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Numbers 30:12

in Numbers 30

But if her husband nullifies them on the day he hears of them, then nothing that came from her lips, whether her vows or pledges, shall stand. Her husband has nullified them, and the LORD will absolve her.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

But if her husband made them null and void in the day that he heard them, then whatsoever proceeded out of her lips concerning her vows, or concerning the bond of her soul, shall not stand: her husband hath made them void; and Jehovah will forgive her.

KJV

But if her husband hath utterly made them void on the day he heard them; then whatsoever proceeded out of her lips concerning her vows, or concerning the bond of her soul, shall not stand: her husband hath made them void; and the Lord shall forgive her.

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This verse in Numbers 30

Commentary

4 notes on this verse

This site's exposition

Every vow a widow or divorced woman

on Numbers 30:9-12

A widow and a divorced woman stand by their own word, and the rule is given with no reason. The daughter and the wife each have a head who may prohibit a vow, and these two have none, a difference the chapter names without explaining. Verses 10 to 12 return to the wife: her husband may void her vow on the day he hears of it or not at all.

This site's exposition

nothing that came from her lips

Matthew Henry notes that a vow cancelled in the marriage stayed void for ever. It did not return when she was widowed or sent away. Adam Clarke says that a woman bound by such a pledge had her very life at stake if she failed to keep it. The husband's word lifted that weight.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

But if her husband hath utterly made them void on the day he heard them,....

The Nineteenth Century1 voice

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

proposed

Concerning the bond of her soul - Her life is at stake if she fulfill not the obligation under which she has laid herself.

How the passage was read

On Numbers 30:1-16

On Numbers 30:1-16

Vows, oaths, and the words that bind

This chapter is the Torah's law of vows: “he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth.” The tradition distinguished the neder, a vow that makes a thing forbidden or dedicated (“this property is korban,” that is, an offering, barred from ordinary use as if given to God), from the shevuah, an oath that binds the person to do or not do something. Around both grew a careful case law: the Mishnah records the substitute formulas people used for korban (konam, konach, konas, Nedarim 1:2), and the tradition itself admitted how far this law outran its text: the rules for releasing vows “fly in the air and have nothing to support them” (Chagigah 1:8).

Two Gospel collisions stand on this chapter. The korban vow that could lock a son's goods away from his own parents is what Jesus confronts in Mark 7:11. And the oath casuistry He attacks in Matthew 5:33-37 and 23:16-22 grew from the practice of swearing by substitutes (heaven, earth, Jerusalem, the Temple) to avoid God's name; the Mishnah itself records that one who administers an oath “in the name of heaven and in the name of earth” leaves the swearer exempt (Shevuot 4:13), exactly the graded-honesty loophole Jesus abolishes with “let your yes be yes.”

This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.

Sources: Mishnah Nedarim 1:2 (the korban substitute formulas) · Mishnah Shevuot 4:13 (an oath by heaven and earth does not bind) · Mishnah Chagigah 1:8 (vow-release “flies in the air”)

The words behind it

20 Hebrew words

Every Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.

  • וְאִם־and if

    veim-H518 →1069 times

  • הָפֵר֩actually <break>

    haferH6565 →50 times

  • יָפֵ֨רhe will break

    yaferH6565 →50 times

  • אֹתָ֥ם׀<obj.> them

    ʾotamH853 →10935 times

  • אִישָׁהּ֮husband her

    ʾishahH376 →1663 times

  • בְּי֣וֹםon [the] day

    beyomH3117 →2304 times

  • שָׁמְעוֹ֒hears he

    shameoH8085 →1159 times

  • כָּל־any

    kol-H3605 →5413 times

  • מוֹצָ֨א<the> utterance of

    motza'H4161 →27 times

  • שְׂפָתֶ֧יהָlips her

    sefateihaH8193 →176 times

  • לִנְדָרֶ֛יהָto vows her

    lindareihaH5088 →60 times

  • וּלְאִסַּ֥רand to [the] obligation of

    uleisarH632 →11 times

  • נַפְשָׁ֖הּself her

    nafshahH5315 →754 times

  • לֹ֣אnot

    lo'H3808 →5168 times

  • יָק֑וּםit will stand

    yakumH6965 →628 times

  • אִישָׁ֣הּhusband her

    ʾishahH376 →1663 times

  • הֲפֵרָ֔םhe has broken them

    haferamH6565 →50 times

  • וַיהוָ֖הand Yahweh

    vayahwehH3068 →6520 times

  • יִֽסְלַֽח־he will forgive

    yislach-H5545 →46 times

  • לָֽהּ׃<to> <the> her

    lah

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

9 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Numbers 30:8But if her husband prohibits her when he hears of it, he nullifies the vow that binds her or the rash promise she has made, and the LORD will absolve her.3 worksJeremiah 44:17Instead, we will do everything we vowed to do: We will burn incense to the Queen of Heaven and offer drink offerings to her, just as we, our fathers, our kings, and our officials did in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem. At that time we had plenty of food and good things, and we saw no disaster.3 worksNumbers 30:5But if her father prohibits her on the day he hears about it, then none of the vows or pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand. The LORD will absolve her because her father has prohibited her.2 worksNumbers 15:28And the priest shall make atonement before the LORD on behalf of the person who erred by sinning unintentionally; and when atonement has been made for him, he will be forgiven.2 worksNumbers 15:25The priest is to make atonement for the whole congregation of Israel, so that they may be forgiven; for the sin was unintentional and they have brought to the LORD an offering made by fire and a sin offering, presented before the LORD for their unintentional sin.2 works1 Corinthians 11:3But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.2 works
The other 3 cross-references, with their words ▾
Numbers 30:15But if he nullifies them after he hears of them, then he will bear her iniquity.”2 worksPsalms 66:14the vows that my lips promised and my mouth spoke in my distress.2 worksRomans 4:14For if those who live by the law are heirs, faith is useless and the promise is worthless,2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.

  • Through

    1 Corinthians 11:3

    But I want you to understand that the head of every man is Christ, and the head of the woman is man, and the head of Christ is God.

    it leads to

    • Genesis 3:16

      To the woman He said: “I will sharply increase your pain in childbirth; in pain you will bring forth children. Your desire will be for your husband, and he will rule over you.”

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Colossians 1:18

      And He is the head of the body, the church; He is the beginning and firstborn from among the dead, so that in all things He may have preeminence.

    • 1 Corinthians 3:23

      and you belong to Christ, and Christ belongs to God.

    • Colossians 3:18

      Wives, submit to your husbands, as is fitting in the Lord.

    • Ephesians 4:15

      Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into Christ Himself, who is the head.

  • Through

    Numbers 15:25

    The priest is to make atonement for the whole congregation of Israel, so that they may be forgiven; for the sin was unintentional and they have brought to the LORD an offering made by…

    it leads to

    • Leviticus 4:20

      He shall offer this bull just as he did the bull for the sin offering; in this way the priest will make atonement on their behalf, and they will be forgiven.

  • Through

    Numbers 15:28

    And the priest shall make atonement before the LORD on behalf of the person who erred by sinning unintentionally; and when atonement has been made for him, he will be forgiven.

    it leads to

    • Leviticus 4:35

      And he shall remove all the fat, just as the fat of the lamb is removed from the peace offerings, and he shall burn it on the altar along with the offerings made by…

  • Through

    Numbers 30:5

    But if her father prohibits her on the day he hears about it, then none of the vows or pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand. The LORD will absolve her because…

    it leads to

    • Mark 7:10–13

      For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’

About Numbers

The Brazen Serpent, Anthony van Dyck, 1618 to 1620. Public domain.
The Brazen Serpent, Anthony van Dyck, 1618 to 1620. Public domain.
Numbers: the study guide →Read Numbers 30 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch; Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible and Matthew Henry, Complete Commentary.

Read on in Numbers 30 →