Numbers 30
New American Bible (Revised Edition)
Chapter 30
1 So Moses instructed the Israelites exactly as the Lord had commanded him.
Validity and Annulment of Vows. 2 Moses said to the heads of the Israelite tribes, “This is what the Lord has commanded: 3 When a man makes a vow to the Lord or binds himself under oath to a pledge,[a] he shall not violate his word, but must fulfill exactly the promise he has uttered.(A)
4 “When a woman makes a vow to the Lord, or binds herself to a pledge, while still in her father’s house in her youth, 5 and her father learns of her vow or the pledge to which she bound herself and says nothing to her about it, then any vow or any pledge to which she bound herself remains valid. 6 But if on the day he learns of it her father opposes her, then any vow or any pledge to which she bound herself becomes invalid; and the Lord will release her from it, since her father opposed her.
7 “If she marries while under a vow or under a rash pledge to which she bound herself, 8 and her husband learns of it, yet says nothing to her on the day he learns it, then the vows or the pledges to which she bound herself remain valid. 9 But if on the day her husband learns of it he opposes her, he thereby annuls the vow she had made or the rash pledge to which she had bound herself, and the Lord will release her from it. 10 (The vow of a widow or of a divorced woman, however, any pledge to which such a woman binds herself, is valid.)
11 “If it is in her husband’s house[b] that she makes a vow or binds herself under oath to a pledge, 12 and her husband learns of it yet says nothing to her to oppose her, then all her vows remain valid or any pledge to which she has bound herself. 13 But if on the day he learns of them her husband annuls them, then whatever she has expressly promised in her vows or in her pledge becomes invalid; since her husband has annulled them, the Lord will release her from them.
14 “Any vow or any pledge that she makes under oath to humble herself, her husband may either confirm or annul. 15 But if her husband, day after day, says nothing at all to her, he thereby confirms all her vows or all the pledges incumbent upon her; he has confirmed them, because on the day he learned of them he said nothing to her. 16 If, however, he annuls them[c] some time after he first learned of them, he will be responsible for her guilt.”
17 These are the statutes which the Lord commanded Moses concerning a husband and his wife, as well as a father and his daughter while she is still in her youth in her father’s house.
Footnotes
- 30:3 A vow…a pledge: here the former signifies the promise to dedicate either a person, an animal, or a thing or their equivalent to the sanctuary upon the fulfillment of some specified conditions (Lv 27:1–13); the latter signifies the assumption of either a positive or a negative obligation—that is, the promise either to do something or to abstain from something; cf. v. 14.
- 30:11 In her husband’s house: after her marriage. This contrasts with the case given in vv. 7–9.
- 30:16 He annuls them: he prevents their fulfillment. Since he has first allowed the vows to remain valid, he can no longer annul them.
Numbers 30
Legacy Standard Bible
The Statutes for Vows
30 Then Moses spoke to (A)the heads of the tribes of the sons of Israel, saying, “This is the word which Yahweh has commanded. 2 (B)If a man makes a vow to Yahweh or swears an oath to bind himself with a binding obligation, he shall not violate his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.
3 “Also if a woman makes a vow to Yahweh and binds herself by an obligation in her father’s house in her youth, 4 and her father hears her vow and her obligation by which she has bound herself, and her father [a]says nothing to her, then all her vows shall stand, and every obligation by which she has bound herself shall stand. 5 But if her father should forbid her on the day he hears of it, none of her vows or her obligations by which she has bound herself shall stand; and Yahweh will pardon her because her father had forbidden her.
6 “However, if she should [b]marry while [c]under her vows or the rash statement of her lips by which she has bound herself, 7 and her husband hears of it and says nothing to her on the day he hears it, then her vows shall stand, and her obligations by which she has bound herself shall stand. 8 But if, on the day her husband hears of it, he forbids her, then he shall annul her vow which [d]she is under and the rash statement of her lips by which she has bound herself; and Yahweh will pardon her.
9 “But the vow of a widow or of a divorced woman, everything by which she has bound herself, shall stand against her. 10 However, if she vowed in her husband’s house or bound herself by an obligation with an oath, 11 and her husband heard it but said nothing to her and did not forbid her, then all her vows shall stand, and every obligation by which she bound herself shall stand. 12 But if her husband indeed annuls them on the day he hears them, then whatever proceeds out of her lips concerning her vows or concerning the obligation of herself shall not stand; her husband has annulled them, and Yahweh will pardon her.
13 “Every vow and every binding oath to humble herself, her husband may cause it to stand, or her husband may annul it. 14 But if her husband indeed says nothing to her from day to day, then he causes all her vows or all her obligations which are on her to stand; he has caused them to stand because he said nothing to her on the day he heard them. 15 But if he indeed annuls them after he has heard them, then he shall bear her guilt.”
16 These are the statutes which Yahweh commanded Moses, as between a man and his wife, and as between a father and his daughter, while she is in her youth in her father’s house.
Footnotes
- Numbers 30:4 Lit is silent to her, so in ch
- Numbers 30:6 Lit be to a husband
- Numbers 30:6 Lit her vows are on her
- Numbers 30:8 Lit is on her
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