Numbers 30:15

15 "But suppose some time after he hears about her promises he doesn't let her keep them. Then she will be guilty. But he will be held accountable for it."

Numbers 30:15 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 30:15

But if he shall any ways make them void, after that he hath
heard them
Some way or other expressing his dislike of them; not at the time he heard them, but some time afterwards; one day after, as the Targum of Jonathan:

then he shall bear his iniquity:
be accountable for the breach of the vow, the sin shall be reckoned to him, and he shall bear the punishment of it, because he ought to have declared is disapprobation of it sooner; and it may be, his doing it when he did was only in a spirit of contradiction, or through covetousness; and it would have been more advisable to have let the vow stand, and therefore acted a criminal part, and so was answerable for it; the Targum of Jonathan explains it,

``her husband or her father shall bear her iniquity,''

supposing her not to be at age: Aben Ezra gives the reason of it, because she is in his power.

Numbers 30:15 In-Context

13 "Her husband can let her keep any special promise she makes. Or he can refuse to let her keep it. "Suppose she takes an oath and agrees not to eat anything. Then her husband can let her keep her promise. Or he can refuse to let her keep it.

14 "But suppose day after day her husband doesn't say anything to her about what she did. Then he lets her keep all of her promises. He lets her do everything she agreed to do. That's because he didn't say anything to her when he heard about what she had done.

15 "But suppose some time after he hears about her promises he doesn't let her keep them. Then she will be guilty. But he will be held accountable for it."

16 Those are the rules the LORD gave Moses about a man and his wife. And those are the rules the LORD gave about a father and his young daughter who is still living in his house.