Numbers 30

Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of Israel about the people of Israel. He said, "This is what the LORD has commanded."

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

NoteThe heads of the tribes were the senior family and clan leaders who settled disputes and enforced such rules locally; instructions with legal force were announced to them so they could apply them.

2If a man makes a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath that puts himself under a binding promise, he must not break his word. He must do everything he said he would do.

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.

NoteTwo different acts are being covered. A "vow" (Hebrew *neder*) was a positive promise to God, usually to hand something over, an animal, produce, money, or a period of service. A "bond" or binding promise (*issar*) was normally the opposite: a sworn commitment to go without something. "Bind his soul" is Hebrew idiom for placing an obligation on oneself; "soul" here means simply the person.

3The same goes for a young woman who is still living in her father's house, if she makes a vow to the LORD or binds herself by a promise.

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;

Note"In her youth" means past childhood but not yet married, so still a member of her father's household. This mattered legally because a vow usually committed property, food, or labor that belonged to the household as a whole, not to her privately; the head of the household therefore had standing to cancel it.

4Suppose her father hears about her vow and about the promise she has bound herself with, and he says nothing to her. Then all her vows stand, and every promise she has bound herself with stands.

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 forbids her on the day he hears about it, then none of her vows or promises stand. The LORD will forgive her, because her father forbade her.

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.

Note"On the day he hears" is the whole limit of his power: the objection had to be raised the same day he learned of the vow, not later. "The LORD will forgive her" is legal language for releasing her from liability: she is not held responsible for a vow that was never allowed to take effect, rather than being pardoned for a sin she committed.

6Now suppose she comes to have a husband while her vows are on her, or while she is bound by something she blurted out.

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

NoteThe Hebrew is genuinely ambiguous and has been read both ways: either a woman who marries while vows made in her father's house are still outstanding, or a married woman who makes a vow. "Something she blurted out" translates a term for rash or hasty speech, words spoken without weighing them.

7If her husband hears about it and says nothing to her on the day he hears it, then her vows stand, and the promises that bind her stand.

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 forbids her on the day he hears it, then he cancels the vow she made and the words she spoke that bound her. They no longer count, and the LORD will forgive her.

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 that a widow or a divorced woman makes to bind herself stays binding on her.

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

NoteA widow or a divorced woman was not under a father's or a husband's household authority, so no one had standing to cancel what she swore; her vows simply held.

10Now suppose a woman living in her husband's house makes a vow, or binds herself by a promise sworn with an oath.

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

11If her husband hears about it, says nothing to her, and does not forbid her, then all her vows stand, and every promise that binds her stands.

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 cancels them on the day he hears them, then nothing that came out of her mouth stands, neither her vows nor the promise that bound her. Her husband canceled them, and the LORD will forgive her.

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.

13Any vow, and any binding oath she has sworn to go without something, her husband may let stand or he may cancel.

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

Note"To afflict the soul" is a fixed Hebrew expression for self-denial, most often fasting, but also abstaining from wine, comfort, or other ordinary things. The same phrase is used of the Day of Atonement.

14But if her husband says nothing at all to her, day after day, then he is letting all her vows and all the promises that bind her stand. He confirms them, because he said nothing to her on the day he heard them.

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 cancels them at some point after he has heard them, then he carries the guilt that would have been hers.

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

Note"Bear her iniquity" is a legal formula. The Hebrew word covers both the offense and the penalty for it, so the sense is that the liability for the unfulfilled vow transfers to him: he canceled it too late, after his silence had already let it stand.

16These are the rules the LORD gave Moses about a man and his wife, and about a father and his daughter while she is young and still living in his house.

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.