This statement is of uncertain meaning, and many different interpretations of it have been attempted. It probably means that he had sold it to another man before he vowed it, with theresult that he had no right to vow it at all, yet wanted to receive credit for that which was not his to give. If this be the meaning of the verse, he had in principle done what Ananias and Sapphira did when they pretended to give a certain sum but in reality did not.