the greatest of all beings, as the Searcher of hearts, to witness a transaction, and to punish falsehood or perjury, is necessary, for putting an end to all strife or controversy among men, to promote confirmation or security of property, Heb 6:16. And it was sanctioned by the example of God, swearing by himself, Ge 22:15; Heb 6:17-18; and by the example of the patriarchs and saints of old; thus Abraham swore by the most high God, Creator of heaven and earth, Ge 14:22; the transjordanite tribes, by the God of gods, the Lord, Jos 22:22. And the law prescribed, "Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name," De 6:13. And afterward, "All Judah rejoiced at the oath, for they had sworn unto the Lord with a loud voice, with all their heart, and sought him with their whole desire; and he was found of them; and the Lord gave them rest round about," 2Ch 15:14-15. And a highly gifted Apostle uses the following most solemn asseveration, "The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who is blessed for evermore, knoweth that I lie not," 2Co 11:31. See the vows of the priests and Levites, to put away strange wives, Ezr 10:5; and to take no usury from their brethren, Ne 10:29, St. Paul also vowed a vow, which he performed, Ac 18:18; 21:23. Our Lord, therefore, reenacted the law, while he guarded against the abuse of it, by prohibiting all oaths in common conversation, as a profanation either of God's name, where that was irreverently used, or where any of his works was substituted instead of the awful and terrible name of the Lord, which the Jews, through superstitious dread, at length ceased to use, from misinterpretation of De 28:58: "But I say unto you, Swear not at all," in common conversation, by any of your usual oaths, "neither by heaven, for it is God's throne; nor by the earth, for it is his footstool, &c. For, by the detestable casuistry of the scribes and Pharisees, some oaths were reckoned binding, others not, as we learn from the sequel; thus, to swear by the temple, the altar, heaven, &c, they considered as not binding: but to swear by the gold of the temple, by the gift on the altar, &c, they considered as binding; the absurdity and impiety of which practice is well exposed by our Lord in Mt 23:16-22.
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But Abram said to the king of Sodom: I have sworn to Jehovah, God Most High, maker of heaven and earth:
The angel of Jehovah called to Abraham from heaven a second time.
This stone I placed as a marker will be the house of God. I will certainly give you a tenth of everything you give me.
This is according to the official standard: adult male, twenty to sixty years old: fifty pieces of silver, adult female: thirty pieces of silver, young male, five to twenty years old: twenty pieces of silver, young female: ten pieces of silver, infant male under five: five pieces of silver, infant female: three pieces of silver, male above sixty years of age: fifteen pieces of silver, female above sixty: ten pieces of silver.
However, everything dedicated to Jehovah for destruction, a person, an animal, or a field that belongs to you, must not be sold or bought back. Everything dedicated in that way is very holy. It belongs to Jehovah. People dedicated this way may not be bought back. They must be put to death.
You must respect Jehovah your God. Serve him and swear by his name!
You might not faithfully obey every word of the teachings that are written in this book. You might not respect this glorious and awe inspiring name: JEHOVAH your God.
The Mighty, Divine One is God of Gods! He is Jehovah! The Mighty, Divine One is God of Gods! He is Jehovah! He knows why we did this, and we want you to know too! If we rebelled and did not keep faith with Jehovah, do not allow us to live any longer!
Jephthah promised Jehovah: If you give me victory over the Ammonites, I will sacrifice with a burnt offering the first person that comes out of my house to meet me, when I return from the victory. I will offer that person to you as a sacrifice. (Jeremiah 19:5)
The time came again for Elkanah and his family to go to Shiloh and offer to Jehovah the yearly sacrifice and the special sacrifice he promised.
Asa and the people swore their oath to Jehovah with shouts, singing, and the blowing of trumpets and rams' horns. All the people of Judah were overjoyed because of the oath. They took the oath wholeheartedly. They took great pleasure in looking for Jehovah. And he let them find him. So Jehovah surrounded them with rest and peace.
Then Ezra got up, and made the chiefs of the priests and the Levites and all Israel take an oath that they would do this. So they took an oath.
They were united with their brothers, their rulers, and put themselves under a curse and an oath, to keep their steps in the way of God's law, which was given by Moses, the servant of God, and to keep and do all the orders of the Jehovah, our Lord, and his decisions and his rules.
Woe to you, you blind guides! You say, 'When you swear by the temple, it is nothing.' Then you say, 'When you swear by the gold of the temple, you are obligated.' You fools! You blind men! Which is greater, the gold or the temple that sanctified the gold? read more. When you swear by an altar, you owe nothing. When you swear by the gift left on the altar, you are obligated. You blind men! What is more important, the gift or the altar that sanctifies the gift? He who swears by the altar, swears by it and everything on it. He who swears by the temple, swears by it and by him that dwells within it. Thus, he who swears by heaven also swears by the throne of God and him who sits on it.
Paul stayed many days. Then he left the brothers and sailed for Syria. Also with Paul were Priscilla and Aquila. Paul clipped this hair short in Cenchreae because of a vow.
The God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, which is blessed forever knows I do not lie.
Men swear by someone greater then themselves: and an oath for confirmation to them puts an end to the problem. When God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he confirmed it with an oath. read more. God did this to offer encouragement so we may rely on the hope offered to us. We have taken refuge in that hope and it is impossible for God to lie. These two things can never be changed.