Yesterday, I discussed four different types of vows a woman could make.
However, there is one other type of vow actually discussed from verse 14, even though it’s a bit hard to discern at first reading.
The best way to describe it is to call it the Vow of Self-denial.
What this means is that the woman will deny herself something very valuable in return for the Lord doing something for her.
One of the classic examples of this was the mother of Samson.
After many years of being unable to have a child, she cried out in desperation and vowed to God that if He would grant her the ability to give birth to a child, she would DENY HERSELF possession of that child.
What this meant is that her son would spend his entire life serving the Lord.
This would have been a tough decision to make in those days because it also meant denying any honor and care she would have received from her son when she became old.
Concerning women and children, there were generally two kinds of vows.
Although this is quite clear in the original Hebrew, it is not clear in many English translations of the Bible because the same word “vow” is used when translating.
The first kind of vow is called NEDER in Hebrew and usually involves taking some sort of proactive action (such as making a sacrificial offering) in order to fulfill your vow.
The second type of vow is called ISSAR in Hebrew and usually involves abstaining from something like food or drink.
The Nazarite vow is a perfect example of an ISSAR.
The Israelite who takes the Nazarite vow must abstain from drinking or eating any type of grape products, cutting one’s hair, and touching a dead body even if the corpse is his mother or father.
Instead of the word “vow”, it would probably be better to render ISSAR as a “pledge” in English.
What is common to BOTH a NEDER (vow) or an ISSAR (pledge) is that an oath is always taken to initiate them.
Biblically speaking, the definition of an oath is to invoke the name of God to seal it.
There were two kinds of oaths as follows:
AN OATH OF ASSERTION:
An example of this type of oath is swearing the truth of a statement one makes in a court of law.
For instance, “I swear I was at the Starbucks inside Tabata Station that Monday morning, therefore there is no way I could have done what you are accusing me at so and so location…blah, blah, blah”.
AN OATH OF PROMISE:
A promissory type of oath is all about obligating oneself to do something.
A perfect (and inspiring example) of a promissory type of oath are the oaths HASHEM Himself put Himself under when He entered into oaths with both Abraham and Moses.
In these cases, God Himself was taking an oath upon His own name.
There can be nothing more sure than that.
Remember that God also is under the same law of oaths as humans are.
To close, again understand that by definition, vows always had a condition attached to them.
If God does fill in the blank, then I will fill in the blank.
For example, Jacob said, “If God will safely bring me back to the land of Canaan, then the Lord will be my God forever and I will build him a sanctuary”.
Or a couple of days ago I talked about Jephthah who said, “If God will give me victory over the coming battle with the Ammonites, I will sacrifice the first thing that walks through the door of my tent when I return home from battle”.
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