Vows to God to be performed.
The vow here made is supposed to be entirely voluntary. It was "a free-will offering." In Numbers 30:3-8, abuse is guarded against. Yews made without the knowledge or consent of the father or husband were to be of no force. No priest had any warrant from the Mosaic institutes to come between a young woman and her father, or between husband and wife. Vows to God were to he completely spontaneous, as between the soul and God. They were not to he extorted by others, nor yet to involve the entanglement of others.
Kindliness to neighbors a duty of the holders of property.
This is a very instructive precept. "In vine-growing countries grapes are amazingly cheap; and we need not wonder, therefore, that all within the reach of a passenger's arm were free. The quantity plucked was a loss never felt by the proprietor, and it was a kindly privilege afforded to the poor and wayfaring man" (Jameson). "Thou mayest take for necessity, not for superfluity" (Trapp).
HOMILIES BY J. ORR