Numbers 30:3-13

3 Yf a damsell vowe a vowe vnto ye Lorde and binde herselfe beynge in hir fathers housse and vnmaried:

4 Yf hir father heare hir vowe and bonde which she hath made vppon hir soule and holde his pease thereto: then all hir vowes and bodes which she hath made vppo hir soule shall stonde in effecte.

5 But and yf hir father forbyd her the same daye that he heareth it none of hir vowes nor bondes which she hath made vppon hir soule shalbe of value ad the Lorde shall forgeue her because hir father forbade her.

6 Yf she had an husbonde when she vowed or pronounsed oughte out of hir lippes wherewith she bonde hir soule

7 and hir husbonde herde it and helde his peace thereat the same daye he herde it: Then hir vowes and hir bondes wherewith she bounde hir soule shal stonde in effecte.

8 But ad yf hir husbonde forbade her the same daye that he herde it than hath he made hir vowe which she had vppo her of none effecte and that also whiche she pronounsed with hir lippes wherewith she bounde hir soule and the Lorde shall forgeue her.

9 The vowe of a wedowe and of her that is deuorsed and all that they haue bound their soules with all shall stonde in effecte with them.

10 Yf she vowed in her husbandes housse or bounde her soule with an oth

11 and her husbande herde it and helde his peace and forbade her not: then all her vowes and bondes wherewith she bound her soule shall stode.

12 But yf her husbande disanulled them ye same daye that he herde them then nothing that proceded out of her lippes in vowes ad boundes wherewith she bounde her soule shall stonde in effecte: for her husbande hath lowsed them and the Lorde shall forgeue her.

13 All vowes and othes that binde to humble the soule maye her husbande stablish or breake.

Numbers 30:3-13 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.