It is a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly, only later to reconsider his vows.
Parallel translations
- WEB It is a snare to a man to make a rash dedication, then later to consider his vows.
- KJV It is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy, and after vows to make enquiry.
- NKJV It is a snare for a man to devote rashly something as holy, And afterward to reconsider his vows.
- NASB It is a trap for a person to say carelessly, “It is holy!” And after the vows to make inquiry.
- NLT Don’t trap yourself by making a rash promise to God and only later counting the cost.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
Making a rash vow and only later weighing the cost is a snare. It matters as a warning to think carefully before binding oneself to God.
Overview
Hasty, unconsidered vows trap a person in obligations they regret (Ecclesiastes 5:4-5; Judges 11:30-35). The proverb counsels sober reflection before making solemn promises to God. It teaches that reverence for the Lord includes weighing our words before him.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 9
- Eccl 5:4–6When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it, because He takes no pleasure in fools. Fulfill your vow.
- Matt 5:33Again, you have heard that it was said to the ancients, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill your vows to the Lord.’
- Lev 5:15“If someone acts unfaithfully and sins unintentionally against any of the LORD’s holy things, he must bring his guilt offering to the LORD: an unblemished ram from the flock, of proper value in silver shekels according to the sanctuary shekel; it is a guilt offering.
- Num 30:2–16If a man makes a vow to the LORD or swears an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word; he must do everything he has promised.
- Mal 3:8–10Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you ask, ‘How do we rob You?’ In tithes and offerings.
- Lev 27:9–10If he vows an animal that may be brought as an offering to the LORD, any such animal given to the LORD shall be holy.
- Lev 27:30–31Thus any tithe from the land, whether from the seed of the land or the fruit of the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD.
- Prov 18:7A fool’s mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to his soul.
- Lev 22:10–15No one outside a priest’s family may eat the sacred offering, nor may the guest of a priest or his hired hand eat it.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
Wisdom personified, with God before creation and the agent of all things, anticipates Christ 'in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom' — the wisdom of God made flesh.
How Proverbs 20:25 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
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