John Calvin Commentary Deuteronomy 23:21

"When thou shalt vow a vow unto Jehovah thy God, thou shalt not be slack to pay it: for Jehovah thy God will surely require it of thee; and it would be sin in thee." — Deuteronomy 23:21 (ASV)

When you shall vow a vow. The rule of vowing also pertains to the keeping of the Third Commandment, since, by vowing, people exercise themselves in the sanctification of God’s name, and to promise anything to God is a kind of swearing. For what between people is called a covenant or agreement, with respect to God is a vow; and therefore it may be fittingly called a sacred engagement, which not only is made with God as its witness, but which is contracted with God Himself.

We have elsewhere briefly touched upon certain oaths, such as that of the Nazarites; but since that consecration was a part of God’s worship, I have placed it under the First Commandment. Nor indeed did Moses there treat directly of the obligation itself of the vow, but of that exercise of piety which stimulated the people to the pursuit of purity, sanctity, and sobriety.

I have followed the same course regarding the free-will offerings, which were certainly for the most part votive, but I have considered what was the main thing in them without much troubling myself about what was accessory. But now under another topic, Moses confirms what he taught before: that God’s name was not to be taken in vain. Therefore, he commands them to pay their vows, because withholding them diminishes the glory of God’s name, while He Himself is defrauded of His right, and the promise ratified before Him is nullified.

Moreover, it is to be observed that all the vows which were ever acceptable to God were testimonies of gratitude, lest the recollection of His benefits should fail—a forgetfulness to which we are too prone. When, therefore, the saints were conscious of tardiness or listlessness in proclaiming His goodness, they made use of this aid and spur, as it were, to correct their sloth. Thus, when they asked anything of importance from God, they were often accustomed to bind themselves by some promise as a manifestation of their thankfulness.

Such are the vows which Moses commands to be solemnly and faithfully paid, so that they might not cheat God when they had escaped from peril or had obtained what they wished, whereas in their anxiety they had been humbly supplicating. For we know with what ease, or rather levity, many are hurried into making vows, who afterwards, with the same fickleness, think little of breaking their promise.

On this point, then, God justly rescues His name from contempt, and to this end demands that what has been promised to Him should be paid. But since superstitious persons apply this, or rather wrest it indiscriminately to all vows, their error must be refuted, so that we may understand the genuine meaning of Moses.

The Papists would have all vows kept without exception, because it is written, You shall not slack to pay whatever has passed your lips. But a definition of vows must first be given, or at least we must see what vows are lawful and approved by God. For if all vows must be effectually kept, however rashly made, formerly under the Law it would have been right to kill their sons and daughters or to erect altars to idols, and thus under this pretext the whole Law of God would have been entirely nullified.

Therefore, a distinction between vows must be laid down, unless we wish to confound right and wrong. This then is the first point: nothing can be properly vowed to God except what we know to be pleasing to Him. For if to obey is better than sacrifice (1 Samuel 15:22), nothing surely can be more absurd than to indulge ourselves in the liberty of serving God, each according to his own fancy.

If a Jew had vowed that he would sacrifice a dog, it would have been sacrilege to pay that vow, since it was forbidden by God’s Law. But since there is an intermediate degree between what God has expressly prescribed and forbidden, it might be objected that it was allowable to make a vow concerning things which are called indifferent. My reply to this is that since the principle ought always to be maintained by the godly, that nothing is to be done without faith (Romans 14:23), it must always be considered whether a thing is agreeable to God’s word; otherwise, our zeal is preposterous.³¹²

God formerly did not forbid many things which He still was not willing to have offered to Him in worship. So nowadays, although it would be lawful not to taste meat all our lifelong, still if anyone should vow perpetual abstinence regarding it, he would act superstitiously, since he would inconsiderately obtrude upon God what we gather from His word that He does not approve. Therefore, if all our vows are not reduced to this rule, there will be nothing in them right and sure.

Another very gross error found among the Papists may also be condemned: namely, that they foolishly promise God more than they can pay. Assuredly, it is more than blind arrogance, indeed diabolical madness, that a mortal man should wish to present as if it were his own what he has not received. For example, if anyone should vow that he would not eat during his whole life, or should renounce sleep and the necessary supports of life, by common consent he would be convicted of madness. No gift, then, can be acceptable to God, except what He in His goodness has conferred upon us.

But what is done in the Papacy? Monks, nuns, and priests bind themselves to perpetual celibacy and do not consider that continence is a special gift. Thus, while none of them considers the measure of his ability, they wretchedly abandon themselves to ruin or envelop themselves in deadly snares. Besides, everyone should consider his vocation.

A monk will vow himself to his abbot and throw off the paternal yoke; another, who was suited for the transaction of public business, will abandon his children under cover of the monastic vow and thus acquire immunity. Hence it appears that whether a vow should be kept or not is to be estimated from the character of him who vows.

But a more gross and more common error is committed regarding the object of vows. I said above that the godly never made vows to God except in testimony of gratitude, whereas almost all the vows of the superstitious are so many fictitious acts of worship, having no other aim than to propitiate God by the expiation of sin or to acquire favor meritoriously.

I will not pursue at length those more detestable hallucinations by which they defile themselves and their vows when they substitute their idols in God’s place; for instance, when a man vows³¹³ an altar to Christopher or Barbara. To sanction this barbarous impiety, this passage of Moses is alleged, which certainly contains something quite different: namely, that those who vow to any other being pervert the worship of God. In this passage, Moses also takes it for granted that a vow is not accounted legitimate unless it is made to God Himself in accordance with the rules of religion and the prescription of the Law.

Thus, in this exordium, the doctrine is laid down that guilt is incurred unless what is promised is paid.

³¹² “Nos voeus sont pervers et esgarez.” — .” — Fr.

³¹³ “Une chapelle a sainct Christofle, ou a saincte Barbe.” —.” — Fr.