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Deuteronomy 23:21 Commentaries: "When you make a vow to the LORD your God, you shall not delay to pay it, for it would be sin in you, and the LORD your God will surely require it of you.
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and it would be sin in thee.</div><div id="jump">Jump to: <a href="/commentaries/barnes/deuteronomy/23.htm" title="Barnes' Notes">Barnes</a> • <a href="/commentaries/benson/deuteronomy/23.htm" title="Benson Commentary">Benson</a> • <a href="/commentaries/illustrator/deuteronomy/23.htm" title="Biblical Illustrator">BI</a> • <a href="/commentaries/calvin/deuteronomy/23.htm" title="Calvin's Commentaries">Calvin</a> • <a href="/commentaries/cambridge/deuteronomy/23.htm" title="Cambridge Bible">Cambridge</a> • <a href="/commentaries/clarke/deuteronomy/23.htm" title="Clarke's Commentary">Clarke</a> • <a href="/commentaries/darby/deuteronomy/23.htm" title="Darby's Bible Synopsis">Darby</a> • <a href="/commentaries/ellicott/deuteronomy/23.htm" title="Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers">Ellicott</a> • <a href="/commentaries/expositors/deuteronomy/23.htm" title="Expositor's Bible">Expositor's</a> • <a href="/commentaries/edt/deuteronomy/23.htm" title="Expositor's Dictionary">Exp Dct</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gaebelein/deuteronomy/23.htm" title="Gaebelein's Annotated Bible">Gaebelein</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gsb/deuteronomy/23.htm" title="Geneva Study Bible">GSB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gill/deuteronomy/23.htm" title="Gill's Bible Exposition">Gill</a> • <a href="/commentaries/gray/deuteronomy/23.htm" title="Gray's Concise">Gray</a> • <a href="/commentaries/guzik/deuteronomy/23.htm" title="Guzik Bible Commentary">Guzik</a> • <a href="/commentaries/haydock/deuteronomy/23.htm" title="Haydock Catholic Bible Commentary">Haydock</a> • <a href="/commentaries/hastings/deuteronomy/8-2.htm" title="Hastings Great Texts">Hastings</a> • <a href="/commentaries/homiletics/deuteronomy/23.htm" title="Pulpit Homiletics">Homiletics</a> • <a href="/commentaries/jfb/deuteronomy/23.htm" title="Jamieson-Fausset-Brown">JFB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/kad/deuteronomy/23.htm" title="Keil and Delitzsch OT">KD</a> • <a href="/commentaries/king-en/deuteronomy/23.htm" title="Kingcomments Bible Studies">King</a> • <a href="/commentaries/lange/deuteronomy/23.htm" title="Lange Commentary">Lange</a> • <a href="/commentaries/maclaren/deuteronomy/23.htm" title="MacLaren Expositions">MacLaren</a> • <a href="/commentaries/mhc/deuteronomy/23.htm" title="Matthew Henry Concise">MHC</a> • <a href="/commentaries/mhcw/deuteronomy/23.htm" title="Matthew Henry Full">MHCW</a> • <a href="/commentaries/parker/deuteronomy/23.htm" title="The People's Bible by Joseph Parker">Parker</a> • <a href="/commentaries/poole/deuteronomy/23.htm" title="Matthew Poole">Poole</a> • <a href="/commentaries/pulpit/deuteronomy/23.htm" title="Pulpit Commentary">Pulpit</a> • <a href="/commentaries/sermon/deuteronomy/23.htm" title="Sermon Bible">Sermon</a> • <a href="/commentaries/sco/deuteronomy/23.htm" title="Scofield Reference Notes">SCO</a> • <a href="/commentaries/ttb/deuteronomy/23.htm" title="Through The Bible">TTB</a> • <a href="/commentaries/wes/deuteronomy/23.htm" title="Wesley's Notes">WES</a> • <a href="#tsk" title="Treasury of Scripture Knowledge">TSK</a></div><div id="leftbox"><div class="padleft"><div class="comtype">EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)</div><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/ellicott/deuteronomy/23.htm">Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers</a></div>(21) <span class= "bld">When thou shalt vow . . . thou shalt not be slack . . .</span>—The three yearly feasts are mentioned by Rashi and the Rabbis as occasions for the payment of vows. (See <a href="/1_samuel/1-21.htm" title="And the man Elkanah, and all his house, went up to offer to the LORD the yearly sacrifice, and his vow.">1Samuel 1:21</a>.) This precept is cited in <a href="/ecclesiastes/5-4.htm" title="When you vow a vow to God, defer not to pay it; for he has no pleasure in fools: pay that which you have vowed.">Ecclesiastes 5:4</a>, but with sufficient verbal variation to prevent its being called a quotation.<p><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/benson/deuteronomy/23.htm">Benson Commentary</a></div><span class="bld"><a href="/deuteronomy/23-21.htm" title="When you shall vow a vow to the LORD your God, you shall not slack to pay it: for the LORD your God will surely require it of you; and it would be sin in you.">Deuteronomy 23:21</a>; <a href="/deuteronomy/23-23.htm" title="That which is gone out of your lips you shall keep and perform; even a freewill offering, according as you have vowed to the LORD your God, which you have promised with your mouth.">Deuteronomy 23:23</a></span>. <span class="ital">Not slack — </span>Not delay; because delays might make them both unable to pay it, and unwilling too. <span class="ital">A free-will-offering — </span>Which, though thou didst freely make, yet, being made, thou art no longer free, but obliged to perform it.<span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="mhc" id="mhc"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/mhc/deuteronomy/23.htm">Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary</a></div>23:15-25 It is honourable to shelter and protect the weak, provided they are not wicked. Proselytes and converts to the truth, should be treated with particular tenderness, that they may have no temptation to return to the world. We cannot honour God with our substance, unless it be honestly and honourably come by. It must not only be considered what we give, but how we got it. Where the borrower gets, or hopes to get, it is just that the lender should share the gain; but to him that borrows for necessary food, pity must be showed. That which is gone out of thy lips, as a solemn and deliberate vow, must not be recalled, but thou shalt keep and perform it punctually and fully. They were allowed to pluck and eat of the corn or grapes that grew by the road side; only they must not carry any away. This law intimated what great plenty of corn and wine they should have in Canaan. It provided for the support of poor travellers, and teaches us to be kind to such, teaches us to be ready to distribute, and not to think every thing lost that is given away. Yet it forbids us to abuse the kindness of friends, or to take advantage of what is allowed. Faithfulness to their engagements should mark the people of God; and they should never encroach upon others.<a name="bar" id="bar"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/barnes/deuteronomy/23.htm">Barnes' Notes on the Bible</a></div>Another Gentile practice, connected with the one alluded to in the preceding verse, is here forbidden. The word "dog" is figurative (compare <a href="/revelation/22-15.htm">Revelation 22:15</a>), and equivalent to the "sodomite" of the verse preceding. <a name="jfb" id="jfb"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/jfb/deuteronomy/23.htm">Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary</a></div>21, 22. When thou shalt vow a vow—(See on [161]Nu 30:2).<div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/poole/deuteronomy/23.htm">Matthew Poole's Commentary</a></div> <span class="bld">Thou shalt not slack to pay it, </span> to wit, if the matter of it be lawful, and in thy own power. See <span class="bldvs"> <a href="/numbers/30-2.htm" title="If a man vow a vow to 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 proceeds out of his mouth.">Numbers 30:2</a></span>. Not <span class="ital">slack</span> or <span class="ital">delay</span>, because delays may make thee both unable to pay it, and unwilling too, the sense of one’s obligation growing every day weaker than other, &c. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><span class="bld">It would be sin in thee, </span> i.e. it would be laid to thy charge as a sin, and bring judgment upon thee. <span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a name="gil" id="gil"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/gill/deuteronomy/23.htm">Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible</a></div>When thou shalt vow a vow unto the Lord thy God,.... Which must be of things in a man's power to perform, and of what are lawful to be done, and according to the mind and will of God revealed in his word, and agreeably to the manner of worship prescribed by him; as that he will offer such a sacrifice, a freewill offering to him, and the like, besides what he was bound to do, or give such and such things for the repair of the sanctuary, or for the relief of the poor; See Gill on <a href="/numbers/30-2.htm">Numbers 30:2</a>. This law is thought by Aben Ezra to be repeated on the mention of the hire of a whore, &c. being forbidden to be brought for a vow, <a href="http://biblehub.com/deuteronomy/23-18.htm">Deuteronomy 23:18</a>, <p>thou shall not slack to pay it; or delay the payment of it, but do it immediately; since zeal and affection might abate, and there might not be hereafter an ability to perform, or death might come and prevent it; the Targum of Jonathan adds, at the three feasts, that is, of the passover, pentecost, and tabernacles; and the Jewish writers (h) say, that no man transgresses this precept respecting the delay of paying a vow, until the three feasts have passed: <p>for the Lord thy God will surely require it of thee; exact the payment of it, and expect it, insist upon the performance of it, and punish for neglect: <p>and it would be sin in thee; guilt of sin would be contracted, and punishment inflicted; Aben Ezra interprets it of the latter. <p>(h) Maimon. & Bartenora in Misn. Roshhashanah, c. 1. sect. 1. & in Ediot, c. 7. sect. 4. <a name="gsb" id="gsb"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/gsb/deuteronomy/23.htm">Geneva Study Bible</a></div><span class="cverse2">When thou shalt vow a vow unto the LORD thy God, thou shalt not slack to pay it: for the LORD thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in thee.</span></div></div><div id="centbox"><div class="padcent"><div class="comtype">EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)</div><a name="pul" id="pul"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/pulpit/deuteronomy/23.htm">Pulpit Commentary</a></div><span class="cmt_sub_title">Verses 21-23.</span> - A vow to the Lord, once made, was to be religiously kept; the Lord would require it, and to refuse or neglect to pay it would be held a sin. No one, however, was under any obligation to vow - that was to be a purely voluntary act. <span class="cmt_word">That which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt keep and perform</span>.<span class="cmt_word">.. according as thou hast vowed unto the Lord thy God</span> <span class="cmt_word">of free-will</span> (<span class="hebrew">נְדָבָה</span>, spontaneously). (For the law concerning vows in general, see <a href="/leviticus/27.htm">Leviticus 27</a>, and <a href="/numbers/30.htm">Numbers 30</a>.) Deuteronomy 23:21<a name="kad" id="kad"></a><div class="vheading2"><a href="/commentaries/kad/deuteronomy/23.htm">Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament</a></div>Vows vowed to the Lord were to be fulfilled without delay; but omitting to vow was not a sin. (On vows themselves, see at Lev and <a href="/numbers/30-2.htm">Numbers 30:2</a>.) נדבה is an accusative defining the meaning more fully: in free will, spontaneously. <div class="vheading2">Links</div><a href="/interlinear/deuteronomy/23-21.htm">Deuteronomy 23:21 Interlinear</a><br /><a href="/texts/deuteronomy/23-21.htm">Deuteronomy 23:21 Parallel Texts</a><br /><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/niv/deuteronomy/23-21.htm">Deuteronomy 23:21 NIV</a><br /><a href="/nlt/deuteronomy/23-21.htm">Deuteronomy 23:21 NLT</a><br /><a href="/esv/deuteronomy/23-21.htm">Deuteronomy 23:21 ESV</a><br /><a href="/nasb/deuteronomy/23-21.htm">Deuteronomy 23:21 NASB</a><br /><a href="/kjv/deuteronomy/23-21.htm">Deuteronomy 23:21 KJV</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="http://bibleapps.com/deuteronomy/23-21.htm">Deuteronomy 23:21 Bible Apps</a><br /><a href="/deuteronomy/23-21.htm">Deuteronomy 23:21 Parallel</a><br /><a href="http://bibliaparalela.com/deuteronomy/23-21.htm">Deuteronomy 23:21 Biblia Paralela</a><br /><a href="http://holybible.com.cn/deuteronomy/23-21.htm">Deuteronomy 23:21 Chinese Bible</a><br /><a href="http://saintebible.com/deuteronomy/23-21.htm">Deuteronomy 23:21 French Bible</a><br /><a href="http://bibeltext.com/deuteronomy/23-21.htm">Deuteronomy 23:21 German Bible</a><span class="p"><br /><br /></span><a href="/">Bible Hub</a><br /></div></div></td></tr></table></div><div id="mdd"><div align="center"><div class="bot2"><table align="center" width="100%"><tr><td align="center"><div align="center"> <script id="3d27ed63fc4348d5b062c4527ae09445"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=51ce25d5-1a8c-424a-8695-4bd48c750f35&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script> <script id="b817b7107f1d4a7997da1b3c33457e03"> (new Image()).src = 'https://capi.connatix.com/tr/si?token=cb0edd8b-b416-47eb-8c6d-3cc96561f7e8&cid=3a9f82d0-4344-4f8d-ac0c-e1a0eb43a405'; </script><br /><br /> <!-- /1078254/BH-728x90-ATF --> <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-2'> </div><br /><br /> <!-- /1078254/BH-300x250-ATF --> <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-0' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br /> <!-- /1078254/BH-728x90-BTF --> <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-3'> </div><br /><br /> <!-- /1078254/BH-300x250-BTF --> <div id='div-gpt-ad-1529103594582-1' style='max-width: 300px;'> </div><br /><br /> <!-- /1078254/BH-728x90-BTF2 --> <div align="center" id='div-gpt-ad-1531425649696-0'> </div><br /><br /> <ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:inline-block;width:200px;height:200px" data-ad-client="ca-pub-3753401421161123" data-ad-slot="3592799687"></ins> <script> (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({}); </script><br /><br /> </div> <div id="left"><a href="../deuteronomy/23-20.htm" onmouseover='lft.src="/leftgif.png"' onmouseout='lft.src="/left.png"' title="Deuteronomy 23:20"><img src="/left.png" name="lft" border="0" alt="Deuteronomy 23:20" /></a></div><div id="right"><a href="../deuteronomy/23-22.htm" onmouseover='rght.src="/rightgif.png"' onmouseout='rght.src="/right.png"' title="Deuteronomy 23:22"><img src="/right.png" name="rght" border="0" alt="Deuteronomy 23:22" /></a></div><div id="botleft"><a href="#" onmouseover='botleft.src="/botleftgif.png"' onmouseout='botleft.src="/botleft.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botleft.png" name="botleft" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div><div id="botright"><a href="#" onmouseover='botright.src="/botrightgif.png"' onmouseout='botright.src="/botright.png"' title="Top of Page"><img src="/botright.png" name="botright" border="0" alt="Top of Page" /></a></div> <div id="bot"><iframe width="100%" height="1500" scrolling="no" src="/botmenubhnew2.htm" frameborder="0"></iframe></div></td></tr></table></div></body></html>