4. Above 6(1 years, 15 shekels = 9 30
B. 1. Females from one moiiih to 5 years, 3 she-
kels = 1 S6
2. From 5 years to 20 years, 10 shekels = C 20
3. From 20 years to (50 years, 30 shekels =18 60
4. Above GO years, 10 shekels = 6 20
If the person were too poor to pay the redemption-price, his value was to be estimated by the priest, not, as Mi- chaelis says, the civil tnagistrate (Lev. xxvii, 8; Deut. xxi, 5; Miciiaelis, § 145, ii, 283).
(IL) Among general regulations affecting vows of this class, the following may be mentioned:
1. Vows were entirely voluntary, but once made were regarded as compulsory, and evasion of performance of them was held to be contrary to true religion (Numb. XXX, 2 ; Deut. xxiii, 21 ; Eccles. v, 4).
2. If persons in a dependent condition made vows — as an unmarried daughter living in her father's house, or a wife, even if she; afterwards became a widow, the vow, if in the lirst case her father, or in the second her hus- t)and, heard and disallowed it, was void; but if they heard without disallowanoe, it was to remain good (Numb. XXX, 3-lG). Whether this principle extended to all children and to slaves is wholly uncertain, as no mention is made of them in Scripture, nor b}' Philo when he discusses the question (^De Spec. Ley. § (i, ii, 274, ed. Mangey). Michaelis thinks the omission of sons implies absence of power to control them (§ 83, i, 447).
3. Votive offerings arising from the proihice of any impure traffic were wholly forbidden (Ueut. xxiii, 18). A question has risen on this part of the subject as to the meaning of the word 2p3, ieW, " dog," which is understood to refer either to immoral intercourse of the grossest kind, or literally and simply to the usual mean- ing of the word. The prohibition against dedication to sacred uses of gain obtained by female prostitution was doubtless directed against the practice which prevailed in Phoenicia, Babylonia, and Syria, of which mention is made in Lev. xix, 29; Baruch, vi, 43 ; Herod, i, 199; Strabo, p. 561 ; August. De Civ. Dei, iv, 10, and other authorities quoted by Spencer ( De, Leg. Hebr. ii, 35, 566). Following out this view, and bearing in mind the mention made in 2 Kings xxiii, 7, of a practice evi- dently connected with idolatrous worship, the %vord he- leb has been sometimes rendered cimedus ; some have understood it to refer to the first-born, but Spencer him- self, ii, 35, 572; Josephus, Ant. iv, 8, 9; (lesen. Thesuur. ii, 685, and tlie Mishna, Temiirak, vi, 3, all understand liog in the literal sense. See Dog.
Vows in general and their binding force as a test of religion are mentioned, Job xxii, 27 ; Prov. vii, 14; Psa. xxii,25; 1,14; Ivi, 12; Ixvi, 13 ; cxvi, 14; Isa.xix,21; Nah. i, 1.5.
(III.) Certain refinements on votive consecrations are noticed in the Mishna, e. g. :
\. No evasion of a vow was to be allowed which sub- stituted a part for the whole, as, "I vowed a sheep, but not the bones" (Xedar. ii, 5).
2. A man devoting an ox or a house was not liable if the ox was lost or the house fell down ; but other- wise, if he had devoted the value of the one or the oth- er of these.
3. No devotions might be made within two years be- fore the jubilee, nor redemptions within the year fol- lowing it. If a son redeemed his father's land, he was to restore it to him in the jubilee [Kntki-n, vii, 3).
4. A man might devote some of his flock, herd, ami heathen slaves, but not all these {Kraldri.\\\\.A).
5. Devotions by priests were not redeemable, but were transferred to other priests {Krakin, viii, 6).
6. A man ^vho vowed not to sleep on a bed. might sleep on a skin if he pleased (Otho, Lea. Itabh. p. 673).
7. The sums of money arising from votive consecra- tions were divided into two parts, sacred (1) to the altar; (2) to the repairs of the Temple (Keland, AiU. X, 4).
It seems that the practice of shaving the head at the expiration of a votive period was not limited to the Nazaritic vow (Acts xviii, 18; xxi, 24).
II. Christian Vows. — The practice of vows, though evidentl}' not forbidden, as the above case of Paul (Acts xviii, 18) serves to show, does not seem to have been at all common in the apostolical Church. Witli the civil establishment under Constantine, however, and especially under the growing influence of monasti- cism, it early gained extensive and powerful prevalence. Hingham cites the ecclesiastical instances and regula- tions chiefly affecting church property and religious or- ders (Christ. Atitiq. bk. xvi, ch. vii, § 9), but they apply mostly to mediaeval times.
"There is some difference of opinion respecting the origin and extent of monastic vows. Some authors af- firm that they were made legally binding and indissolu- ble as early as the Council of Chalcedon; but the more general opinion is that, though considered obligatory in foro cunscientice, according to their nature, no civil disabilit}' or irreversible obligation was incurred bv them till the time of Boniface VIII, late in the 13th century. The three solemn vows, as they are termed, of the monastic orders are poverty, chastity, and obi- dience, to which others are occasionally annexed by certain religious orders. For example, the fourth vow of the .Jesuits places every member at the absolute dis- posal of the Roman pontiff", to be employed by him in whatever service may be thought most to the advan- tage of the holy see. The earliest lawful age for em- bracing the monastic profession has varied at different periods and in different countries; it was fixed by the Council of Trent at sixteen years, before which period no religious vow is of any legal validity. Within the first five years the vow may be protested against on the ground of want of consent, insufficient age, or irregular- ity of novitiate; but after the expiration of that period it is held to be indissoluble. Certain extraordinary vows — for instance, that of pilgrimage to Home — can only be dispensed with by the pope; others may be re- laxed by the intervention of the ordinary of the dio- cese" (Eadie). See Monasticism.