Ecclesiastes 5:6

"It is better that you should not vow, than that you should vow and not pay."

Key Reflection

This verse emphasizes the importance of keeping one's promises to God, suggesting that it is preferable not to make vows at all if one cannot fulfill them, as breaking a vow would be considered sinful. Thus, making a vow should be done thoughtfully and with the resolve to honor it.

From the Scholars: Barnes' Notes

Suffer not thy mouth ... -i. e., Do not make rash vows which may hereafter be the cause of evasion and prevarication, and remain unfulfilled. Before the angel -The Septuagint and some other versions render “before the face of God,” meaning a spiritual being representing the presence of God, a minister of divine justiceExodus 23:21, such a one as inflicted judgment upon David2 Samuel 24:17. Others, with less probability, understand the angel to be a priest, and refer toMalachi 2:7.

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