Chapter 30
Vows to the Lord and Others.1 [a]Then Moses spoke to the leaders of the ancestral tribes of Israel, saying, “This is what the Lord commands: 2 When a person makes a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind himself to some commitment, he is not to break his promise. He will do everything just as he said he would.
3 [b]“When a young woman who is still in her father’s house makes a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath to bind herself to some commitment, 4 and her father hears about her vow and her commitment made by oath and he says nothing to her, then all her vows and all the oaths by which she bound herself will be valid. 5 But if her father forbids it on the day that he hears about it, then none of her vows and the oaths with which she bound herself will be valid. The Lord will release her because her father has forbidden her to do it.
6 “If she marries after she has made a vow or a rash statement from her mouth by which she has bound herself 7 and her husband hears about it, and he says nothing to her on the day that he hears about it, then her vows and the oaths with which she bound herself will be valid. 8 But if her husband forbids it on the day that he hears about it, then he makes void the vows she has made and the rash statements from her mouth by which she has bound herself. The Lord will release her.
9 “Any vow or obligation made by a widow or a divorced woman by which she bound herself will be binding. 10 If she made the vow while she was in her husband’s house or swore an oath to bind herself to some commitment 11 and her husband heard about it and said nothing to her and did not forbid it, then all her vows and all the oaths with which she bound herself will be valid. 12 But if her husband forbids it on the day that he hears about it, then whatever proceeded out of her mouth concerning her vows or the oaths by which she bound herself will not be valid. Her husband makes them void and the Lord will release her. 13 Her husband can let stand or make void any vow or oath by which she bound herself to humble herself. 14 But if her husband says nothing to her from day to day, then he confirms all her vows and all her oaths. He has confirmed them because he said nothing to her on the day that he heard about it. 15 But if he makes them void after he has heard about them, then he will bear her guilt.”
16 These are the statutes that the Lord commanded Moses concerning a husband and his wife, and between a father and his young daughter still living in her father’s house.
Footnotes
- Numbers 30:1 A vow is a freely made commitment to do something more and better than the law requires and to do it out of pure love of God; once pronounced, it obliges in conscience before God.
- Numbers 30:3 This section specified the father’s and husband’s ability to override a woman’s vow. Not only was this customary in Eastern cultures in biblical times but carried forward into modern times. Jesus’ actions in the New Testament urge simplicity regarding oaths (Mt 5:33-37).