TIP OF THE DAY 80: Oaths and vows

MJ. Smith

I am adding these posts to the previous tip list L/V 10 Tip of the Day ;

QUESTION: How does Logos/Verbum define oaths and vows?

ANSWER: from Cerone, Jacob N. “Oath.” Edited by John D. Barry, David Bomar, Derek R. Brown, Rachel Klippenstein, Douglas Mangum, Carrie Sinclair Wolcott, Lazarus Wentz, Elliot Ritzema, and Wendy Widder. The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016.

Oath A formal promise that binds an individual to do as pledged under threat of some penalty.

Overview

Oaths functioned at the religious, legal, and individual levels as a means of binding the oath taker to his or her word. Oaths were used to confirm the truthfulness of an individual’s word, bind individuals in a contract, or confirm God’s intent to act according to His word. Oaths imposed a great sense of obligation among ancient Israelites; breaking an oath was virtually unthinkable (Zeigler, Promises to Keep, 47–48). Therefore, oaths were not to be made lightly or flippantly. Even rash oaths were binding and required confession of sin and sacrificial compensation if broken (Lev 5:4–6).

Oaths carried both implicit (Gen 21:22–34) and explicit curses (Josh 6:26) to be enacted on oath breakers. An oath’s ability to secure the truthfulness of the oath-taker, however, finds its greatest power in connection with Yahweh. Yahweh served as guarantor of an individual’s oath. For instance, in 1 Kings, Solomon swears by the name of Yahweh that he will put Adonijah to death; otherwise he will forfeit his own life (1 Kgs 2:23–24). At a more fundamental level, breaking an oath is tantamount to breaking faith with Yahweh. It is to take His name in vain (Exod 20:7; Lev 19:12). The foolish oath that Joshua and the leaders of Israel made with the Gibeonites, contrary to God’s command to conquer all the inhabitants of the land, illustrates the binding power of an oath (Josh 9).

In biblical literature, readers must be careful not to confuse “oath” with the more specific term “vow” (נדר, ndr). Vows were initiated by humans and directed toward God. Tony Cartlege writes, “Vows are always conditional promises to God, to be fulfilled only when and if God answers the petitioner’s request” (Cartledge, Vows in the Hebrew Bible, 12). Hannah vowed to give God her son for lifelong service and not allow a razor to touch his head if He would give her a son (1 Sam 1:11). Jephthah vowed to offer as a sacrifice the first thing that came out of his house if Yahweh would deliver the Ammonites into his hands (Judg 11:30–31).[1]

From Crocker, Lacy K. “Vows, Religious in the Ancient World.” Edited by John D. Barry, David Bomar, Derek R. Brown, Rachel Klippenstein, Douglas Mangum, Carrie Sinclair Wolcott, Lazarus Wentz, Elliot Ritzema, and Wendy Widder. The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016.

Vows, Religious in the Ancient World (נֶדֶר, neder, נָדַר, nadar). Binding promises made to God, often as part of a plea for safety, military victory, or a family.

Biblical Relevance

Vows generally appear in Old Testament narratives as conditional promises in the form of “If … then” clauses, indicating that the vow is only binding if God grants the desire stated in the plea (e.g., Gen 28:20–22; Num 21:1–3; 1 Sam 1:10–11). The conditional nature of the vow is not explicitly expressed in biblical poetry but it may be inferred based on context (e.g., Pss 50:14–15; 56:12–13; 61:6–8; Jonah 2:7–9).

Men and women alike were permitted to make vows, but a young woman’s father or a married woman’s husband could annul her vow (Num 30:3–16). Payment of vows could be a burnt offering (e.g., Lev 22:21–23; Num 15:3), a monetary gift (Lev 27:1–8), the item or person requested of God and then given back to Him as fulfillment of the vow (e.g., Num 21:1–3; 1 Sam 1:10–11), or even praise and thanksgiving to God (Psa 22:19–22). While vow payments could be in the form of gifts, they could also be promises of abstinence, either temporary or life-long, as seen in the Nazirite vow (Num 6). At the end of the Second Temple period, the Nazirite vow had increased in popularity in Judaism, but some rabbinic teachings opposed the practice. Literature from Qumran and related texts demonstrate a shift away from vow-making—a trend also reflected in the New Testament.[2]

QUESTION: What data is collected related to oaths and vows?

ANSWER: from Jeremy Thompson. All the Oaths and Vows in the Bible. Faithlife Biblical and Theological Lists. Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2021.

Each included instance of an oath or vow includes the following information:

•Kind: Each instance is categorized as either an oath or vow based largely on the distinguishing features noted in the Lexham Bible Dictionary and Lexham Theological Wordbook.

•Speaker: This is the person who performs the speech act. In the case of prophecy, God is usually recorded as the speaker, not the prophet relating a message.

•Addressee: This is the person towards whom the oath or vow is directed. In the case of prophecy, the addressee is recorded as the ultimate recipient even where a prophet may be the actual person hearing the message in the text.

•Location: A location is provided for each speech act, where possible. Sometimes a best estimation is made based on the surrounding context. Often it is not possible to identify a location for texts like Psalms.

•Event: The primary event associated with the speech act is given where possible. Again, this is not always possible in texts like Psalms or in prophecies.

•Purpose: A purpose is provided for all but the most generic of vows. [3]

No classification of the oaths and vows is applied. Related people, places, and things are included in the documentation but not integrated into Logos/Verbum processing.

QUESTION: What genres of vows are distinguished by the Lexham Bible Dictionary?

ANSWER: from Crocker, Lacy K. “Vows, Religious in the Ancient World.” Edited by John D. Barry, David Bomar, Derek R. Brown, Rachel Klippenstein, Douglas Mangum, Carrie Sinclair Wolcott, Lazarus Wentz, Elliot Ritzema, and Wendy Widder. The Lexham Bible Dictionary. Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016.

There are three distinct vow genres in Old Testament narrative (Parker, “Vow in Ugaritic,” 699):

1.Safe return from a journey. In Gen 28:20–22, Jacob asks God for safety and provisions so that he may return home in peace, and he promises to serve God in return. Jacob also vows to give back to God a portion of what he has asked for, which is a common characteristic of Old Testament vows. In the book of Jonah, the sailors and Jonah make vows to God as they plead for Him to rescue them and give them safe passage home (Jonah 1:11–16; 2:5–10).

2.Military victory. In Judg 11:29–40, Jephthah pleads for victory over the Ammonites and promises to offer up whatever (or whomever) comes out of his house first when he returns home (Judg 11:31). His daughter is the first to greet him, so she is offered as a sacrifice. Jephthah’s vow may be in part why the wisdom literature cautions against taking vows (e.g., Eccl 5:5–6).

3.Request for a family. An example of such a vow occurs in 1 Samuel 1–2, when Hannah asks God for a child and promises to give the child back to God if the plea is granted. The wisdom literature also depicts this genre where Lemuel is called “son of my vows,” indicating he was requested by his mother in a vow (Prov 31:2).[4]

QUESTION: List some Logos resources useful for understanding the Biblical use of vows.

ANSWER: Please suggest additions to this short list.

Berlinerblau, Jacques. The Vow and the “Popular Religious Groups” of Ancient Israel: A Philological and Sociological Inquiry. Vol. 210. Journal for the Study of the Old Testament Supplement Series. Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press, 1996.

QUESTION: What are the search arguments for oaths and vows?

SOFTWARE: Using Jdt 8:30 as the example: oath:(addressee:person:Israelites AND reason:topic:Obedience AND speaker:person:"An Elder" AND title:topic:"An Israelite Elder Swears an Oath to the Israelites")

ANSWER: All speech related label in the Concordance Guide section for the paragraph Jdt 8:28-31.

Concordance | Oath

Jdt 8:30—But the people were so thirsty that they compelled us to do for them what we have promised and made us take an oath that we cannot break.

Addressee: Israelites

Reason: Obedience

Speaker: An Elder

Title: An Israelite Elder Swears an Oath to the Israelites

[1] Jacob N. Cerone, “Oath,” in The Lexham Bible Dictionary, ed. John D. Barry et al. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).

[2] Lacy K. Crocker, “Vows, Religious in the Ancient World,” in The Lexham Bible Dictionary, ed. John D. Barry et al. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).

[3] Jeremy Thompson, All the Oaths and Vows in the Bible, Faithlife Biblical and Theological Lists (Bellingham, WA: Faithlife, 2021).

[4] Lacy K. Crocker, “Vows, Religious in the Ancient World,” in The Lexham Bible Dictionary, ed. John D. Barry et al. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2016).