With the beginning of a new section, Moses should be reintroduced as the speaker.

A vow: a promise to Yahweh to do something.

Not be slack to pay it: that is, “Do not put off fulfilling it.” The verb pay makes it appear that it is a promise to give money to Yahweh, but the sense is broader; it is a promise to do something, and the thing must be done promptly. So New Revised Standard Version has “do not postpone fulfilling it,” and Contemporary English Version has “do it as soon as you can.”

Will surely require it of you: this translates the emphatic compound verbal phrase in Hebrew. The text does not say what God will do to make the man keep his promise. Good News Translation has “the LORD will hold you to your vow.” Another model is “the LORD will expect you to do what you promised.”

It would be sin in you: this means “you would be guilty of sin” or “… of breaking the promise.”

But if you refrain from vowing: the whole verse 22 may be expressed as follows:

• But if you don’t make a promise to Yahweh, you won’t be guilty of breaking a promise.

Quoted with permission from Bratcher, Robert G. and Hatton, Howard A. A Handbook on Deuteronomy. (UBS Helps for Translators). New York: UBS, 2000. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .