Numbers 30
Names of God Bible
Teachings about Vows
30 [a]Moses said to the heads of the tribes of Israel, “This is what Yahweh has commanded about vows: 2 If a man makes a vow to Yahweh that he will do something or swears an oath that he won’t do something, he must not break his word. He must do everything he said he would do.
3 “A young girl, who still lives in her father’s house, might make a vow to Yahweh that she will do something or swear an oath that she won’t do something. 4 If her father says nothing to her when he hears about it, her vow or oath must be kept. 5 But if her father objects when he hears about it, her vow or oath doesn’t have to be kept. Yahweh will free her from this vow or oath because her father objected.
6 “An unmarried woman might make a vow that she will do something or carelessly promise that she won’t do something. When she marries, 7 her husband may hear about it but say nothing to her. Then her vow or oath must be kept. 8 But if her husband objects when he hears about it, he can cancel the vow or promise she made. Yahweh will free her from this vow or promise.
9 “But a widow or a divorced woman must keep her vow or her promise.
10 “A married woman might make a vow that she will do something or swear an oath that she won’t do something. 11 Her husband may hear about it but may say nothing and not object. Then her vow or oath must be kept. 12 But if her husband cancels it when he hears about it, nothing she said in her vow or oath has to be kept. Her husband has canceled it, and Yahweh will free her from this vow or oath.
13 “A husband decides whether or not his wife has to keep any vow to do something or any oath to do without something. 14 If he says nothing to her about it day after day, this means he’s decided that she must keep her vow or oath. She must keep it because he said nothing to her when he heard about it. 15 But if he cancels it later, he will suffer the consequences.”
16 These are the laws Yahweh gave Moses for husbands and wives, and for fathers with young daughters still living at home.
Footnotes
- Numbers 30:1 Numbers 30:1–16 in English Bibles is Numbers 30:2–17 in the Hebrew Bible.
Numbers 30
New American Standard Bible
The Law of Vows
30 [a]Then Moses spoke to (A)the heads of the tribes of the sons of Israel, saying, “This is the word which the Lord has commanded: 2 (B)If a man makes a vow to the Lord, or takes an oath to [b]put himself under a binding obligation, he shall not break his word; he shall act in accordance with everything that comes out of his mouth.
3 “And if a woman makes a vow to the Lord, and puts herself under a binding obligation in her father’s house in her youth, 4 and her father hears her vow and her obligation under which she has put herself, and her father [c]says nothing to her, then all her vows shall [d]remain valid and every binding obligation under which she has put herself shall [e]remain valid. 5 But if her father expresses disapproval to her on the day he hears of it, none of her vows or her obligations under which she has put herself shall remain valid; and the Lord will [f]forgive her because her father has expressed disapproval to her.
6 “However, if she happens to [g]marry while [h]under her vows or the impulsive statement of her lips by which she has obligated herself, 7 and her husband hears of it and says nothing to her on the day he hears it, then her vows shall remain valid and her binding obligations under which she has put herself shall remain valid. 8 But if on the day her husband hears of it, he expresses disapproval to her, then he will annul her vow which [i]she is under and the impulsive statement of her lips by which she has obligated herself; and the Lord will [j]forgive her.
9 “But as for the vow of a widow or of a divorced woman, every binding obligation under which she has put herself, shall remain valid against her. 10 However, if a married woman vowed in her husband’s house, or put herself under a binding obligation with an oath, 11 and her husband heard it, but said nothing to her and did not express disapproval to her, then all her vows shall remain valid and every binding obligation under which she put herself shall remain valid. 12 But if her husband actually annuls them on the day he hears them, then no utterance from her lips concerning her vows or the obligation she put on herself shall remain valid; her husband has annulled them, and the Lord will [k]forgive her.
13 “Every vow and every binding oath to humble herself, her husband may confirm it or her husband may annul it. 14 But if her husband in fact says nothing to her from day to day, then he confirms all her vows or all her binding obligations which are on her; he has confirmed them, because he said nothing to her on the day he heard them. 15 However, if he actually annuls them [l]after he has heard them, then he shall bear the responsibility for her guilt.”
16 These are the statutes which the Lord commanded Moses concerning matters between a man and his wife, and between a father and his daughter while she is in her youth in her father’s house.
Footnotes
- Numbers 30:1 Ch 30:2 in Heb
- Numbers 30:2 Lit bind on his soul, and similarly throughout the ch
- Numbers 30:4 Lit is silent to her, and so throughout the ch
- Numbers 30:4 Lit stand, and so throughout the ch
- Numbers 30:4 Lit stand, and so throughout the ch
- Numbers 30:5 I.e., for not fulfilling them
- Numbers 30:6 Lit become a husband’s
- Numbers 30:6 Lit her vows are on her
- Numbers 30:8 Lit is on her
- Numbers 30:8 I.e., for not fulfilling them
- Numbers 30:12 I.e., for not fulfilling them
- Numbers 30:15 I.e., perhaps a long delay before he annuls them
The Names of God Bible (without notes) © 2011 by Baker Publishing Group.
New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. All rights reserved.
Copyright © 2023 by Bible League International