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Numbers 30

1Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the sons of Israel: “This is what Yahweh has commanded: 2If a man makes a vow to Yahweh or swears an oath to bind himself by an obligation, he must not violate his word. He must do everything that comes out of his mouth. 3If a woman makes a vow to Yahweh and binds herself by an obligation while in her father's house in her youth, 4and her father hears her vow and the obligation by which she has bound herself, but her father remains silent toward her, all her vows will stand, and every obligation by which she has bound herself will stand. 5But if her father forbids her on the day he hears, none of her vows or obligations by which she has bound herself will stand. Yahweh will forgive her, because her father has forbidden her.

6“If she marries while her vows are upon her, or a rash utterance of her lips by which she has bound herself, 7and her husband hears and remains silent toward her on the day he hears, her vows will stand, and the obligations by which she has bound herself will stand. 8But if her husband forbids her on the day he hears, he annuls her vow that is upon her and the rash utterance of her lips by which she has bound herself. Yahweh will forgive her. 9But the vow of a widow or a divorced woman, every obligation by which she has bound herself, will stand against her.

10“If she makes a vow in her husband's house or binds herself by an obligation with an oath, 11and her husband hears but remains silent toward her and does not forbid her, all her vows will stand, and every obligation by which she has bound herself will stand. 12But if her husband explicitly annuls them on the day he hears, nothing that came from her lips concerning her vows or her personal obligation will stand. Her husband has annulled them, and Yahweh will forgive her. 13Her husband may confirm or annul any vow or any binding oath to afflict herself. 14But if her husband remains entirely silent toward her from day to day, he confirms all her vows or obligations that are upon her. He has confirmed them because he remained silent toward her on the day he heard. 15If he annuls them after hearing them, he will bear her guilt.” 16These are the statutes Yahweh commanded Moses concerning a man and his wife, and a father and his daughter while in her father's house in her youth.

Translation notes 3

30:1–5 — Vows and household authority. The chapter's English verses 1–16 correspond to Hebrew 30:2–17. A vow can promise a gift or action; the binding obligation may involve abstention. The text distinguishes a man's obligation from a young woman's vow in her father's household and gives the father a power of objection. The draft retains that difference rather than rewriting the statute in gender-neutral terms.

30:5–12 — Forgiveness; marriage. “Yahweh will forgive her” uses the ordinary forgiveness verb. In these cases it concerns release from responsibility for the annulled obligation, without specifying a new sacrifice. Verses 6–8 concern a woman who comes into marriage with obligations upon her; verses 10–12 concern vows in her husband's household. A widow or divorced woman's own vows stand without that husband's power of objection.

30:13–15 — Affliction; timing; guilt. “Afflict herself” is the same expression used for self-affliction in ritual contexts and can involve self-denial; the chapter does not limit it to one particular practice. Silence on the day of hearing confirms the vow. A husband who then annuls it bears her guilt. The text places that responsibility on him; it does not specify the penalty's exact form.