When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for [he hath] no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.
Ver. 4. When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it.] See Trapp on " Deu 23:22 " It is in thy power to vow or not to vow. Vovere nusquam est praeceptum, saith Bellarmine. a We have no command to vow. That of David, "Vow and perform to the Lord your God," is not purum praeceptum, saith Mr Cartwright, a pure precept, but like that other, "Be angry, and sin not"; where anger is not commanded, but limited. So neither are we simply commanded to vow, but having voluntarily vowed, we may not defer to pay it; delays are taken for denials, excuses for refusals.
For he hath no pleasure in fools.] He "needs" them as little as King Achish did; 1Sa 21:15 he "abhors" them Psa 5:5 as deceitful workers, as mockers of God. Jephthah in vovendo fuit stultus, inpraestando impius: b Jephthah was a fool invowing, and wicked in performing. But he that vows a thing lawful and possible, and yet defers to perform it, or seeks an evasion, is two fools for failing; since -
a De Monac., lib. ii. cap. 15.
b Jerome