Proverbs 20 · Verse 25

Proverbs 20:25

It is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy, and after vows to make enquiry.
Proverbs 20:25, King James Version

Proverbs 20:25 in other translations

BSBIt is a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly, only later to reconsider his vows.
WEBIt is a snare to a man to make a rash dedication, then later to consider his vows.
ASVIt is a snare to a man rashly to say, It is holy, And after vows to make inquiry.
YLTA snare to a man is he hath swallowed a holy thing, And after vows to make inquiry.
DARBYIt is a snare to a man rashly to say, It is hallowed, and after vows to make inquiry.
BBEIt is a danger to a man to say without thought, It is holy, and, after taking his oaths, to be questioning if it is necessary to keep them.
WebsterIt is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy, and after vows to make inquiry.

What does Proverbs 20:25 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
25. 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.

Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown, 1871 · public domain

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 25 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.

Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary
The evasions men often use with their own consciences show how false and deceitful man is.

Matthew Henry, 1706 · public domain

Proverbs 20:25 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

מוֹקֵ֣שׁmo.Kesha snare ofH4170
אָ֭דָם'A.doma personH120
יָ֣לַעYa.la'he may say rashlyH3216
קֹ֑דֶשׁKo.deshholinessH6944
וְאַחַ֖רve.'a.Charand afterH310
נְדָרִ֣יםne.da.Rim[the] vowsH5088
לְבַקֵּֽר\׃le.va.Kerto considerH1239

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Proverbs 20:25

  • Ecclesiastes 5:4-6

    When thou vowest a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he hath no pleasure in fools: pay that which thou hast vowed. Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. Suffer not thy mouth to cause thy flesh to sin; neither say thou before the angel, that it was an error: wherefore should God be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?

  • Matthew 5:33

    Again, ye have heard that it hath been said by them of old time, Thou shalt not forswear thyself, but shalt perform unto the Lord thine oaths:

  • Numbers 30:2-16

    If a man vow a vow unto the Lord, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth. If a woman also vow a vow unto the Lord, and bind herself by a bond, being in her father’s house in her youth; And her father hear her vow, and her bond wherewith she hath bound her soul, and her father shall hold his peace at her: then all her vows shall stand, and every bond wherewith she hath bound her soul shall stand. But if her father disallow her in the day that he heareth; not any of her vows, or of her bonds wherewith she hath bound her soul, shall stand: and the Lord shall forgive her, because her father disallowed her. …

  • Leviticus 27:9-10

    And if it be a beast, whereof men bring an offering unto the Lord, all that any man giveth of such unto the Lord shall be holy. He shall not alter it, nor change it, a good for a bad, or a bad for a good: and if he shall at all change beast for beast, then it and the exchange thereof shall be holy.

  • Malachi 3:8-10

    Will a man rob God? Yet ye have robbed me. But ye say, Wherein have we robbed thee? In tithes and offerings. Ye are cursed with a curse: for ye have robbed me, even this whole nation. Bring ye all the tithes into the storehouse, that there may be meat in mine house, and prove me now herewith, saith the Lord of hosts, if I will not open you the windows of heaven, and pour you out a blessing, that there shall not be room enough to receive it.

  • Proverbs 18:7

    A fool’s mouth is his destruction, and his lips are the snare of his soul.

  • Leviticus 5:15

    If a soul commit a trespass, and sin through ignorance, in the holy things of the Lord; then he shall bring for his trespass unto the Lord a ram without blemish out of the flocks, with thy estimation by shekels of silver, after the shekel of the sanctuary, for a trespass offering:

  • Leviticus 22:10-15

    There shall no stranger eat of the holy thing: a sojourner of the priest, or an hired servant, shall not eat of the holy thing. But if the priest buy any soul with his money, he shall eat of it, and he that is born in his house: they shall eat of his meat. If the priest’s daughter also be married unto a stranger, she may not eat of an offering of the holy things. But if the priest’s daughter be a widow, or divorced, and have no child, and is returned unto her father’s house, as in her youth, she shall eat of her father’s meat: but there shall no stranger eat thereof. …

  • Leviticus 27:30-31

    And all the tithe of the land, whether of the seed of the land, or of the fruit of the tree, is the Lord’s: it is holy unto the Lord. And if a man will at all redeem ought of his tithes, he shall add thereto the fifth part thereof.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
a snare.
18:7; Le 5:15; 22:10-15; 27:30; Mal 3:8-10
after.
Le 27:9,10,31; Nu 30:2-16; Ec 5:4-6; Mt 5:33

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Proverbs 20:24

    Man’s goings are of the Lord; how can a man then understand his own way?

  • Proverbs 20:25

    It is a snare to the man who devoureth that which is holy, and after vows to make enquiry.

  • Proverbs 20:26

    A wise king scattereth the wicked, and bringeth the wheel over them.

Read all of Proverbs 20

Proverbs 20:25 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Lazo es al hombre el devorar lo santo, y andar pesquisando después de los votos.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		C’est un piège pour l’homme que de dire précipitamment: Chose sainte! – et, après des vœux, d’examiner.
German
Elberfelder 1871		Ein Fallstrick des Menschen ist es, vorschnell zu sprechen: Geheiligt! und nach den Gelübden zu überlegen.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		Ruina est homini devorare sanctos, et post vota retractare.