Numbers 30

The idea, or at any rate the ideal, of the thing called a vow is fairly obvious. It is to combine the fixity that goes with finality with the self-respect that only goes with freedom. The man is a slave who is his own master, and a king who is his own ancestor. For all kinds of social purposes he has the calculable orbit of the man in the caste or the servile state; but in the story of his own soul he is still pursuing, at great peril, his own adventure. As seen by his neighbours, he is as safe as if immured in a fortress; but as seen by himself he may be for ever careering through the sky or crashing towards the earth in a flying-ship. What is socially humdrum is produced by what is individually heroic; and a city is made not merely of citizens but knight-errants.

After these things the law of vows is set down, and Moses uses a new beginning in this legislation; for he says: "A man, a man, whoever shall vow a vow to the Lord." What is the reason for this repeating of the name? As though it did not suffice to have said: "A man who shall vow a vow to the Lord." What is it therefore that he says, "a man, a man," and what this doubled naming of "man" means, does not seem to me to be passed over in silence. The Apostle teaches that there is one inner man and another outer, and that the former is he who is renewed from day to day according to the image of him who created him, but that the latter is the visible one, who is corrupted. When therefore one comes to that advancement, that the law of God may be received and vows offered to the Lord — and no one can offer vows to the Lord except him who has something within himself and in his own substance which he may offer to God — this outer man does not suffice to receive the law of God nor to offer vows alone, for he cannot have anything worthy of God, but it is that inner man who rather has in himself what he may offer to God; for in him is the dwelling of the virtues, in him all understanding of knowledge, in him is the renewal of the divine image. And when he has recovered his form, by which he was made from the beginning by God, and by the restoration of the virtues has received back the beauty of his former shape, then he can now offer vows to God, and then he will now be called not "man" only, but "man, man." For he who does not cultivate the inner man, who takes no care of him, who does not equip him with virtues, does not adorn him with morals, does not exercise him in divine instructions, does not seek the wisdom of God, does not expend labor on the knowledge of the scriptures — this one cannot be called "man, man," but only "man," and an animal man, because that inner one, to whom the name "man" more truly and more nobly belongs, is lulled to sleep in him by carnal vices and overwhelmed by the cares and anxieties of this world, so that not even the naming of his name can be had. Wherefore each of us must strive earnestly that, if perhaps he sees the inner man in himself lying oppressed with the filth of sins and the rubble of vices, he may more quickly remove from him all uncleannesses, more quickly rescue him from every defilement of flesh and blood, be converted at last to repentance, recall to himself the memory of God, recall the hope of salvation. For these things are not to be sought from somewhere outside, but within us is the occasion of salvation, as the Lord also said: "For behold, the kingdom of God is within you." For within us is the faculty of conversion; for when, being converted, you shall have groaned, you shall be saved, and then you will be able worthily to render your vows to the Most High and to be called "man, man." Now a vow is when we offer something of our own to God. God therefore wishes first to receive something from us, and so himself to bestow upon us, that he may be seen to bestow his gifts and rewards upon the deserving and not upon the undeserving. But what is it that God wishes to receive from us? Hear the sentence of Scripture: "And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God ask of you, but that you fear the Lord your God, and walk in all his ways, and love him with your whole heart and with your whole soul and with all your strength?" These therefore are the things which God asks of us. And if we do not first offer them, we shall receive nothing from him. We read also in another place: "Give glory to God," and: "Give magnificence to God." If you give glory, you will receive glory; for thus God himself says: "Those who glorify me I will glorify." But I say that, if we also offer him our righteousness, we shall receive from him the righteousness of God; and if we offer him our chastity, that is, of the body, we shall receive from him the chastity of the spirit; and if we offer him our understanding, we shall receive from him his own understanding, as the Apostle also said: "But we have the mind of Christ." And when we have offered to God the things which are in us, and he has bestowed upon us the things which are his, then truly we shall now be called not "man" only, but "man, man"; for each man is fittingly adorned with the perfection of his name. These therefore are the vows which he ought to pay who is called "man, man." I know that diverse vows are related in the scriptures. Hannah indeed vowed to God the fruit of her womb and consecrated Samuel in the temple. Another vowed to God whatever should meet him returning after victory, and, his daughter meeting him, paid his vows with tears. Others offer to God calves or rams or houses or other vows of this kind lacking reason. But he who is called a Nazirite devoted himself to God; for this is the vow of the Nazirite, which is above every vow. For to offer a son or a daughter or cattle or an estate — all this is outside of us; but to offer oneself to God, and to please him not by another's labor but by one's own, this is more perfect and more excellent than all vows; and he who does this is an imitator of Christ. For he gave to man the earth, the sea, and all that is in them; he gave them for his service, and he granted heaven, the sun also and the moon and the stars, to the ministry of men; rains, winds, and all whatsoever is in the world, he bestowed upon men. But after all these things he gave himself; for thus God loved the world, that he gave his only-begotten Son for the life of this world. What great thing therefore will man do if he offers himself to God, to whom God himself first offered himself? If therefore you take up your cross and follow Christ, if you say: "But I live, now not I, but Christ lives in me"; if our soul desires and thirsts to return and to be with Christ, as the Apostle also said, and is not delighted with the allurements of the present age; and if he spiritually fulfills all the law which was given concerning the Nazirites — then he has offered himself, that is, his soul, to God. He who lives in chastity has vowed his body to God, according to him who said: "But the virgin considers how she may be holy in body and spirit." For this very thing which he said, "holy," looks to this; for those are called holy who have vowed themselves to God. Whence also a ram, for example, if it is vowed to God, is called holy, and it is not lawful to shear it for common uses. But a calf also, if it has been devoted to God, is nonetheless called holy, and it is not lawful to yoke it for common work. From these things therefore let us gather what it is for a man to vow himself to God. If you vow yourself to God, the calf is to be imitated by you, which is not permitted to serve human works — to do nothing which pertains to men and to the present life. But whatever pertains to the soul and to the observance of divine worship, this is both to be done and to be pondered by you.

If it is a serious matter to lie to another person, how much more to lie to God. When Scripture describes his majesty, it says that God is in heaven above, and you are on the earth below. This passage was written for us to imitate God, who said, "I will not break my covenant." He says this about the life of each man: that is, if one has vowed abstinence from food, or shaving his head, or the offering of a sheep or a calf. Malachi commands that the best offerings should be brought forth when he says, "Cursed is he who has a male animal in his flock and makes a vow and then offers a blemished animal to the Lord."The daughter of Jephthah preferred to undergo death rather than to render her father's vow unfulfilled and mendacious. She did not know that she was the type of the saving Victim, whom she prefigured in herself. For this reason Jephthah's deed was immune to guilt. It is not a model, because it does not follow the law. The deed was permitted only once, as a sign, for God rejects human sacrifice. Moreover, what is undertaken by children to the disgrace of their parents does not merit the name of vow, despite those wicked doctors and teachers who tell their parents that "whatever you would have received from me is Corban." For God commands us to honor father and mother in all cases. A man who infringes on the vow of his new bride, which she made without her father's approval, [does not sin]. The same applies to a married man who does not consent to a vow his wife made. For what is vowed when the woman is subject to a greater power, if it is not carried out, does not make her guilty. But if the woman becomes a widow or is separated from her husband, her vow is binding. This ancient institution of God is confirmed because the woman was made for the sake of the man, and it is just for her to obey him. There is also that verse from Paul, that the woman should revere the man. Scripture gives a similar explanation for matters concerning affliction of the soul, fasting and other practices, when it says, concerning the month of fasting, "In that month you will afflict your souls."

But meanwhile the present reading contains certain distinctions among vows. For if it be a man who vows, he is said to be free in his vows and subject to no one. But if a woman vows, then, if indeed she be in her father's house, her vow hangs upon her father's judgment; and if he refuses it, she is released; but if he does not refuse it, both he and the daughter are held liable. But if, after the father has not refused, she does not fulfill the vow, the daughter's sin remains upon him. And in like manner it is decreed also concerning the husband, that, if a wife has vowed something in her husband's house and the husband on hearing it does not refuse, he is guilty of the vow equally with his wife; but if he refuses, then the wife is as free as the husband; but if he keeps silent, both, as we have said, are held guilty. These indeed are the things that are written; but we must pray to God that he may deign to give an understanding worthy of himself, whereby we may be able to perceive these things as it is fitting they be understood concerning the words of God. All of us who live under the law of God and are counted in his Church, some pass our life under fathers, some under husbands. And if the soul is a little one and has its beginnings in the divine instructions, this soul is to be believed to conduct itself under a father. But if it has already become more grown up, so that it is capable of a husband for conceiving the seed of the word of God and of receiving the secrets of spiritual teaching, this soul is said to be placed under a husband. For thus also Paul said concerning the Corinthians: "I wish to present you all as a chaste virgin to one husband, to Christ." But those who are more perfect and more eminent than these, of them it is not said that they are under a husband, but hear how Paul pronounces concerning himself and those like him: "until we all," he says, "come together into the perfect man, into the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ." Over this soul, then, which comes together into the perfect man, no one is master in vows, but it has power over its own things and freedom of its vows. But if the soul be still of the feminine kind, over which either a husband or a father is master in vows, the fault is not always in the soul itself, but sometimes it returns upon the husbands or the parents. Concerning these, although it be difficult to apply, nevertheless the things that, by the Lord's bounty, have been able to occur to us we will set forth. We have often said that the care and management of the souls which are in the Church of God is exercised through angels, and we have shown that these too come to judgment along with men, so that in that divine scrutiny it may be established whether men have sinned through their own sloth or through the negligence of their admonishers and guardians. It seems to me, therefore, that in this passage also the same thing is designated and shown under a mystery, namely that some souls dwell under these as daughters, others as wives, according to the things which we distinguished above. If, therefore, any of these desires to offer something and to vow it to God, then, if what she vows is over-hasty and less fitting, it belongs to him—namely to the angel, as her guardian and admonisher—to check and beat back the boldness of her who vows. But if, on hearing it, he does not check it, does not admonish, the soul indeed is freed from fault, but he himself will remain liable to the vow. This indeed is to be taken as happening with regard to any of the lower sort; but with the more perfect God himself is present, as it is written concerning the people of Israel: "But the Lord himself led them." But after they had transgressed and had made themselves lower than themselves, they are handed over to an angel. Whence Moses too said: "Unless you yourself come with us, do not lead me up hence." But also concerning another he says: "I am with him in tribulation," and elsewhere he says: "Do not fear to go down into Egypt, for I will be with you." To the just, therefore, and the elect God himself is present, but to the lower angels are present, governing and caring for them according to the things we said above, sometimes transferring their vows to themselves, but sometimes leaving them upon those very persons. But we ought to strive that we may come together into the perfect man, into the measure of the age of the fullness of Christ, that we may use the freedom of vows and so hasten to cleave to the Lord that with him, rather than with an angel, we may be one spirit, so that he himself may abide in us and we in him, and that nothing feminine, nothing of little age, may be found in us, nor be it necessary for us to be left under guardians and stewards by the father, but let us hasten to hear from our Lord and Savior that voice in which he says: "the Father himself loves you." To him be glory unto the ages of ages. Amen!