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Numbers 30

KJV · Chapter 30/36

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.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

God establishes laws about vows and oaths, especially regarding the authority of a father or husband to annul the vow of an unmarried daughter or a wife, if they do so immediately upon hearing of it; otherwise, the vow remains valid.

Explanation

This chapter deals with the seriousness of vows made to God ('he shall not break his word'), but also recognizes the family structure of the time, in which unmarried or married women were under the legal authority of their father or husband, who could revoke a vow he considered harmful to the family, as long as he did so on the very day he heard of it. It is important to note that this law protected the woman from severe consequences for an impulsive vow, since she would not be held guilty if the vow was annulled by her legal guardian ('the LORD shall forgive her'). At the same time, widows and divorced women, without this male authority over them, had full responsibility for and validity over their own vows, showing a notable legal independence for these women within the ancient context.

Fun facts

  • This is one of the few chapters of the Law that deals extensively with the specific legal autonomy of women within the Israelite family structure, being cited by modern scholars both as a reflection of the patriarchal limitations of the time and as a genuine legal protection against disproportionate consequences of hasty promises.
  • Jephthah, later in Judges 11, makes a rash vow with tragic consequences involving his own daughter — an episode often read alongside this chapter as a warning about the seriousness of making vows without carefully thinking through their implications.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Numbers 30:1Moses passes on a new instruction from the LORD to the tribal leaders, this time about the seriousness of vows and oaths.
  2. Numbers 30:2The general rule for men is straightforward: whoever makes a vow or swears an oath to the LORD must do exactly what he promised, without breaking his word.
  3. Numbers 30:3If a young woman, still living in her father’s house, made a vow to God, the father had the right to cancel that vow on the same day he heard of it; if he stayed silent, the vow stood. This is a law that reflects the family authority structure of the time, in which fathers and later husbands could validate or cancel certain commitments made by the women of the household.
  4. Numbers 30:4If the father hears the daughter’s vow and says nothing against it, the vow then stands as normal.
  5. Numbers 30:5But if the father objects as soon as he hears of the vow, it is annulled, and the daughter is freed from the obligation, since it was her own father who stopped it.
  6. Numbers 30:6The same logic applied to a husband: if the woman had made a vow before or after marrying, the husband could annul it upon hearing of it, as long as he did so promptly, on the same day. If he stayed silent, the vow remained in force as usual.
  7. Numbers 30:7In the case of a married woman, if the husband hears her vow and stays silent, the vow stands as normal.
  8. Numbers 30:8If the husband objects as soon as he hears of it, the vow is annulled, and she is freed from the obligation because of his objection.
  9. Numbers 30:9For widows or divorced women, however, with no husband or father to annul anything, any vow they made stood in full.
  10. Numbers 30:10The rule changes slightly when the woman made the vow already married, within her husband’s own household.
  11. Numbers 30:11If the husband knows of the vow and says nothing, that vow continues to stand as usual.
  12. Numbers 30:12But if the husband annuls the vow as soon as he hears of it, it no longer stands, and the woman is released from that obligation.
  13. Numbers 30:13It is up to the husband to decide whether to confirm or annul any vow or oath made by his wife, especially ones that involve some kind of personal sacrifice.
  14. Numbers 30:14If the husband simply lets the days go by without saying anything, that already counts as silent confirmation of all his wife’s vows.
  15. Numbers 30:15But if he annuls the vow only after some time has passed, without having spoken up right away, the responsibility for that delay falls on him, not on her.
  16. Numbers 30:16The chapter closes by summing up these rules: they govern the relationship between husband and wife, and between a father and an unmarried daughter still living at home.

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