A VOW — a binding promise made to God, often conditional ('if you will… then I will'). Hannah 'vowed a vow' (nadrah neder, 1:11): if Jehovah gives her a son she will give him back for life. The Law treats a vow with the utmost seriousness — 'when you make a vow to God, do not delay to fulfill it' (Deuteronomy 23:22, already on these pages; Ecclesiastes 5:3 quotes it with one word changed, not yet on these pages) — and Hannah keeps hers to the letter, carrying the weaned child to Shiloh and leaving him there. ⭐ The Torah legislates the vow three times and asks a different question each time: Numbers 30 asks who may cancel one, Leviticus 27 what one costs to redeem, and Deuteronomy 23:22-24 how long you have — and Deuteronomy adds the sentence the others do not: if you refrain from vowing, there will be no sin in you. A vow is never asked for; it is only enforced once spoken. → first discussed at 1 Samuel 1:11