Proverbs 20:25
in Proverbs 20It is a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly, only later to reconsider his vows.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
It is a snare to a man rashly to say, It is holy, And after vows to make inquiry.
KJV
It is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy, and after vows to make enquiry.
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This verse in Proverbs 20
Commentary
6 notes on this verseIt is ruin for a man to devour the holy, etc. Since it is a sin to harm any man, how much more so when it is he who has sinned? How forty men in the Acts of the Apostles vowed that they would neither …
This site's exposition
Man’s goings are of the Lord
on Proverbs 20:24-27
Man’s goings are of the Lord; how can a man then understand his own way? sets the cluster's frame, human planning held inside a sovereignty it cannot fully read. The snare of devouring that which is holy and only asking afterward whether it was lawful describes a vow made carelessly and regretted too late, and the wise king who scatters the wicked and brings the wheel over them pictures a threshing floor, guilt crushed the way grain is crushed. The chapter's most quoted line follows: the spirit of man is the candle of the Lord, searching all the inward parts of the belly, conscience described as a light God himself lit and uses to search a man from within.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
It is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy,....
The Nineteenth Century3 voices
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
Better, It is a snare to a man to utter a vow (of consecration) rashly, and after vows to inquire whether he can fulfill them. Both clauses are a protest against the besetting sin of rash and hasty vows. Compare the marginal reference.
A commentator
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown1802–1910
Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871)
proposed
devoureth . . . holy--or, better, "who rashly speaks promises," or "devotes what is holy," consecrating any thing. This suits better the last clause, which expresses a similar view of the results of rashly vowing.
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — starts-lowercase
Who devoureth that which is holy - It is a sin to take that which belongs to God, his worship, or his work, and devote it to one’s own use. And after vows to make inquiry - That is, if a man be inwardly making a rash vow, the fitness or unfitness, the necessity, expediency, and propriety of the thing should be first carefully considered. But how foolish to make the vow first, and afterwards to inquire whether it was right in the sight of God to do it! This equally condemns all rash and inconsiderate conduct. My old MS. Bible translates, Falling is of men often to vowen to seyntis, and after, the vouw is agen brawen. Is it possible that Wiclif could have translated this verse thus? as it strongly countenances vows to and invocations of saints.
The words behind it
7 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| מוֹקֵ֣שׁ | mokesh | a snare of | H4170 → | 27 times |
| אָ֭דָם | ʾadom | a person | H120 → | 551 times |
| יָ֣לַע | yala' | he may say rashly | H3216 → | |
| קֹ֑דֶשׁ | kodesh | holiness | H6944 → | |
| וְאַחַ֖ר | veachar | and after | H310 → | 715 times |
| נְדָרִ֣ים | nedarim | [the] vows | H5088 → | 60 times |
| לְבַקֵּֽר׃ | levaker | to consider | H1239 → |
מוֹקֵ֣שׁa snare of
mokeshH4170 →27 times
אָ֭דָםa person
ʾadomH120 →551 times
יָ֣לַעhe may say rashly
yala'H3216 →
קֹ֑דֶשׁholiness
kodeshH6944 →
וְאַחַ֖רand after
veacharH310 →715 times
נְדָרִ֣ים[the] vows
nedarimH5088 →60 times
לְבַקֵּֽר׃to consider
levakerH1239 →
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Matthew 5:33Again, you have heard that it was said to the ancients, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill your vows to the Lord.’
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 23:21
If you make a vow to the LORD your God, do not be slow to keep it, because He will surely require it of you, and you will be guilty of sin.
- Leviticus 19:12
You must not swear falsely by My name and so profane the name of your God. I am the LORD.
- Ecclesiastes 5:4–6
When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it, because He takes no pleasure in fools. Fulfill your vow.
- Deuteronomy 23:23
Be careful to follow through on what comes from your lips, because you have freely vowed to the LORD your God with your own mouth.
- Numbers 30:2–16
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.
- Deuteronomy 23:21
Through
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…
it leads to
- Exodus 30:13
Everyone who crosses over to those counted must pay a half shekel, according to the sanctuary shekel, which weighs twenty gerahs. This half shekel is an offering to the LORD.
- Leviticus 4:2
“Tell the Israelites to do as follows with one who sins unintentionally against any of the LORD’s commandments and does what is forbidden by them:
- Ezra 10:19
Maaseiah, Eliezer, Jarib, and Gedaliah. They pledged to send their wives away, and for their guilt they presented a ram from the flock as a guilt offering.
- Exodus 30:13
Where this verse is studied
On this page
About Proverbs
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); Bede, Commentary on Proverbs; Franz Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Proverbs of Solomon; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.