Numbers 30
Introduction to the Law of Vows 1–2
Vows of an Unmarried Daughter 3–5
Vows of a Married Woman and the Closing Summary 6–16
Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain
Study Notes for Numbers 30
Verse 1
This is the thing — ‘Thing’ is davar, ‘word’, the same word as ‘his word’ in v.2, so the law introduced here concerns the spoken word. Moses speaks to ‘the heads of the tribes’, using matteh, a staff or branch and so a tribe, since each tribe had its head (Num 1:4).
Verse 2
he shall not break his word — ‘Break’ is chalal, to profane, the verb of Lev 19:12, ‘neither shalt thou profane the name of thy God’. A vow (neder) or an oath (shevuah) ties the soul with a bond, and ‘that which is gone out of thy lips thou shalt keep and perform’ (Deut 23:23). Eccl 5:5 says it is better not to vow than to vow and not pay.
Verse 3
bind herself by a bond — The ‘bond’ is issar, from asar, to tie or yoke. The noun is found only in this chapter, in ten verses. The first case is a young woman living ‘in her father’s house in her youth’, still part of his household when she vows.
Verse 5
disallow her — Nu means to refuse or discourage; the same verb is ‘discourage’ in Num 32:7, 9. The father’s answer must come ‘in the day that he heareth’, and then no part of the vow ‘shall stand’. ‘The LORD shall forgive her’ uses salach, the verb of the pardon given for sin of ignorance in Num 15:25.
Verse 8
of none effect — Parar, to break or frustrate. What she ‘uttered with her lips’ is mibta, a rash word, which occurs only here and in v.6. It comes from the verb of Ps 106:33, where Moses ‘spake unadvisedly with his lips’. The husband’s refusal must also come ‘on the day that he heard it’.
Verse 9
shall stand against her — ‘Stand’ is qum, the verb used of vows in vv.4, 5, 7, 11, 12, 13 and 14. A widow (almanah) or a divorced woman (gerushah) has no father or husband in the house to disallow the vow, so it stands upon her just as a man’s does in v.2.
Verse 12
whatsoever proceeded out of her lips — Motsa, a going out, is the word of Deut 23:23, ‘That which is gone out of thy lips’, and of the LORD’s own pledge: ‘nor alter the thing that is gone out of my lips’ (Ps 89:34). The husband acts ‘on the day he heard them’, and then ‘the LORD shall forgive her’.
Verse 13
to afflict the soul — Anah nephesh, the words used for the day of atonement (Lev 23:32; Num 29:7). Here they name a vow of self-denial, like the fast in ‘I humbled my soul with fasting’ (Ps 35:13). Of every such vow ‘her husband may establish it, or her husband may make it void’.
Verse 14
he establisheth all her vows — ‘Altogether hold his peace’ repeats charash, to be silent. ‘Establisheth’ and ‘confirmeth’ are both qum in its causative form, the verb of ‘stand’ in vv.4–13, so that his silence ‘from day to day’ makes the vow stand. The silence is judged by ‘the day that he heard them’.
Verse 15
he shall bear her iniquity — Nasa avon, to carry guilt, is the phrase for a person’s own liability: the witness who does not speak ‘shall bear his iniquity’ (Lev 5:1), and Israel was told ‘shall ye bear your iniquities, even forty years’ (Num 14:34). A husband who confirmed by silence and then annuls takes the guilt of the broken vow.
Verse 16
These are the statutes — Chuqqim, enactments, closing the chapter. It names two relationships, ‘between a man and his wife, between the father and his daughter’, matching the cases of vv.3–5 and vv.6–15. The man’s own vow (v.2) and the widow’s and divorced woman’s (v.9) stand without any such review.