Asbury Bible Commentary – D. Vows (30:1-16)
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D. Vows (30:1-16)

D. Vows (30:1-16)

Vow (Heb. neder) is a term that applied both to the original pronouncement of a vow as well as to its subsequent fulfillment and payment. What ch. 30 affirms is that any vow taken in God’s name is irrevocable. For that reason Ecc 5:4-5 cautions restraint in making vows to God. It is better not to make a vow in the first place than to make one and then try to back out of fulfilling it.

Interestingly, only one verse (v.2) discusses vows offered by a man, while thirteen verses elaborate on vows made by a woman (vv.3-15). In this second and larger grouping, one discovers that (1) a girl’s vow may be nullified by her father (vv.3-5) or by her fiance (vv.6-8), (2) that the vow of widows and divorcees is binding (v.9), and that (3) a wife’s vow may be nullified by her husband (vv.10-15). The catch was that the father/husband had to act immediately if the daughter’s/wife’s vow was to be voided (vv.5, 8, 12, 14).

To illustrate how this policy would work, one would assume that if a woman took a special vow, say, to be a Nazirite (i.e., a vow of separation, Nu 6), the husband/father could veto such a decision if action was taken promptly.

Here, then, is an instance of a law addressing family relationships. Family issues have popped up now and then in Numbers. Recall the jealous husband (5:5-31), or Aaron and Miriam disputing with Moses (ch. 12), or the brotherless daughters of Zelophehad (27:1-11; 36). And while the law clearly subordinated the daughter to the father and the wife to the husband, the real onus for implementing these regulations fell squarely on the male. He must truly be an effective leader of his household. There was no room for the sluggish, wishy-washy, ineffective father or husband. Through these laws and narratives that focus on some aspect of marital/family relationships, possibly the point was made that national faith would truly exist only as it was fed by family faith.