2] And like that of
Jacob at Bethel, who was overpowered with the vision of the ladder, and
desirous of obtaining the promise there made to him, a vow may not
unfrequently proceed from both gratitude and hope.

A vow must not be inconsistent with the requirements of the Divine law.
What the Lord hath forbidden, he will not accept. "Cursed be the
deceiver, which hath in his flock a male, and voweth, and sacrificeth
unto the Lord a corrupt thing."[23] To promise to him what is beyond our
power, is to mock him. Some vows of females and children were not
accepted, because such interfered with services due by them to their
families, over which, in things lawful, their husbands and fathers had
supreme power.

A vow is never made but in the exercise of Covenanting. The vow which
Jacob vowed at Bethel was made upon the reception of God's gracious
covenant promise there tendered to him. Again, "Israel vowed a vow unto
the Lord, and said, If thou wilt indeed deliver this people into my
hand, then I will utterly destroy their cities."[24] In this manner at
Hormah, they testified that they agreed to that promise of the Covenant
that had been made at Sinai, which is expressed in the words, "Behold, I
drive out before thee the Amorite, and the Canaanite, and the Hittite,
and the Perizzite, and the Hivite, and the Jebusite,"[25] and thus made
a covenant. From the words, "If a man vow a vow unto the Lord, or swear
an oath to bind his soul with a bond," it may be concluded that either a
vow taken, or an oath, binds the soul. That the former binds the soul is
most manifest from the language, "Every vow of a widow, and of her that
is divorced, wherewith they have bound their souls, shall stand against
her."[26] The bond is a covenant bond, for it is said, "I will cause you
to pass under the rod, and I will bring you into the bond of the
covenant."[27] The word ([Hebrew: masoreth]) for _bond_, in the later
prophet is a co-derivate with that ([Hebrew: issar]) for _bond_, used by
Moses, and has the same import.

THE OATH.

The OATH also claims consideration as related to Covenanting.

"A lawful oath is a part of religious worship, wherein, upon just
occasion, the person swearing solemnly calleth God to witness what he
asserteth or promiseth; and to judge him according to the truth or
falsehood of what he sweareth. The name of God only is that by which men
ought to swear, and therein it is to be used with all holy fear and
reverence: