Ecclesiastes 5:5

It is better not to vow than to make a vow and not fulfill it.

Majority Standard Bible

In The King James Version

Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay.

In Context

4When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it, because He takes no pleasure in fools. Fulfill your vow.

6Do not let your mouth cause your flesh to sin, and do not tell the messenger that your vow was a mistake. Why should God be angry with your words and destroy the work of your hands?

Read all of Ecclesiastes 5

Cross References

Deuteronomy 23:22But if you refrain from making a vow, you will not be guilty of sin.

Malachi 2:7For the lips of a priest should preserve knowledge, and people should seek instruction from his mouth, because he is the messenger of the LORD of Hosts.

Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 5:5-9

The Obligation of a Vow. 4 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. 5 Better is it that thou shouldest not vow, than that thou shouldest vow and not pay. 6 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? 7 For in the multitude of dreams and many words there are also divers vanities: but fear thou God.… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Ecclesiastes 5:5