Bible Strands
Proverbs 20:25
It is a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly, only later to reconsider his vows.
Berean Standard Bible
Follow its threads on the canvas →
Study note
Setting — The proverbial voice addresses humanity generally, positioned between a statement that human steps are directed by the LORD and a description of a king’s judicial separation of the wicked.
The words — מוֹקֵשׁ (mo.Kesh) means a snare or trap, and נְדָרִים (ne.da.Rim) denotes vows.
The thread — This warning against impulsive religious commitments runs through Ecclesiastes 5:4, which commands prompt vow fulfillment, and Matthew 5:33, which reiterates the prohibition against breaking oaths, while Leviticus 27:9 establishes that vowed animals become holy upon dedication.
Why it lands — The text states that rash dedication followed by later reconsideration becomes a personal trap, demanding deliberate reflection before any sacred promise is made.
Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.
The Hebrew words
King James Version
It is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy, and after vows to make enquiry.
Cross-references
- Ecclesiastes 5:4 When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it, because He takes no pleasure in fools. Fulfill your vow.
- Matthew 5:33 Again, you have heard that it was said to the ancients, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill your vows to the Lord.’
- Leviticus 27:9 If he vows an animal that may be brought as an offering to the LORD, any such animal given to the LORD shall be holy.
- Numbers 30:2 If a man makes a vow to the LORD or swears an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word; he must do everything he has promised.
- Leviticus 5:15 “If someone acts unfaithfully and sins unintentionally against any of the LORD’s holy things, he must bring his guilt offering to the LORD: an unblemished ram from the flock, of proper value in silver shekels according to the sanctuary shekel; it is a guilt offering.
- Leviticus 22:10 No one outside a priest’s family may eat the sacred offering, nor may the guest of a priest or his hired hand eat it.
- Proverbs 18:7 A fool’s mouth is his ruin, and his lips are a snare to his soul.
- Malachi 3:8 Will a man rob God? Yet you are robbing Me! But you ask, ‘How do we rob You?’ In tithes and offerings.
- Leviticus 27:30 Thus any tithe from the land, whether from the seed of the land or the fruit of the trees, belongs to the LORD; it is holy to the LORD.