WG: Vow (Promise, Bond, and Payment to God)¶

Overview¶

The Hebrew concept of the vow is built on a tight lexical cluster: a cognate noun/verb pair for the vow itself (neder / nadar), a contrastive partner for unprompted giving (nedabah), a legal pair for the self-imposed binding (esar / asar), a verb of fulfillment (shalam), and the ritual category the vowed thing often belongs to (zebach). These seven words co-occur so densely — especially in Num 30, Lev 7, Deut 12, and the Psalms — that they form a single legal-liturgical vocabulary for voluntary obligation to the LORD.

Word Group Members¶

Strong's	Word	Transliteration	POS	Occurrences	Role in Concept	Library Entry
H5088	נֶדֶר	neder	m. noun	57	The promise itself / thing vowed	H5088
H5087	נָדַר	nadar	verb	28	The act of vowing	H5087
H5071	נְדָבָה	nedabah	f. noun	25	Contrastive partner — freewill (unpromised) offering	TODO(need H5071 study)
H632	אֱסָר	esar	m. noun	10	The binding/bond (abstinence vow)	TODO(need H632 study)
H631	אָסַר	asar	verb	64	To bind / impose a bond	TODO(need H631 study)
H7999	שָׁלַם	shalam	verb	107	To pay / complete a vow	TODO(need H7999 study)
H2077	זֶבַח	zebach	m. noun	153	Sacrifice — the ritual category a vow often fills	H2077-zebach.md

Relationships¶

Shared Roots¶

neder (H5088) ← nadar (H5087) — noun and cognate verb, root נדר
esar (H632) ← asar (H631) — noun and cognate verb, root אסר
nedabah (H5071) — root נדב (spontaneity), lexically distinct but semantically paired with neder

Co-occurrence (shared distinct verses)¶

Word A	Word B	Shared	% of A	% of B	Typical Context
neder	nadar	19	33%	68%	figura etymologica "vowed a vow"
neder	shalam	15	26%	14%	"pay a vow" (Deut 23:21; Ps 50:14; Eccl 5:4)
neder	zebach	10	18%	7%	vow-sacrifice category (Lev 7:16; Deut 12:11)
neder	nedabah	9	16%	36%	vow paired with freewill offering
neder	esar	9	16%	90%	Num 30: vow + bond
neder	asar	9	16%	14%	Num 30: "bound her soul"
esar	asar	7	70%	11%	bond + binding — Num 30 cluster
nadar	shalam	7	25%	7%	"vowed and paid"
nedabah	zebach	4	16%	3%	Lev 7/22 ritual classifications
nadar	zebach	3	11%	2%	Deut 12:11; Jon 1:16

LXX Overlaps (shared Greek targets)¶

Greek Target	Members Mapped	Notes
G2171 εὐχή (euche)	all 7 members	The umbrella noun — conflates vow, bond, and freewill
G2172 εὔχομαι (euchomai)	nadar, neder, shalam	The umbrella verb for "vow/pray"
G3724 ὁρίζω (horizo)	esar, asar, neder	"mark out / bind" — Num 30 specialization
G591 ἀποδίδωμι (apodidomi)	shalam, neder, nadar	"render / pay" — fulfillment verb
G1595 ἑκούσιον (hekousion)	nedabah, neder	"voluntariness" — captures the freewill side
G2378 θυσία (thysia)	zebach, neder	"sacrifice" — where vow meets offering
G3646 ὁλοκαύτωμα (holokautoma)	zebach, nedabah	"whole burnt offering"

Roles in the Concept¶

Initiation (the act): nadar (H5087) — the speech-act of promising to God
Content (the thing): neder (H5088) — what is promised (offering, person, animal, property)
Binding mode: esar (H632) + asar (H631) — the self-imposed prohibition or abstinence
Contrast / voluntary sibling: nedabah (H5071) — unpromised, spontaneous giving
Fulfillment: shalam (H7999) — "pay" what was vowed, making it שָׁלֵם (complete)
Ritual category: zebach (H2077) — the sacrifice class most vows are discharged through

Key Passages Where Multiple Group Words Appear Together¶

Reference	Members Present	Snippet
Num 30:2	neder + nadar + esar + asar	"vow a vow... bind his soul with a bond" — the foundational legal text
Num 30:3	neder + nadar + esar + asar	Woman's vow, same quadruple structure
Num 30:4–11	neder + esar + asar	Father/husband ratification cases
Lev 7:16	neder + nedabah + zebach	Vow and freewill offerings classed among sacrifices
Lev 22:21	neder + nedabah + zebach	"accomplish his vow, or a freewill offering"
Num 15:3	neder + nedabah + zebach	Vow and freewill in the burnt-offering law
Deut 12:6	neder + nedabah + zebach	Centralization of all these offerings
Deut 12:11	neder + nadar + zebach	"your vows which ye vow" brought to the chosen place
Deut 12:17	neder + nadar + nedabah	What may not be eaten at home
Deut 23:21	neder + nadar + shalam	"when thou shalt vow a vow... pay it"
2 Sam 15:7	neder + nadar + shalam	Absalom: "pay my vow which I have vowed"
Pro 7:14	neder + shalam + zebach	Strange woman's false piety
Eccl 5:4	neder + nadar + shalam	Wisdom warning — vow and pay, or don't vow
Isa 19:21	neder + nadar + shalam + zebach	Eschatological Egypt vows and pays
Jon 1:16	neder + nadar + zebach	Gentile sailors sacrifice and vow

Continuity into NT¶

The entire cluster collapses in the LXX onto εὐχή (G2171) and εὔχομαι (G2172). In the NT the cluster surfaces only thinly: Acts 18:18 and 21:23 preserve the Nazirite-vow practice; Jas 5:15 shifts εὐχή toward "prayer." The legal-ritual weight of Num 30 has no NT counterpart. See TR-neder-euche.md.