Numbers 30

1 And Moses spoke to the children of Israel according to all that the Lord commanded Moses.

2 And Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the children of Israel, saying, This the thing which the Lord has commanded.

3 Whatsoever man shall vow a vow to the Lord, or swear an oath, or bind himself with an obligation upon his soul, he shall not break his word; all that shall come out of his mouth he shall do.

4 And if a woman shall vow a vow to the Lord, or bind herself with an obligation in her youth in her father's house; and her father should hear her vows and her obligations, wherewith she has bound her soul, and her father should hold his peace at her, then all her vows shall stand,

5 and all the obligations with which she has bound her soul, shall remain to her.

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.

11 And if her vow in the house of her husband, or the obligation upon her soul with an oath,

12 and her husband should hear, and hold his peace at her, and not disallow her, then all her vows shall stand, and all the obligations which she contracted against her soul, shall stand against her.

13 But if her husband should utterly cancel the vow in the day in which he shall hear it, none of the things which shall proceed out of her lips in her vows, and in the obligations upon her soul, shall stand to her; her husband has cancelled them, and the Lord shall hold her guiltless.

14 Every vow, and every binding oath to afflict her soul, her husband shall confirm it to her, or her husband shall cancel it.

15 But if he be wholly silent at her from day to day, then shall he bind upon her all her vows; and he shall confirm to her the obligations upon herself, because he held his peace at her in the day in which he heard her.

16 And if her husband should in any wise cancel after the day in which he heard , then he shall bear his iniquity.

17 These the ordinances which the Lord commanded Moses, between a man and his wife, and between a father and daughter in youth in the house of father.

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.

Footnotes

• [a]. profane
• [b]. It would seem that the relative in respect of ??? must refer to ???sµ???, understood.
• [c]. in any wise.
• [d]. vow.
• [e]. take away.
• [f]. utterly.

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.