Numbers 30

Regulations about Vows

1 Moses told the leaders of the Israelite tribes, "This is what the Lord has commanded:

2 When a man makes a vow to the Lord or swears an oath to put himself under an obligation, he must not break his word; he must do whatever he has promised.

3 "When a woman in her father's house during her youth makes a vow to the Lord or puts [herself] under an obligation,

4 and her father hears about her vow or the obligation she put herself under, and he says nothing to her, all her vows and every obligation she put herself under are binding.

5 But if her father prohibits her on the day he hears [about it], none of her vows and none of the obligations she put herself under are binding. The Lord will absolve her because her father has prohibited her.

6 "If a woman marries while her vows or the rash commitment she herself made are binding,

7 and her husband hears [about it] and says nothing to her when he finds out, her vows are binding, and the obligations she put herself under are binding.

8 But if her husband prohibits her when he hears [about it], he will cancel her vow that is binding or the rash commitment she herself made, and the Lord will forgive her.

9 "Every vow a widow or divorcée puts herself under is binding on her.

10 "If a woman in her husband's house has made a vow or put herself under an obligation with an oath,

11 and her husband hears [about it], says nothing to her, and does not prohibit her, all her vows are binding, and every obligation she put herself under is binding.

12 But if her husband cancels them on the day he hears [about it], nothing that came from her lips, whether her vows or her obligation, is binding. Her husband has canceled them, and the Lord will absolve her.

13 Her husband may confirm or cancel any vow or any sworn obligation to deny herself.

14 If her husband says nothing at all to her from day to day, he confirms all her vows and obligations, which are binding. He has confirmed them because he said nothing to her when he heard [about them].

15 But if he cancels them after he hears [about them], he will be responsible for her^[a] commitment."^[b]

16 These are the statutes that the Lord commanded Moses concerning [the relationship] between a man and his wife, or between a father and his daughter in his house during her youth.

Numbers 30 Commentary

Chapter 30

Vows to be kept. (1,2) The cases wherein vows might be released. (3-16)

Verses 1-2 No man can be bound by his own promise to do what he is already, by the Divine precept, forbidden to do. In other matters the command is, that he shall not break his words, through he may change his mind.

Verses 3-16 Two cases of vows are determined. The case of a daughter in her father's house. When her vow comes to his knowledge, it is in his power either to confirm it or do it away. The law is plain in the case of a wife. If her husband allows her vow, though only by silence, it stands. If he disallows it, her obligation to her husband takes place of it; for to him she ought to be in subjection, as unto the Lord. The Divine law consults the good order of families. It is fit that every man should bear rule in his own house, and have his wife and children in subjection; rather than that this great rule should be broken, or any encouragement be given to inferior relations to break those bonds asunder, God releases the obligation even of a solemn vow. So much does religion secure the welfare of all societies; and in it the families of the earth have a blessing.

Footnotes

• [a]. Sam, LXX, some Syr mss read his
• [b]. Or will bear her guilt

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 30

Mention being made, in the latter part of the preceding chapter, of vows to be performed to the Lord, besides the sacrifices directed to; here some account is given of them, and men are charged to fulfil, and not break them, Nu 30:1,2 but as to women, if a maid, being in her father's house, made a vow in his hearing, and he silent at it, her vow stood; but if he disapproved of it, it was null and void, Nu 30:3-5 and so a wife, when she vowed a vow in the hearing of her husband, and he said not ought against it, it was valid; but if he objected to it, it stood for nothing, Nu 30:6-8, likewise a widow, or one divorced, that made a vow in her husband's house, before he died, or she was put away from him, and he did not contradict it, it remained in force and to be fulfilled; but if he made it void, it stood not, and she was forgiven, Nu 30:9-12 it being in an husband's power to confirm or make null a vow or oath, made by his wife to afflict her soul; but if he made any void after he heard them, and had been silent, he himself was to bear her iniquity, Nu 30:13-16.