Numbers 30:5
in Numbers 30But 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.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
But if her father disallow her in the day that he heareth, none of her vows, or of her bonds wherewith she hath bound her soul, shall stand: and Jehovah will forgive her, because her father disallowed her.
KJV
But if her father disallow her in the day that he heareth; not any of her vows, or of her bonds wherewith she hath bound her soul, shall stand: and the Lord shall forgive her, because her father disallowed her.
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This verse in Numbers 30
Commentary
4 notes on this verseThe Lord shall forgive - Or, will forgive her not performing it. But this should be understood only of vows which could not be performed without invading the father's right; for if one should vow to forbear such, or such a sin, and all occasions or means leading to it, and to perform such, or such duties, when he had opportunity, no father can discharge him from such vows.
This site's exposition
If a woman also vow a vow unto the Lord
on Numbers 30:3-8
One procedure is written out twice, once for a daughter in her father's house and once for a wife, and both turn on the phrase in the day that he heareth. The power to disallow lasts that day and then closes, so a vow left unchallenged past it stands. Where the father or the husband does disallow it, the text says the Lord shall forgive her, which treats the vow as a real debt remitted rather than as words that never counted. Barnes reads the at all of verse 6 as covering a girl betrothed but not yet married, and Gill allows either the betrothed or the married woman.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
But if her father disallow her in the day that he heareth,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
A commentator
Albert Barnes1798–1870
Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869)
proposed
The Lord shall forgive her - i. e., shall remit the obligation. (Compare 2Ki 5:18.)
How the passage was read
On Numbers 30:1-16On 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
22 Hebrew wordsEvery 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.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְאִם־ | veim- | and if | H518 → | 1069 times |
| הֵנִ֨יא | heni' | he forbade | H5106 → | 8 times |
| אָבִ֣יהָ | ʾaviha | father her | H1 → | 1212 times |
| אֹתָהּ֮ | ʾotah | <obj.> her | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בְּי֣וֹם | beyom | on [the] day | H3117 → | 2304 times |
| שָׁמְעוֹ֒ | shameo | heard he | H8085 → | 1159 times |
| כָּל־ | kol- | all | H3605 → | 5413 times |
| נְדָרֶ֗יהָ | nedareiha | vows her | H5088 → | 60 times |
| וֶֽאֱסָרֶ֛יהָ | veesareiha | and obligations her | H632 → | 11 times |
| אֲשֶׁר־ | ʾasher- | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| אָסְרָ֥ה | ʾaserah | she has bound | H631 → | 72 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| נַפְשָׁ֖הּ | nafshah | self her | H5315 → | 754 times |
| לֹ֣א | lo' | not | H3808 → | 5168 times |
| יָק֑וּם | yakum | it will stand | H6965 → | 628 times |
| וַֽיהוָה֙ | vayahweh | and Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| יִֽסְלַח־ | yislach- | he will forgive | H5545 → | 46 times |
| לָ֔הּ | lah | <to> <the> her | ||
| כִּי־ | ki- | for | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| הֵנִ֥יא | heni' | he forbade | H5106 → | 8 times |
| אָבִ֖יהָ | ʾaviha | father her | H1 → | 1212 times |
| אֹתָֽהּ׃ | ʾotah | <obj.> her | H853 → | 10935 times |
וְאִם־and if
veim-H518 →1069 times
הֵנִ֨יאhe forbade
heni'H5106 →8 times
אָבִ֣יהָfather her
ʾavihaH1 →1212 times
אֹתָהּ֮<obj.> her
ʾotahH853 →10935 times
בְּי֣וֹםon [the] day
beyomH3117 →2304 times
שָׁמְעוֹ֒heard he
shameoH8085 →1159 times
כָּל־all
kol-H3605 →5413 times
נְדָרֶ֗יהָvows her
nedareihaH5088 →60 times
וֶֽאֱסָרֶ֛יהָand obligations her
veesareihaH632 →11 times
אֲשֶׁר־which
ʾasher-H834 →5497 times
אָסְרָ֥הshe has bound
ʾaserahH631 →72 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
נַפְשָׁ֖הּself her
nafshahH5315 →754 times
לֹ֣אnot
lo'H3808 →5168 times
יָק֑וּםit will stand
yakumH6965 →628 times
וַֽיהוָה֙and Yahweh
vayahwehH3068 →6520 times
יִֽסְלַח־he will forgive
yislach-H5545 →46 times
לָ֔הּ<to> <the> her
lah
כִּי־for
ki-H3588 →4482 times
הֵנִ֥יאhe forbade
heni'H5106 →8 times
אָבִ֖יהָfather her
ʾavihaH1 →1212 times
אֹתָֽהּ׃<obj.> her
ʾotahH853 →10935 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach 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
Ephesians 6:1Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
it leads to
- Colossians 3:20–25
Children, obey your parents in everything, for this is pleasing to the Lord.
- Proverbs 23:22
Listen to your father who gave you life, and do not despise your mother when she is old.
- Proverbs 6:20
My son, keep your father’s commandment, and do not forsake your mother’s teaching.
- Colossians 3:20–25
Through
Hosea 6:6For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
it leads to
- Matthew 9:13
But go and learn what this means: ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice.’ For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”
- Matthew 12:7
If only you had known the meaning of ‘I desire mercy, not sacrifice,’ you would not have condemned the innocent.
- Proverbs 21:3
To do righteousness and justice is more desirable to the LORD than sacrifice.
- 1 Samuel 15:22
But Samuel declared: “Does the LORD delight in burnt offerings and sacrifices as much as in obedience to His voice? Behold, obedience is better than sacrifice, and attentiveness is better than the fat of…
- Amos 5:21
“I hate, I despise your feasts! I cannot stand the stench of your solemn assemblies.
- Matthew 9:13
About Numbers
This page draws on Albert Barnes, Notes on the Old Testament; Albert Barnes, Notes, Explanatory and Practical, on the Old and New Testaments (1832-1869); John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.