be with me, and will keep me in this
way that I go, and will give me bread to eat, and raiment to put on, so
that I come again to my father's house in peace, then shall the Lord be
my God: and this stone, which I have set for a pillar, shall be God's
house: and of all that thou shalt give me, I will surely give the tenth
unto thee."[13] Hannah addressed him to whom she vowed, "O Lord of
Hosts."[14] In only one passage of Scripture are any represented as
vowing to another than God himself,[15] but there the judgments of God
are threatened on them--vowing vows to the queen of heaven, as guilty of
idolatry. And even some who had been idolaters, so soon as they were
taught the claims of Jehovah upon their obedience, made vows unto
him.[16]

A vow is a solemn promise to God. It is explicitly described as such.
"That which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt keep and perform: even a
free-will-offering, according as thou hast vowed unto the Lord thy God,
which thou hast promised with thy mouth."[17] It is of the like nature
with a promissory oath. "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."[18] And from the
fact that vows, by sacrifice and thanksgiving and otherwise, were paid
to the Lord, this appears. "O Judah, keep thy solemn feasts, perform thy
vows."[19] "So will I sing praise unto thy name forever, that I may
daily perform my vows."[20]

A vow is to be made voluntarily. The verb ([Hebrew: nador]) translated
_to vow_, in its literal acceptation means to beat out grain from the
sheaf on the thrashing-floor: hence, as the corn is thus scattered, it
came to signify to scatter, or to be liberal; and thence, finally, to
offer willingly and freely. The noun ([Hebrew: neder]) accordingly is
put to denote the act of offering, or of making a promise, to God, and
also what in this is spontaneously offered or promised. Moreover, in a
passage formerly quoted, it is described as a free-will-offering. The
vow is sometimes made in a spontaneous effusion of gratitude. Thus David
sware unto the Lord, and vowed unto the mighty God of Jacob, after the
Lord had given him rest round about from all his enemies.[21] Often it
is made in order to obtain some benefit. "I will go into thy house with
burnt-offerings; I will pay thee my vows, which my lips have uttered,
and my mouth hath spoken, when I was in trouble."[2