Numbers 30:1-16

The Old Testament Book of Numbers

In the Desert

Numbers

Marion Adams

Chapter 30

Rules about promises – Numbers 30:1-16

v1 Moses spoke to the leaders of *Israel’s *tribes. He gave to them these commands from the *LORD.

v2 ‘If a man promises to give something to the *LORD, he must give it. And if he promises to do something special, he must do it. He must do everything that he has promised.

v3 A young woman who lives still in her father’s house might make a promise to the *LORD. v4 She must *keep her promise, unless her father does not agree about the promise. v5 But if her father does not agree about the promise, she does not have to do anything. The *LORD will forgive her, because her father did not agree about the promise. The father has the right to cancel the promise on the day when he hears about it.

v6-7 An unmarried woman might make a promise. After this, she might marry. But she must *keep her promise still, unless her husband does not agree about it. She must do this whether she was sincere or not sincere about the promise. v8 [The woman’s husband has the right to cancel the promise on the day when he hears about it.] If the husband does not agree about the promise, the woman does not have to *keep her promise. The *LORD will forgive her.

v9 A widow must do everything that she has promised. Also, a woman whose husband has divorced her might make a promise. She must *keep her promise.

v10 A married woman might make a promise. v11 She must *keep her promise, unless her husband does not agree about the promise. v12 But if her husband does not agree about the promise, the woman does not have to *keep her promise. Her husband refused to let her do what she promised. Therefore, the *LORD will forgive her. v13 Her husband has the right to agree or to disagree about any promise that she has made. v14 When her husband hears about the promise, he can disagree. But he must say so during that same day. If he has not said anything against the promise during that day, the woman must *keep the promise. Her husband has agreed about the promise because he has not opposed it on that same day. v15 But if he waits until later to oppose the promise, he must receive a punishment. This is because he did not allow the woman to *keep her promise.’

v16 These are the laws that the *LORD gave to Moses about promises. These rules are about the relationship between a man and his wife. And they are about the relationship between a father and his young daughter while she still lives in his house.

Verses 1-16 A promise to God is a very serious matter. In fact, it is better not to make any promise if you do not want to *keep that promise Ecclesiastes 5:5). Numbers 30:1-2 emphasises that it is very important to *keep a promise to God.

The *Israelites made promises to God that they would do a particular thing. Sometimes, they made a promise not to do a particular thing, too. Also, a person might promise to give a special gift to God, usually a *sacrifice. Or perhaps a person would promise not to eat for a period of time. In this passage, the word that we have translated as ‘promise’ refers to any of these types of promise.

Men who made promises had to *keep their promises. But there were different rules for women, because men had authority over them. Fathers had authority over their unmarried daughters. Husbands had authority over their wives.

A father had the right to cancel the promise of his unmarried daughter. Also, a husband had the right to cancel promises that his wife had made before their marriage. The father or the husband might not have known about the promise. Other people might have told them about it. But when they heard about it, they could cancel it. However, they had to cancel it quickly, on the same day when they heard about it first.

There were different rules for widows and for women whose husbands had divorced them. They were responsible for their own promises. So they had to *keep their promises. Nobody could cancel their promises on their behalf.

If a married woman made a promise after her marriage, still her husband had the right to cancel it. But if he knew about it, he had to say something in public immediately. If he said nothing, this was the same as consent. (‘Consent’ means to agree that something should happen.) Then, if he decided to cancel the promise later, he would be wrong. It was as if he had cancelled his own promise. So he would receive a punishment.

This passage teaches us that promises to God are serious matters always. We should think very carefully before we make a promise. We should never make a promise if we do not intend to *keep that promise.

Israel ~ the Israelites and their nation.
LORD ~ a special name for God that his people use. In Hebrew, it is Yahweh. This name means something like ‘I am’ or ‘always alive’.

Lord ~ one who rules. God is the Lord who rules everyone.

Hebrew ~ the language of the *Jews.