CRITICAL NOTES.—
Proverbs 20:25. The first clause of this verse should be, “It is a snare to a man to cry out hastily ‘holy,’ i.e., to vow without thought and consideration.”
MAIN HOMILETICS OF Proverbs 20:25
For the correct rendering of this verse see Critical Notes
RELIGIOUS VOWS
I. A man is under no obligation to vow. While the Scriptures contain many references to vows, whereby certain persons consecrated themselves or their property to God and give laws concerning their fulfilment (Numbers 30), there is no command which requires men to enter into such a solemn engagement. The text refers solely to religious vows—to an act of special consecration to God, such as that of Jacob at Bethel when he dedicated the tenth of all his gains to the service of Jehovah (Genesis 28:22), or that of Hannah when she promised that, if God would give her a man-child, she would give him unto the Lord all the days of his life (1 Samuel 1:11). It is obvious that such special acknowledgements of particular and exceptional blessings must be pleasing to God, but He lays upon men no obligation to render them, seeing that their value consists in their being spontaneous—the overflow of a grateful heart, or the result of a deep conviction of the claims of God, or of the need of Divine help in extraordinary circumstances.
II. A man is bound by the most solemn considerations not to vow thoughtlessly. As an intelligent and moral being he is bound to enter upon no course and to make no engagement without first inquiring whether the motive which prompts him at the outset is strong enough to carry him to the end. It is a snare and a sin to promise to a fellow-man and afterwards, in the words of the proverb, “to make inquiry,” i.e., to ask ourselves whether we are prepared to abide by our promise. The inquiry must even in such a case be made beforehand, or we must be branded with unfaithfulness to our plighted word. (These remarks of course do not apply to vows and promises which are in themselves sinful or unlawful. The proverb does not deal with such). If, then, a man is bound to consider well before he promises to man, how much more so before he vows to God! What must be the harm done to conscience and to character, and how great the insult offered to the Divine Majesty, when vows are made and obligations entered into, and afterwards he who thus bound himself finds that he is not morally prepared for the sacrifice. To such an one we might say, as Peter said to Ananias—“Whiles it remained, was it not thine own?… Thou hast not lied unto men, but unto God” (Acts 5:4-5). “Better is it that thou shouldest not vow,” says the Preacher, “than that thou shouldest vow and not pay” (Ecclesiastes 5:5).
OUTLINES AND SUGGESTIVE COMMENTS
It is questionable whether vows, properly so called, are consistent with the genius of the New Testament dispensation. At any rate, of such vows as were common under the Old, we have no recorded examples under the New. Resolutions to serve God we may, nay we must make; there is no getting on in the Divine life and in the zealous promotion of the Divine glory, without them. But the binding of the soul by particular bonds and oaths, whether verbal or written—obligations superinduced upon those of the Divine law—have been “a snare” to many, Weak minds have often felt the obligation of their vow more stringent than that of the Divine authority.—Wardlaw.