to the Lord. David "vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob." 11 "Israel vowed a vow unto the Lord." 12 In others it is manifest from the connection that the vow was made to the Lord. "Jacob vowed a vow, saying, If God will be with me, and will keep me in this way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so that I come again to my father's house in peace, then shall the Lord be my God: and this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's house : and of all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give the tenth unto thee." 13 Hannah addressed him to whom she vowed, "O Lord of Hosts.” 14 In only one passage of Scripture are any represented as vowing to another than God himself,15 but there the judgments of God are threatened on them-vowing vows to the queen of heaven, as guilty of idolatry. And even some who had been idolaters, so soon as they were taught the claims of Jehovah upon their obedience, made vows unto him.10 A vow is a solemn promise to God. It is explicitly described as such. "That which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt keep and perform: even a free-will-offering, according as thou hast vowed unto the Lord thy God, which thou hast promised with thy mouth." 17 It is of the like nature with a promissory oath. "If a man vow a vow unto 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 proceedeth out of his mouth."18 And from the fact that vows, by sacrifice and thanksgiving and otherwise, were paid to the Lord, this appears. "O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy vows." 19" So will I sing praise unto thy name for ever, that I may daily perform my vows.' 11 Ps. cxxxii. 2. 12 Num. xxi. 2. 14 1 Sam. i. 11. 15 Jer. xliv. 25. 26 "20 13 Gen. xxviii. 20—22. 16 Jonah i. 16. 17 Deut. xxiii. 23. 18 Num. xxx. 2. 19 Nahum i. 15. 20 Ps. lxi. 8. A vow is to be made voluntarily. The verb (17) translated to vow, in its literal acceptation means to beat out grain from the sheaf on the thrashing-floor: hence, as the corn is thus scattered, it came to signify to scatter, or to be liberal; and thence, finally, to offer willingly and freely. The noun (77) accordingly is put to denote the act of offering, or of making a promise, to God, and also what in this is spontaneously offered or promised. Moreover, in a passage formerly quoted, it is described as a free-will-offering. The vow is sometimes made in a spontaneous effusion of gratitude. Thus David sware unto the Lord, and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob, after the Lord had given him rest round about from all his enemies.21 Öften it is made in order to obtain some benefit. “I will go into thy house with burnt-offerings; I will pay thee my vows, which my lips have uttered, and my mouth hath spoken, when I was in trouble." 22 And like that of Jacob at Bethel, who was overpowered with the vision of the ladder, and desirous of obtaining the promise there made to him, a vow may not unfrequently proceed from both gratitude and hope. A vow must not be inconsistent with the requirements of the Divine law. What the Lord hath forbidden, he will not accept. "Cursed be the deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth unto the Lord a corrupt thing." 23 To promise to him what is beyond our power, is to mock him. Some vows of females and children were not accepted, because such interfered with services due by them to their families, over which, in things lawful, their husbands and fathers had supreme power. A vow is never made but in the exercise of Covenanting. The vow which Jacob vowed at Bethel 21 Compare Ps. cxxxii. 2, 3, and 2 Sam. vii. 1-3. lxvi. 13, 14. 23 Mal. i. 14. 22 Ps. was made upon the reception of God's gracious covenant promise there tendered to him. Again, "Israel vowed a vow unto the Lord, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities."24 In this manner at Hormah, they testified that they agreed to that promise of the Covenant that had been made at Sinai, which is expressed in the words, "Behold, I drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite, and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite,"25 and thus made a covenant. From the words, "If a man vow a vow unto the Lord, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond," it may be concluded that either a vow taken, or an oath, binds the soul. That the former binds the soul is most manifest from the language, "Every vow of a widow, and of her that is divorced, wherewith they have bound their souls, shall stand against her."26 The bond is a covenant bond, for it is said, "I will cause you to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the covenant." 9927 The word (n) for bond, in the later prophet is a co-derivate with that (DN) for bond, used by Moses, and has the same import. THE OATH. The OATH also claims consideration as related to Covenanting. "A lawful oath is a part of religious worship, wherein, upon just occasion, the person swearing solemnly calleth God to witness what he asserteth or promiseth; and to judge him according to the truth or falsehood of what he sweareth. The name of God only is that by which men ought to swear, and therein it is to be used with all holy fear and reverence: therefore to swear vainly or rashly by 24 Num. xxi. 2. 25 Exod. xxxiv. 11. 26 Num. xxx. 9. 27 Ezek. xx. 37. "The that glorious and dreadful name, or to swear at all by any other thing, is sinful, and to be abhorred."28 To SWEAR is to give or use an oath. men said unto her, we will be blameless of this thine oath which thou hast made us swear.' 29 "I will perform the oath which I sware unto Abraham."30 And to make, or to enter into an oath, being the same as to give it, each of these is also to swear. It is by the Lord, or by the name of the Lord, and by him alone that all ought to swear. One of the verbs (8) in the Hebrew which denote to swear, would seem to be derived from a word (8) which signifies GOD, and accordingly refers to the making of an affirmation by using the name of God.3 And the corresponding noun (7x) for oath, in like manner bears literally a meaning expressive of a means of calling on that holy name. Both occur in the sacred original of the passage. "If any man trespass against his neighbour, and an oath be laid upon him to cause him to swear, and the oath come before thine altar in this house: then hear thou in heaven."32 And where a verb of a different origin is employed, the same is manifest. Abraham said unto his eldest servant of his house, "I will make thee swear by the Lord, the God of heaven and the God of the earth."33 The Lord himself said, "Ye shall not swear by my name falsely."34 And explicit is the injunction, "Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God, and serve him, and shalt swear by his name."35 Nor is an oath to be made by the name of any other. "Men verily swear by the greater;" and therefore lawfully by God alone. The names of the gods of the heathen were not even to be mentioned; and hence were not to be used in making an oath. Nay, the Israelites were 28 Confession of Faith, xxii. 1, 2. xxvi. 3. 31 Gesen. Lex. Heb. et 33 Gen. xxiv. 3. 34 Lev. xix. 12. 29 Joshua ii. 17. 30 Gen. Chald. 321 Kings viii. 31. 35 Deut. vi. 13. explicitly forbidden to swear by them. Nor by any creature, and consequently not by the name of such ought any one to swear. "Swear not at all: neither by heaven; for it is God's throne: nor by the earth; for it is his footstool: neither by Jerusalem; for it is the city of the great King. Neither shalt thou swear by thy head, because thou canst not make one hair white or black."36 The expression, the Lord liveth, is a form of the oath. "Though they say, The Lord liveth; surely they swear falsely "37 "Thou shalt swear, The Lord liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness."38 An oath is sworn with the lifting up of the right hand. In vision presented before Daniel, the man clothed in linen "held up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever." 9939 John declares, "the angel which I saw stand upon the sea, and upon the earth, lifted up his hand to heaven, and sware by him that liveth for ever and ever.' 9940 The right hand is principally used among men in general; and accordingly, as when neither hand is specifically mentioned in any case, the right is understood, so we may conclude that the oath was made by the angel while he held up his right hand. The Lord sware "by his right hand, and by the arm of his strength." He sometimes speaks of his promise to give the children of Israel the land of Canaan, as being made by swearing, and at others, as made by the lifting up of his hand.42 And accordingly, like Abraham, who in lifting up his hand in reference to the goods that had belonged to the king of Sodom, unquestionably sware an oath, all who warrantably swear, make oath with the right hand lifted up towards heaven. 36 Mat. v. 34-36. xii. 7. 40 Rev. x. 5, 6. Exek. xx. 28. 39 Dan. 37 Jer. v. 2. 38 Jer. iv. 2. |