Numbers 30:1-7

The Law of Vows

1 Then Moses spoke to 1the heads of the tribes of the sons of Israel, saying, "This is the word which the LORD has commanded.
2 "2If a man makes a vow to the LORD, or takes an oath to bind himself with a binding obligation, he shall not violate his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.
3 "Also if a woman makes a vow to the LORD, and binds herself by an obligation in her father's house in her youth,
4 and her father hears her vow and her obligation by which she has bound herself, and her father says nothing to her, then all her vows shall stand and every obligation by which she has bound herself shall stand.
5 "But if her father should forbid her on the day he hears of it, none * of her vows or her obligations by which she has bound herself shall stand; and the LORD will forgive her because her father had forbidden her.
6 "However, if she should marry * while under her vows or the rash statement of her lips by which she has bound herself,
7 and her husband hears of it and says nothing to her on the day he hears it, then her vows shall stand and her obligations by which she has bound herself shall 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.

Cross References 2

  • 1. Numbers 1:4, 16; Numbers 7:2
  • 2. Deuteronomy 23:21-23; Matthew 5:33

Footnotes 3

  • [a]. Lit "is silent to her," and so throughout the ch
  • [b]. Lit "be to a husband"
  • [c]. Lit "her vows are on her"
New American Standard Bible Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation, La Habra, California.  All rights reserved.