Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

VOW

A solemn promise made to God either to do or to abstain from some action. Heb. nāḏar seems to mean “to separate from profane use; to consecrate to God.” As made to God, a vow is an act of worship; it is a conditional promise to give something to God if God first grants some favor. Vows were most often made in situations of need and have a bargaining quality about them (Ps. 132:2 seems to be an exception).

As Jacob leaves Bethel for Haran, he promises that if God protects him on his journey and brings him back safely, he will faithfully return to God a tenth part, a tithe, of what God has granted him (Gen. 28:20-22; 31:13). About to enter the land, Israel must face and fight Arad. Israel promises that if God delivers this people to them, they will “doom” (consecrate completely to God) them and their cities (Num. 21:2-3). In exchange for victory over the Ammonites, Jephthah vows to sacrifice to God whoever first comes from his house to greet him. This turns out to be his daughter; he is grief-stricken but fulfills his vow (Judg. 11:30-39). The childless Hannah vows that if she bears a child, she will consecrate him to the service of God (1 Sam. 1:11). Absalom, while in Aram, makes a vow to worship God in Hebron if God will return him safely to Jerusalem (2 Sam. 15:7-8).

While later Judaism will devote a whole tractate of the Mishnah to vows (Nedarim), the Bible itself, in the legal sections of Leviticus, Numbers, and Deuteronomy, contains only scattered references to vows. These deal particularly with the objects of vows. In addition to tithes, conquered persons and cities, persons, and worship, as noted in the narrative examples, the most frequent vow seems to have involved offering some kind of sacrifice: holocausts (Lev. 22:18-20), peace-offerings (7:16; 22:21-22). Either could be accompanied by secondary cereal offerings and libations (Num. 15:3, 8; summarized in 29:39). Things already belonging or otherwise consecrated to God (Lev. 27:26) or offensive to God’s holiness (e.g., revenue from sacred fertility rites; Deut. 23:18) could not be the object of vows. One might vow oneself to God for a determined period of time. This was the vow of a Nazirite (nazîr), as summarized in Num. 6:1-21. Indications are that the nazir originally represented a lifelong call (Samson, Judg. 13:3-5; Samuel, 1 Sam. 1:11)) but that later it could be made for a determined length of time (Num. 6:2). Other persons offered to the Lord are to be redeemed for a fixed sum of money (Lev. 27:2), with special accommodation for the poor (v. 8).

The vow of a man cannot be annulled; the vow of a woman can be annulled by her father or husband. If, however, she is independent (divorced or a widow), then her vow too must stand (Num. 30). A vow is a serious commitment and must be fulfilled or “paid.” Heb. šillēm (piel), from the same root as šālôm, indicates that the vow, as it were, hung in the air incomplete until “brought to wholeness” by the performance of the vow (Deut. 23:21-23[MT 22-24]). Deuteronomy further specifies that vows should be fulfilled only in the place which the Lord chooses (i.e., Jerusalem; Deut. 12:6, 11, 17, 26).

Oppressed by Assyria, Judah apparently made vows to God praying for deliverance. With the fall of Assyria, the prophet Nahum tells Israel to celebrate and fulfill its vows (Nah. 1:15[2:1]). Faced with the threat of Babylon, some of the Jerusalemites had made vows to the queen of heaven; Jeremiah denounces their idolatry (Jer. 44:25). The sailors, afraid of the storm, make vows to God (Jonah 1:16), as does Jonah himself from the belly of the fish (2:9[10]). Malachi denounces those who make a vow to God but then cut corners in fulfilling it (Mal. 1:14). On the coming day of the Lord, Egypt will turn to the Lord and make vows, praying for deliverance (Isa. 19:21).

Since vows were most often made in situations of distress, lamentation psalms especially contain references to fulfilling vows with thanksgiving sacrifices (e.g., Ps. 116:14, 18). The act of fulfilling vows in the sacred assembly constituted acknowledgement of what God had done and was itself a public act of praise and thanksgiving (e.g., Ps. 22:25[26]; 50:14; 56:12[13]; 61:5, 8[6, 9]; 66:13-14; 76:11[12]).

In general, the Wisdom texts do not say much about cultic behavior, but references to vows do appear. The seductive woman tempts the fool, “Today I have paid my vows, so now I have come out to meet you” (Prov. 7:14-15). The queen mother of Lemuel begins her words of advice by calling him “son of my vows” (Prov. 31:2), suggesting a situation like that of Hannah praying for a child (1 Sam. 1:11). Eliphaz admonishes Job, in his distress, to return to God so that God will hear him, and Job can then pay his vows (Job 22:27). The seriousness of taking and fulfilling a vow is also stressed (Prov. 20:25; Eccl. 5:4-5[3-4]; Sir. 18:22-23).

A vow (Gk. euchḗ) is mentioned only twice in the NT. Both instances involve Paul (Acts 18:18; 21:23-26) and seem to be examples of the temporary Nazirite vow (Num. 6:1-21).

Michael D. Guinan, O.F.M.

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

VOW

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)