Text -- Numbers 30:3-5 (NET)

Vows Made by Single Women

30:3 “If a young woman who is still living in her father’s house makes a vow to the Lord or places herself under an obligation, 30:4 and her father hears of her vow or the obligation to which she has pledged herself, and her father remains silent about her, then all her vows will stand, and every obligation to which she has pledged herself will stand. 30:5 But if her father overrules her when he hears about it, then none of her vows or her obligations which she has pledged for herself will stand. And the Lord will release her from it, because her father overruled her.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Num 30:3

¹ tn The qualification comes at the end of the verse, and simply says “in her youth.”

² tn The Hebrew text just has “in her father’s house” and not “who is still living,” but that is the meaning of the line.

NET Notes: Num 30:4

¹ tn The intent of this expression is that he does not object to the vow.

² tn The verb קוּם (qum) is best translated “stand” here, but the idea with it is that what she vows is established as a genuine oath with the father’s approval (or acquiescence).

NET Notes: Num 30:5

¹ tn The idiom is “in the day of,” but it is used in place of a preposition before the infinitive construct with its suffixed subjective genitive. The clause is temporal.

² tn The Hebrew “all will not stand” is best rendered “none will stand.”

³ tn The verb has often been translated “forgive” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV, NLT), but that would suggest a sin that needed forgiving. The idea of “release from obligation” is better; the idea is like that of having a debt “forgiven” or “retired.” In other words, she is free from the vow she had made. The Lord will not hold the woman responsible to do what she vowed.