Numbers 30

1 And Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes concerning the children of Israel, saying, This [is] the thing which the LORD hath commanded.

2 If a man shall vow a vow to the LORD, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.

3 If a woman also shall vow a vow to the LORD, and bind [herself] by a bond, [being] in her father's house in her youth;

4 And her father shall hear her vow, and her bond with which she hath bound her soul, and her father shall hold his peace at her: then all her vows shall stand, and every bond with which she hath bound her soul shall stand.

5 But if her father shall disallow her in the day that he heareth; not any of her vows or of her bonds with which she hath bound her soul shall stand: and the LORD shall forgive her, because her father disallowed her.

6 And if she had a husband when she vowed, or uttered aught from her lips, with which she bound her soul;

7 And her husband heard [it], and held his peace at her in the day that he heard [it]: then her vows shall stand, and her bonds with which she bound her soul shall stand.

8 But if her husband disallowed her on the day that he heard [it]; then he shall make of no effect her vow which she vowed, and that which she uttered with her lips, with which she bound her soul: and the LORD shall forgive her.

9 But every vow of a widow, and of her that is divorced, with which they have bound their souls, shall stand against her.

10 And if she vowed in her husband's house, or bound her soul by a bond with an oath;

11 And her husband heard [it], and held his peace at her, [and] disallowed her not: then all her vows shall stand, and every bond with which she bound her soul shall stand.

12 But if her husband hath utterly made them void on the day he heard [them]; [then] whatever proceeded out of her lips concerning her vows, or concerning the bond of her soul, shall not stand: her husband hath made them void; and the LORD shall forgive her.

13 Every vow, and every binding oath to afflict the soul, her husband may establish it, or her husband may make it void.

14 But if her husband altogether holds his peace at her from day to day; then he establisheth all her vows, or all her bonds, which [are] upon her: he confirmeth them, because he held his peace at her in the day that he heard [them].

15 But if he shall any way make them void after that he hath heard [them]; then he shall bear her iniquity.

16 These [are] the statutes which the LORD commanded Moses, between a man and his wife, between the father and his daughter, [being yet] in her youth in her father's house.

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.

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.