Genesis 28:20

28:20 Then Jacob made a vow, saying, “If God is with me and protects me on this journey I am taking and gives me food ¹  to eat and clothing to wear,

Genesis 35:1

The Return to Bethel

35:1 Then God said to Jacob, “Go up at once ²  to Bethel ³  and live there. Make an altar there to God, who appeared to you when you fled from your brother Esau.” ⁴ 

Genesis 35:3

35:3 Let us go up at once ⁵  to Bethel. Then I will make ⁶  an altar there to God, who responded to me in my time of distress ⁷  and has been with me wherever I went.” ⁸ 

Numbers 30:2

30:2 If a man ⁹  makes a vow ¹⁰  to the Lord or takes an oath ¹¹  of binding obligation on himself, ¹²  he must not break his word, but must do whatever he has promised. ¹³ 

Deuteronomy 23:21-23

23:21 When you make a vow to the Lord your God you must not delay in fulfilling it, for otherwise he ¹⁴  will surely ¹⁵  hold you accountable as a sinner. ¹⁶  23:22 If you refrain from making a vow, it will not be sinful. 23:23 Whatever you vow, you must be careful to do what you have promised, such as what you have vowed to the Lord your God as a freewill offering.

Psalms 50:14

50:14 Present to God a thank-offering!

Repay your vows to the sovereign One! ¹⁷ 

Psalms 76:11

76:11 Make vows to the Lord your God and repay them!

Let all those who surround him ¹⁸  bring tribute to the awesome one!

Psalms 119:106

119:106 I have vowed and solemnly sworn

to keep your just regulations.

Isaiah 19:21

19:21 The Lord will reveal himself to the Egyptians, and they ¹⁹  will acknowledge the Lord’s authority ²⁰  at that time. ²¹  They will present sacrifices and offerings; they will make vows to the Lord and fulfill them.

Matthew 5:33

Oaths

5:33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to an older generation, ²²  ‘Do not break an oath, but fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ ²³ 

¹ tn Heb “bread,” although the term can be used for food in general.

² tn Heb “arise, go up.” The first imperative gives the command a sense of urgency.

³ map For location see Map4-G4; Map5-C1; Map6-E3; Map7-D1; Map8-G3.

⁴ sn God is calling on Jacob to fulfill his vow he made when he fled from…Esau (see Gen 28:20-22).

⁵ tn Heb “let us arise and let us go up.” The first cohortative gives the statement a sense of urgency.

⁶ tn The cohortative with the prefixed conjunction here indicates purpose or consequence.

⁷ tn Heb “day of distress.” See Ps 20:1 which utilizes similar language.

⁸ tn Heb “in the way in which I went.” Jacob alludes here to God’s promise to be with him (see Gen 28:20).

⁹ tn The legal construction states the class to which the law applies, and then lays down the condition: “men [man] – if….”

¹⁰ tn The Hebrew text uses a cognate accusative construction to express this: “a man if he vows a vow.”

¹¹ tn The expression is “swear an oath” (הִשָּׁבַע שְׁבֻעָה, hishava’ shÿvu’ah). The vow (נֵדֶר, neder) was a promise to donate something of oneself or one’s substance to the Lord. The solemn oath seals the vow before the Lord, perhaps with sacrifice. The vocabulary recalls Abraham’s treaty with Abimelech and the naming of Beer Sheba with the word (see Gen 21).

¹² tn The Hebrew text hasלֶאְסֹר אִסָּר (le’sor ’issar), meaning “to take a binding obligation.” This is usually interpreted to mean a negative vow, i.e., the person attempts to abstain from something that is otherwise permissible. It might involve fasting, or abstaining from marital sex, but it might also involve some goal to be achieved, and the abstaining from distractions until the vow is fulfilled (see Ps 132). The נֶדֶר (neder) may have been more for religious matters, and the אִסָּר more for social concerns, but this cannot be documented with certainty.

¹³ tn Heb “according to all that goes out of his mouth.”

¹⁴ tn Heb “the Lord your God.” The pronoun has been used in the translation for stylistic reasons to avoid redundancy.

¹⁵ tn The Hebrew text uses the infinitive absolute for emphasis, which is reflected in the translation by “surely.”

¹⁶ tn Heb “and it will be a sin to you”; NIV, NCV, NLT “be guilty of sin.”

¹⁷ tn Heb “Most High.” This divine title (עֶלְיוֹן, ’elyon) pictures God as the exalted ruler of the universe who vindicates the innocent and judges the wicked. See especially Pss 7:17; 9:2; 18:13; 21:7; 47:2.

¹⁸ tn The phrase “all those who surround him” may refer to the surrounding nations (v. 12 may favor this), but in Ps 89:7 the phrase refers to God’s heavenly assembly.

¹⁹ tn Heb “Egypt.” For stylistic reasons, to avoid redundancy, the present translation uses the pronoun (“they”) here.

²⁰ tn Heb “will know the Lord.”

²¹ tn Heb “in that day” (so KJV), likewise at the beginning of vv. 23 and 24.

²² tn Grk “the ancient ones.”

²³ sn A quotation from Lev 19:12.