It is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy, and after vows to make enquiry.
Parallel translations
- WEB It is a snare to a man to make a rash dedication, then later to consider his vows.
- BSB It is a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly, only later to reconsider his vows.
- 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 thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed.
- Matt 5:33Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:
- Lev 5:15If a soul commit a trespass, and sin through ignorance, in the holy things of the LORD; then he shall bring for his trespass unto the LORD a ram without blemish out of the flocks, with thy estimation by shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for a trespass offering:
- Num 30:2–16If a man vow a vow unto the LORD, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.
- Mal 3:8–10Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings.
- Lev 27:9–10And if it be a beast, whereof men bring an offering unto the LORD, all that any man giveth of such unto the LORD shall be holy.
- Lev 27:30–31And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the LORD’s: it is holy unto the LORD.
- Prov 18:7A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul.
- Lev 22:10–15There shall no stranger eat of the holy thing: a sojourner of the priest, or an hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing.
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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