The Torah · Old Testament

Numbers 30

Vows, household authority and the time to object

General context

Moses gives the tribal heads rules concerning vows and binding oaths. A man must do what he has promised. A young woman in her father's house is bound if her father hears and remains silent, but he may disallow the vow on the day he hears it. Parallel rules address a husband's response to his wife's vows, including vows already upon her when she marries. A widow's or divorced woman's vows stand. Silence confirms a vow, while timely disallowance releases the woman and is accompanied by the statement that the Lord will forgive her. A husband who annuls after hearing bears responsibility for her iniquity.

Cited passages: Numbers 30:1, Numbers 30:2, Numbers 30:3, Numbers 30:4, Numbers 30:5, Numbers 30:6, Numbers 30:7, Numbers 30:8, Numbers 30:9, Numbers 30:10, Numbers 30:11, Numbers 30:12, Numbers 30:13, Numbers 30:14, Numbers 30:15, Numbers 30:16

Numbers 30 (KJV)

¹And Moses spake unto the heads of the tribes concerning the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded.

²If a man vow a vow unto 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.

³If a woman also vow a vow unto the Lord, and bind herself by a bond, being in her father’s house in her youth;

⁴And her father hear her vow, and her bond wherewith she hath bound her soul, and her father shall hold his peace at her: then all her vows shall stand, and every bond wherewith she hath bound her soul shall stand.

⁵But if her father disallow her in the day that he heareth; not any of her vows, or of her bonds wherewith she hath bound her soul, shall stand: and the Lord shall forgive her, because her father disallowed her.

⁶And if she had at all an husband, when she vowed, or uttered ought out of her lips, wherewith she bound her soul;

⁷And 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 wherewith she bound her soul shall stand.

⁸But if her husband disallowed her on the day that he heard it; then he shall make her vow which she vowed, and that which she uttered with her lips, wherewith she bound her soul, of none effect: and the Lord shall forgive her.

⁹But every vow of a widow, and of her that is divorced, wherewith they have bound their souls, shall stand against her.

¹⁰And if she vowed in her husband’s house, or bound her soul by a bond with an oath;

¹¹And her husband heard it, and held his peace at her, and disallowed her not: then all her vows shall stand, and every bond wherewith she bound her soul shall stand.

¹²But if her husband hath utterly made them void on the day he heard them; then whatsoever proceeded out of her lips concerning her vows, or concerning the bond of her soul, shall not stand: her husband hath made them void; and the Lord shall forgive her.

¹³Every vow, and every binding oath to afflict the soul, her husband may establish it, or her husband may make it void.

¹⁴But if her husband altogether hold his peace at her from day to day; then he establisheth all her vows, or all her bonds, which are upon her: he confirmeth them, because he held his peace at her in the day that he heard them.

¹⁵But if he shall any ways make them void after that he hath heard them; then he shall bear her iniquity.

¹⁶These are the statutes, which the Lord commanded Moses, between a man and his wife, between the father and his daughter, being yet in her youth in her father’s house.

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Historical context

The cases distinguish a daughter in her father's household, a married woman, a widow and a divorced woman. Fathers and husbands receive authority to confirm by silence or disallow within the stated hearing-day window; no corresponding procedure is given here for a wife to cancel her husband's vow. At 30:6 the ASV explicitly speaks of marriage while vows are already upon the woman. The closing cases include binding oaths to afflict the soul and assign responsibility when a husband acts after earlier acceptance by silence.

Cited passages: Numbers 30:2, Numbers 30:3, Numbers 30:4, Numbers 30:5, Numbers 30:6, Numbers 30:7, Numbers 30:8, Numbers 30:9, Numbers 30:10, Numbers 30:11, Numbers 30:12, Numbers 30:13, Numbers 30:14, Numbers 30:15, Numbers 30:16

Literary context

The opening demand to keep one's word is developed through repeated household cases. Hearing, silence, objection and timing determine whether an undertaking stands. The repeated statement of forgiveness distinguishes a released obligation from one that remains binding. The final warning about delayed cancellation prevents silence from functioning as an indefinite reservation of the right to object. The chapter describes this household order without narrating a particular family's dispute.

Key moments

Keeping a vow (Numbers 30:2). A man who makes a vow or oath is required to do what he has said.
A widow's or divorced woman's vow (Numbers 30:9). The chapter states that these women's undertakings remain binding.
Responsibility for delayed cancellation (Numbers 30:15). The husband who later makes a vow void bears the iniquity described in the rule.

For reflection

What does the emphasis on hearing and timely response add to the command to keep one's word? How does the allocation of authority and responsibility differ among the cases?