Regulations about Vows

30 Moses told the leaders of the Israelite tribes, “This is what the Lord has commanded: When a man makes a vow to the Lord or swears an oath to put himself under an obligation, he must not break his word; he must do whatever he has promised.(A)

“When a woman in her father’s house during her youth makes a vow to the Lord or puts herself under an obligation, and her father hears about her vow or the obligation she put herself under, and he says nothing to her, all her vows and every obligation she put herself under are binding. But if her father prohibits her on the day he hears about it, none of her vows and none of the obligations she put herself under are binding. The Lord will absolve her because her father has prohibited her.

“If a woman marries while her vows or the rash commitment she herself made are binding, and her husband hears about it and says nothing to her when he finds out, her vows are binding, and the obligations she put herself under are binding. But if her husband prohibits her when he hears about it, he will cancel her vow that is binding or the rash commitment she herself made, and the Lord will forgive her.

“Every vow a widow or divorced woman puts herself under is binding on her.

10 “If a woman in her husband’s house has made a vow or put herself under an obligation with an oath, 11 and her husband hears about it, says nothing to her, and does not prohibit her, all her vows are binding, and every obligation she put herself under is binding. 12 But if her husband cancels them on the day he hears about it, nothing that came from her lips, whether her vows or her obligation, is binding. Her husband has canceled them, and the Lord will absolve her. 13 Her husband may confirm or cancel any vow or any sworn obligation to deny herself. 14 If her husband says nothing at all to her from day to day, he confirms all her vows and obligations, which are binding. He has confirmed them because he said nothing to her when he heard about them. 15 But if he cancels them after he hears about them, he will be responsible for her[a] commitment.”[b]

16 These are the statutes that the Lord commanded Moses concerning the relationship between a man and his wife, or between a father and his daughter in his house during her youth.

Read full chapter

Notas al pie

  1. Numbers 30:15 Sam, LXX, some Syr mss read his
  2. Numbers 30:15 Or will bear her guilt

Regulations Concerning Vows

30 [a]Later, Moses told the elders of the Israeli tribes, “This is what the Lord has commanded: ‘When a man makes a vow to the Lord, or swears an oath—an obligation that is binding to himself—he is not to break his word. Instead, he is to fulfill whatever promise[b] came out of his mouth.’”

Vows by Unmarried Women

“When a young woman makes a vow to the Lord or pledges[c] herself[d] to an obligation while she still lives in her father’s house, and her father hears her vow and the obligations that she had pledged[e] herself to fulfill, yet her father keeps silent about it, then all her vows and every obligation she pledged herself to are to stand. But if her father disallows her on the same day that he hears what she has said, then all her vows and every obligation she had pledged herself to fulfill are not to stand. The Lord will forgive her, because her father has forbidden her.”

Vows by Married Women

“If she has a husband and she makes a vow that is binding on herself, or if she makes a hasty vow with her mouth that she pledges herself[f] to fulfill, and her husband hears her vow, yet remains silent on the day that he hears it, then her vows are to stand and the obligation to which she had pledged herself is to stand. But if, on the same day her husband hears and disallows her, then he has revoked her vows that she made for herself, along with any hasty vows that she spoke and to which she pledged herself to fulfill. The Lord will forgive her.”

Vows by Widows or the Divorced

“Everything that a widow or a divorced woman pledges herself to fulfill are to be binding on her.[g] 10 If, while she had been living in her late or former[h] husband’s house, she makes a vow or a promise that binds her with an oath, 11 and her husband hears it but remains silent, not disallowing it, then all her vows are to stand, along with every obligation that she has pledged to fulfill. 12 But if her husband disallowed them the very day that he heard her, everything that she spoke relating to her vows and her obligation to herself are not to stand, because her husband revoked them. The Lord will forgive her. 13 Her husband may confirm[i] or revoke every vow and binding obligation that afflicts her. 14 But if her husband remains silent about her from day to day, then he has affirmed all her vows or obligations that she has obligated herself to fulfill.[j] He has affirmed them because he remained silent from the day he heard her vows.[k] 15 But if he nullified them after he had heard, then he will be responsible for any resulting iniquity.”

16 These are the statutes that the Lord commanded Moses concerning a man and his wife and concerning a father and his young daughter while she still lives in her father’s house.

Read full chapter

Notas al pie

  1. Numbers 30:1 This v. is 30:2 in MT
  2. Numbers 30:2 Lit. words
  3. Numbers 30:3 Lit. binds; and so throughout the chapter
  4. Numbers 30:3 Lit. soul
  5. Numbers 30:4 Or bonded; and so throughout the chapter
  6. Numbers 30:6 Lit. soul
  7. Numbers 30:9 Lit. are to stand against her
  8. Numbers 30:10 The Heb. lacks late or former
  9. Numbers 30:13 Lit. make it stand
  10. Numbers 30:14 The Heb. lacks that she has obligated herself to fulfill
  11. Numbers 30:14 The Heb. lacks her vows