Numbers 30:1-7

Laws for Vows

1 Then Moses spoke to {the leaders} of the tribes concerning the {Israelites}, saying, "This [is] the word that Yahweh commanded:
2 if a man makes a vow for Yahweh or swears an oath with a binding pledge on himself, he must not render his word invalid; he must do all that went out from his mouth.
3 "If a woman makes a vow to Yahweh, and she binds a pledge [on herself] in her father's house in your childhood,
4 but if her father hears her vow or her pledge that she bound on herself and says nothing to her, then all her vows will stand, and every pledge that she binds on her life will stand.
5 If her father forbids her on the day he hears [of it], all her vows or her pledges that she bound on herself will not stand, and Yahweh will forgive her because her father has forgiven her.
6 "If {she has a husband} while bound by her vows or a rash promise of her lips,
7 and her husband hears [of it] and is silent on the day he hears [it], her vows will stand, and her pledge that she bound upon herself will stand.

Numbers 30:1-7 Meaning and Commentary

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.

Footnotes 3

  • [a]. Literally "the heads"
  • [b]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
  • [c]. Literally "she is to a man"
Scripture quotations marked (LEB) are from the Lexham English Bible. Copyright 2012 Logos Bible Software. Lexham is a registered trademark of Logos Bible Software.