Numbers 30:8

8 and her husband should hear, and hold his peace at her in the day in which he should hear, then thus shall all her vows be binding, and her obligations, which she has contracted upon her soul shall stand.

Numbers 30:8 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 30:8

But if her husband disallow her on the day that he heard it,
&c.] Expresses his dislike of it; and this he does as soon as he hears it, at least that same day; according to the Jews ^F24, within the space of twenty four hours:

then he shall make her vow which she vowed, and that which she uttered
with her lips, wherewith she bound her soul, of none effect;
by contradicting it, and forbidding the performance of it; or however by declaring to her, or to others, that it is not agreeable to his mind and will that it should be fulfilled:

and the Lord shall forgive her;
excuse her performance of the vow, and not impute sin to her on that account, nor punish for the breach of it, she being under the cover of her husband, and obliged to submit to his will. According to Jarchi, the Scripture speaks of a woman that vows to be a Nazarite; her husband hears and makes it void; but she does not know it, and transgresses her vow, and drinks wine, and is defiled with the dead, so that she has need of forgiveness, though it is made void; and if vows made void, he adds, have need of pardon, much more those that are not.

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FOOTNOTES:

F24 Leo Modena's History of Rites par. 2. c. 4.

Numbers 30:8 In-Context

6 But if her father straitly forbid in the day in which he shall hear all her vows and her obligations, which she has contracted upon her soul, they shall not stand; and the Lord shall hold her guiltless, because her father forbade her.

7 But if she should be indeed married, and her vows be upon her according to the utterance of her lips, which she has contracted upon her soul;

8 and her husband should hear, and hold his peace at her in the day in which he should hear, then thus shall all her vows be binding, and her obligations, which she has contracted upon her soul shall stand.

9 But if her husband should straitly forbid in the day in which he should hear her, none of her vows or obligations which she has contracted upon her soul shall stand, because her husband has disallowed her, and the Lord shall hold her guiltless.

10 And the vow of a widow and of her that is put away, whatsoever she shall bind upon her soul, shall stand to her.