It is a snare for a man to devote rashly something as holy, And afterward 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.
- BSB It is a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly, only later 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 vow a vow to God, don’t defer to pay it; for he has no pleasure in fools. Pay that which you vow.
- Matt 5:33“Again you have heard that it was said to them of old time, ‘You shall not make false vows, but shall perform to the Lord your vows,’
- Lev 5:15“If anyone commits a trespass, and sins unwittingly, in the holy things of Yahweh; then he shall bring his trespass offering to Yahweh, a ram without defect from the flock, according to your estimation in silver by shekels, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for a trespass offering.
- Num 30:2–16When a man vows a vow to Yahweh, or swears an oath to bind his soul with a bond, he shall not break his word. He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.
- Mal 3:8–10Will a man rob God? Yet you rob me! But you say, ‘How have we robbed you?’ In tithes and offerings.
- Lev 27:9–10“‘If it is an animal, of which men offer an offering to Yahweh, all that any man gives of such to Yahweh becomes holy.
- Lev 27:30–31“‘All the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land or of the fruit of the trees, is Yahweh’s. It is holy to Yahweh.
- Prov 18:7A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are a snare to his soul.
- Lev 22:10–15“‘No stranger shall eat of the holy thing: a foreigner living with the priests, or a 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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