Ecclesiastes 5:4

Better it is that thou shouldest not make a neder, than that thou shouldest vow and not fulfill the neder.

Orthodox Jewish Bible

In The King James Version

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.

In Context

3When thou vowest a neder unto Elohim, defer not to pay it; for Hashem hath no pleasure in kesilim; pay that which thou hast vowed.

5Suffer not thy mouth to lead thy basar into chet (sin); neither say thou before the Malach [of G-d], that it was a mistake. Wherefore should HaElohim be angry at thy voice, and destroy the work of thine hands?

Read all of Ecclesiastes 5

Cross References

Genesis 35:1And Elohim said unto Ya'akov, Arise, go up to Beit-El, and settle there; and make there a Mizbe'ach unto El (G-d) that appeared unto thee when thou didst flee from the face of Esav achicha.

Numbers 30:2And Moshe spoke unto the Rashei HaMattot (Heads of the Tribes) concerning the Bnei Yisroel saying, This is the thing which Hashem hath commanded:

Psalms 50:14Sacrifice unto Elohim todah; 1 and pay thy nedarim (vows, pledges) unto Elyon; 1

Psalms 76:11Surely the chamat adam (the wrath of man) shall praise Thee; 1 the she'erit (remnant, survivor) of wrath shalt Thou restrain. + 76:11 from doing evil 1

Psalms 116:16O Hashem, truly I am Thy eved; 1 I am Thy eved, ben amatecha (the son of Thy maid servant); 1 Thou hast removed my chains. 1

Psalms 147:10He delighteth not in the gevurat hasus: 1 He taketh not pleasure in the shokayim of an ish (legs of a man). 1

Matthew Henry on Ecclesiastes 5:2-4

A Caution to Worshippers. 1 Keep thy foot when thou goest to the house of God, and be more ready to hear, than to give the sacrifice of fools: for they consider not that they do evil. 2 Be not rash with thy mouth, and let not thine heart be hasty to utter any thing before God: for God is in heaven, and thou upon earth: therefore let thy words be few. 3 For a dream cometh through the multitude of business; and a fool's voice is known by multitude of words. Solomon's design, in driving us off from the world, by… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

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