New International Reader s Version - NIrV - 1996
Numbers 30
1
Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of Israel. He said, "Here is what the Lord commands.
Reference
References Israel
Numbers 7:2
2
Suppose a man makes a special promise to the Lord. Or suppose he takes an oath and agrees to do something. Then he must keep his promise. He must do everything he said he would do.
Reference
Parallel theme
Psalm 50:14
Job 22:27
Acts 23:12
Acts 23:21
Psalm 22:25
Psalm 55:20
Proverbs 20:25
Nahum 1:15
References Lord
Psalm 116:14
Psalm 116:18
3
"Suppose a young woman is still living in her father's house. She makes a special promise to the Lord. Or she takes an oath and agrees to do something.
4
"Suppose her father hears about her promise or oath. And he doesn't say anything to her about it. Then she must keep her promise. She must do what she agreed to do.
5
"But suppose her father doesn't allow her to keep her promises when he hears about them. Then she doesn't have to do what she promised or agreed to do. The Lord will set her free. He'll do it because her father hasn't allowed her to keep her promises.
Reference
References Lord
Ephesians 6:1
6
"Suppose she gets married after she makes a special promise. Or she gets married after agreeing to do something without thinking it through.
Reference
Parallel theme
Psalm 56:12
7
Suppose her husband hears about what she did. And he doesn't say anything to her about it. Then she must keep her promise. She must do what she agreed to do.
8
"But suppose her husband doesn't allow her to keep her promises when he hears about them. Then she doesn't have to do what she promised. She doesn't have to do what she agreed to do without thinking it through. The Lord will set her free.
Reference
Parallel theme
Genesis 3:16
9
"Suppose a widow makes a special promise. Or suppose she takes an oath and agrees to do something. Then she must keep her promise. She must do what she agreed to do. The same rules apply to a woman who has been divorced.
Reference
10
"Suppose a woman who is living with her husband makes a special promise. Or she takes an oath and agrees to do something.
11
Suppose her husband hears about what she did. He doesn't say anything to her about it. And he doesn't try to stop her from keeping her promises. Then she must keep her promise. She must do what she agreed to do.
12
"But suppose her husband doesn't allow her to keep her promises when he hears about them. Then she doesn't have to do what she promised. She doesn't have to do what she agreed to do. Her husband has kept her from doing what she said she would do. The Lord will set her free.
Reference
References Lord
Numbers 30:8
13
"Her husband can let her keep any special promise she makes. Or he can refuse to let her keep it. "Suppose she takes an oath and agrees not to eat anything. Then her husband can let her keep her promise. Or he can refuse to let her keep it.
Reference
Parallel theme
1 Corinthians 11:3
14
"But suppose day after day her husband doesn't say anything to her about what she did. Then he lets her keep all of her promises. He lets her do everything she agreed to do. That's because he didn't say anything to her when he heard about what she had done.
15
"But suppose some time after he hears about her promises he doesn't let her keep them. Then she will be guilty. But he will be held accountable for it."
Reference
Sin
Leviticus 5:1
16
Those are the rules the Lord gave Moses about a man and his wife. And those are the rules the Lord gave about a father and his young daughter who is still living in his house.
Summary of Numbers 30
Numbers chapter 30 concerns vows and involves the people of Israel, as those who made a vow to God, and the chapter makes clear that what they said before God was not to be taken lightly. Once made, there was an obligation to keep it.
It begins with Moses speaking to the heads of the tribes and giving them this instruction. If a man made a vow unto the Lord or had sworn an oath to bind himself with a promise, he was not allowed to break his word. He had to do everything that he had promised.
This initial instruction is an important statement of principle. A person could not make a promise to God and then change his mind if keeping it proved hard. The words of a vow bore responsibility and the Israelites were being taught that not only did worship involve the sacrifices and ceremonies that it was to include, but that it also involved honesty and keeping one's word.
The chapter then moves on to vows made by women, rules that were connected to the woman's household and that depended upon her age and family status.
If a young woman yet lived in her father's house and made a vow to the Lord, her father could hear of the vow and either allow it to stand or cancel it. If he had heard of the vow and said nothing, the vow remained. She was expected to keep what she had promised.
If her father specifically prevented the vow when he heard of it, the vow then would not have to be kept. God would forgive her because her father had cancelled the promise.
The same applied to a woman who was married. If she made a vow or put herself under an obligation and her husband heard of it, he could allow it or cancel it. If he had heard of it and remained silent, the vow remained. If he had clearly cancelled it, she was released from the obligation.
The chapter then moves to consider what happened when a husband heard about a vow but did not immediately respond. Silence meant that the vow remained valid. He could not wait and decide that it would no longer count because he had changed his mind.
But if he cancelled the vow after hearing of it, the woman was released from the obligation. The responsibility for it having been cancelled then rested with him.
Numbers 30 also moves on to consider a woman who was a widow or divorced. In that situation there is neither husband nor father with authority to cancel her vow. Her promises, when made, stand on their own. If she made a vow after becoming a widow or divorcee, she is then responsible for keeping it.
It moves on to consider the case of a woman who made vows while living in her father's house and later married. If her father had allowed the vow to stand before her marriage, it remained. She became a wife and bound by her own vows that her father had allowed to stand. Her husband could not just erase a promise that had already been established.
The chapter then moves on to a woman whose husband cancelled a vow after hearing of it. The text says that the husband would bear the woman's iniquity. This means that if he prevented her from carrying out a vow that she had made, he took responsibility for the decision to cancel it. The woman was no longer required to fulfil the promise.
At the end of the chapter, Moses sums up the rules concerning vows and promises. A man who made a vow was personally responsible for keeping it. A woman's situation was affected by whether her father or husband were present when she was under their household authority. Widows and divorced women were treated differently because they did not have a husband under whose authority they lived.
The chapter may be an odd one for the modern reader, for the laws are related to the family structure that existed in ancient Israel, the text describing a society where the father and the husband had defined responsibilities inside the household. But the chapter repeatedly insists upon the seriousness of a vow made to God. One cannot simply ignore it.
There is also an important distinction between making a vow and being forced to make one. The chapter does not tell every Israelite to make vows, but rather gives rules for situations in which one did so. Once that promise was made, the question was then how it should be handled within the household.
And that repeated reference to silence is significant, for if a father or husband heard of a vow and said nothing, the vow remained. He could not later say that it hadn't been accepted.
Numbers 30 thus teaches that words have consequences. Promises made in the name of God are not something to be taken lightly. The Israelites were expected to take them seriously and the people were given clear instructions on how they should be dealt with within their families.
The chapter shows that responsibility was tied with authority. A father or husband who had authority to cancel a vow also bore responsibility for doing so. A woman whose vow was not cancelled remained bound by her promise. A widow or divorced woman had no such household authority over her to cancel any vow she might make and therefore carried the responsibility herself.
For the Israelites, this was part of learning how to live as a people under God's law. Their relationship with God included sacrifices and the festivals that it was to involve, but it also included all those everyday matters of promises and of family and of honesty. Numbers 30 reminds them that their worship was not limited to what they did at the tabernacle. What they said and promised, too, mattered before God.
It begins with Moses speaking to the heads of the tribes and giving them this instruction. If a man made a vow unto the Lord or had sworn an oath to bind himself with a promise, he was not allowed to break his word. He had to do everything that he had promised.
This initial instruction is an important statement of principle. A person could not make a promise to God and then change his mind if keeping it proved hard. The words of a vow bore responsibility and the Israelites were being taught that not only did worship involve the sacrifices and ceremonies that it was to include, but that it also involved honesty and keeping one's word.
The chapter then moves on to vows made by women, rules that were connected to the woman's household and that depended upon her age and family status.
If a young woman yet lived in her father's house and made a vow to the Lord, her father could hear of the vow and either allow it to stand or cancel it. If he had heard of the vow and said nothing, the vow remained. She was expected to keep what she had promised.
If her father specifically prevented the vow when he heard of it, the vow then would not have to be kept. God would forgive her because her father had cancelled the promise.
The same applied to a woman who was married. If she made a vow or put herself under an obligation and her husband heard of it, he could allow it or cancel it. If he had heard of it and remained silent, the vow remained. If he had clearly cancelled it, she was released from the obligation.
The chapter then moves to consider what happened when a husband heard about a vow but did not immediately respond. Silence meant that the vow remained valid. He could not wait and decide that it would no longer count because he had changed his mind.
But if he cancelled the vow after hearing of it, the woman was released from the obligation. The responsibility for it having been cancelled then rested with him.
Numbers 30 also moves on to consider a woman who was a widow or divorced. In that situation there is neither husband nor father with authority to cancel her vow. Her promises, when made, stand on their own. If she made a vow after becoming a widow or divorcee, she is then responsible for keeping it.
It moves on to consider the case of a woman who made vows while living in her father's house and later married. If her father had allowed the vow to stand before her marriage, it remained. She became a wife and bound by her own vows that her father had allowed to stand. Her husband could not just erase a promise that had already been established.
The chapter then moves on to a woman whose husband cancelled a vow after hearing of it. The text says that the husband would bear the woman's iniquity. This means that if he prevented her from carrying out a vow that she had made, he took responsibility for the decision to cancel it. The woman was no longer required to fulfil the promise.
At the end of the chapter, Moses sums up the rules concerning vows and promises. A man who made a vow was personally responsible for keeping it. A woman's situation was affected by whether her father or husband were present when she was under their household authority. Widows and divorced women were treated differently because they did not have a husband under whose authority they lived.
The chapter may be an odd one for the modern reader, for the laws are related to the family structure that existed in ancient Israel, the text describing a society where the father and the husband had defined responsibilities inside the household. But the chapter repeatedly insists upon the seriousness of a vow made to God. One cannot simply ignore it.
There is also an important distinction between making a vow and being forced to make one. The chapter does not tell every Israelite to make vows, but rather gives rules for situations in which one did so. Once that promise was made, the question was then how it should be handled within the household.
And that repeated reference to silence is significant, for if a father or husband heard of a vow and said nothing, the vow remained. He could not later say that it hadn't been accepted.
Numbers 30 thus teaches that words have consequences. Promises made in the name of God are not something to be taken lightly. The Israelites were expected to take them seriously and the people were given clear instructions on how they should be dealt with within their families.
The chapter shows that responsibility was tied with authority. A father or husband who had authority to cancel a vow also bore responsibility for doing so. A woman whose vow was not cancelled remained bound by her promise. A widow or divorced woman had no such household authority over her to cancel any vow she might make and therefore carried the responsibility herself.
For the Israelites, this was part of learning how to live as a people under God's law. Their relationship with God included sacrifices and the festivals that it was to involve, but it also included all those everyday matters of promises and of family and of honesty. Numbers 30 reminds them that their worship was not limited to what they did at the tabernacle. What they said and promised, too, mattered before God.