Vows to God and Their Neglect
But even hypocrisy was not the whole of their crime. The text says they "kept back" part of the price of the land. The original word occurs elsewhere but once in the New Testament, Titus 2:10, where it is rendered "purloining." Greenfield defines it, "to keep back anything unlawfully, secrete, purloin, embezzle." The case, then, was this: It was understood that those who at that time sold property, did it not for gain, but for benevolent purposes. Whether they had made a formal vow or not, the act of selling the land was evidence of at least an outward consecration of it to the cause of God. And yet so lightly did they regard their vow that they dared to appropriate a portion of the property to their own use. But this was simply stealing, for as soon as the decision was made to devote the proceeds of the sale to the cause, the land belonged to God. Then we may also learn from this how serious a matter it is to vow to the Lord and then neglect to pay our vows. It is a terrible thing to refuse to help support God's cause, but it is still worse to vow and not pay. No wonder the question is asked in astonishment, "Will a man rob God?" Let each one ask himself this question.