When you vow a vow unto God, defer not to pay it; for he has no pleasure in fools: pay that which you have vowed.
All Commentaries on Ecclesiastes 5:4 Go To Ecclesiastes 5
John Cassian
AD 435
This will be fulfilled by each one of us in this way. We pray when we renounce this world and pledge that, dead to every earthly deed and to an earthly way of life, we will serve the Lord with utter earnestness of heart. We pray when we promise that, disdaining worldly honor and spurning earthly riches, we will cling to the Lord in complete contrition of heart and poverty of spirit. We pray when we promise that we will always keep the most pure chastity of body and unwavering patience, and when we vow that we will utterly eliminate from our heart the roots of deathdealing anger and sadness. When we have been weakened by sloth and are returning to our former vices and are not doing these things, we shall bear guilt for our prayers and vows and it will be said of us, “It is better not to vow than to vow and not to pay.” According to the Greek this can be said, “It is better for you not to pray than to pray and not to pay.” .
