Numbers 30:1-10

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;

Numbers 30:1-10 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.