Ecclesiastes 5:4–5

Context

This passage is an exhortation addressed to the reader by the speaker of Ecclesiastes, "the Preacher" (Hebrew Qoheleth, meaning "one who gathers an assembly"). It has traditionally been read as the words of Solomon. Many modern scholars, however, hold that a later author wrote in the persona of Solomon.

Ecclesiastes 5:1–7 forms a single unit concerning one's conduct when coming to the house of God. The warning "let thy words be few" (5:2) is followed by a discussion of the vow (a voluntary promise to God to do something), and the unit concludes with "but fear thou God" (5:7). The instruction not to delay in paying a vow closely parallels the law in Deuteronomy 23:21–23. Because the Hebrew Bible divides chapters and verses differently, these verses are numbered 5:3–4 in the Hebrew text.

Interpretation

• As a call to restraint in speech: Many commentators hold that the passage is concerned less with the institution of vowing itself than with the attitude of speaking rashly before God. Read together with the word "error" in the following verse (5:6), it is understood as a warning against promises made under the sway of emotion.
• The Reformed tradition: Chapter 22 of the Westminster Confession of Faith cites this passage as a proof text and sets out the following principles: vows are to be made to God alone and voluntarily, and no one may vow to do anything forbidden by Scripture or beyond one's ability to perform. The same chapter criticizes monastic vows such as perpetual celibacy.
• The Catholic reading: The Catholic Church maintains vows, including religious vows, within the life of the Church. It holds that, for a just cause, church authority may dispense (release) a person from a vow.

Questions of Application

• Dealing with rash vows: On the basis of the account of Jephthah in Judges 11, some hold that a vow that is sinful or was made rashly should be repented of rather than kept. Also cited in this connection are the provision in Numbers 30 allowing a father or husband to annul a vow and the provision in Leviticus 27 for redeeming a vow by payment. Others, by contrast, appeal to Psalm 15:4, "He that sweareth to his own hurt, and changeth not," and stress that a vow once made must be kept even at personal cost.
• Relationship to oaths: On the basis of the words "Swear not at all" (Matthew 5:34) in the Sermon on the Mount, the Anabaptist and Quaker traditions have refused to take oaths. Most Protestant denominations permit lawful oaths and vows. Some also argue that vows made to God should be distinguished from oaths sworn before other people.

In the Korean Church

In Korean churches this passage is frequently cited in connection with vow prayers and vow offerings, in which believers pray and promise to give or do something; with vows to dedicate one's children as "servants of the Lord"; and with a sense of calling that leads to enrollment in seminary. Critics both inside and outside the church have charged that sermons warning of punishment for unkept vows instill fear in believers and are used to pressure them into giving offerings.

Related Passages

• Deuteronomy 23:21–23
• Numbers 30:2
• Proverbs 20:25
• Psalm 76:11
• Matthew 5:33–37