Numbers · 16 verses
Numbers 30
Every verse links to the people and places named in it, and to the passages readers connect it with.
The chapter
What happens here
Atlas's own reading, written from this chapter and nothing else, and published only once a person has approved it. Each scene names the verses it covers; the names inside it link to the people and places they name.
Silence can confirm a vow, but only if it arrives on the very day the vow is heard; after that, a husband who cancels it may find the iniquity landing on him instead.
A vow, and the father at the doorvv. 1–5
Moses begins with the plain rule for a man: a vow to the LORD is his own word, and he must carry it out. Then the chapter introduces a young woman in her father’s house, whose vow stands if her father hears and says nothing. Silence here is no shrug; it is consent with legal force. A prohibition on the day of hearing, however, wipes the vow away, and the LORD absolves her.
Marriage changes the listenervv. 6–9
A woman who marries while bound by a vow enters a new arrangement of hearing and silence. If her husband says nothing on the day he hears, the vow remains; if he prohibits it then, the LORD absolves her. A widow or divorced woman, by contrast, carries her own pledge without a father or husband named to interrupt it. The chapter is brisk about the change, as though a household boundary were a particularly efficient piece of furniture.
The dangerous day aftervv. 10–16
For a woman in her husband’s house, the husband may confirm or nullify a vow or sworn pledge. His silence from day to day confirms it, because the decisive silence was the silence of the day he heard. If he nullifies it on that day, the vow falls and the LORD absolves her; if he waits and nullifies it afterward, he bears her iniquity. Moses then closes by naming these statutes as concerning the relationship between a man and his wife, and between a father and a young daughter still in his home.
The text
Read it
Berean Standard Bible, public domain. Names the Hebrew and Greek put in the verse link to the person, place or people they name; the address beside each verse is a link to that verse, which is what a reader copies and shares.
Num 30:1Then Moses said to the heads of the tribes of Israel, “This is what the LORD has commanded:
Num 30:2If a man makes a vow to the LORD or swears an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word; he must do everything he has promised.
Num 30:3And if a woman in her father’s house during her youth makes a vow to the LORD or obligates herself by a pledge,
Num 30:4and her father hears about her vow or pledge but says nothing to her, then all the vows or pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand.
Num 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.
Num 30:6If a woman marries while under a vow or rash promise by which she has bound herself,
Num 30:7and her husband hears of it but says nothing to her on that day, then the vows or pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand.
Num 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.
Num 30:9Every vow a widow or divorced woman pledges to fulfill is binding on her.
Num 30:10If a woman in her husband’s house has made a vow or put herself under an obligation with an oath,
Num 30:11and her husband hears of it but says nothing to her and does not prohibit her, then all the vows or pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand.
Num 30:12But 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.
Num 30:13Her husband may confirm or nullify any vow or any sworn pledge to deny herself.
Num 30:14But if her husband says nothing to her from day to day, then he confirms all the vows and pledges that bind her. He has confirmed them, because he said nothing to her on the day he heard about them.
Num 30:15But if he nullifies them after he hears of them, then he will bear her iniquity.”
Num 30:16These are the statutes that the LORD commanded Moses concerning the relationship between a man and his wife, and between a father and a young daughter still in his home.
02 — Read alongside
Where this is echoed
Readers' own connections, from OpenBible's crowd-voted cross-references — agreement about relevance, and not scholarly confidence. 78 passages were voted onto 10 verses of this chapter; the 16 shown lead on votes, and each is listed at the verse it was voted onto most strongly.
- 2Psalms 50:14Sacrifice a thank offering to God, and fulfill your vows to the Most High.
- 2Psalms 116:14I will fulfill my vows to the LORD in the presence of all His people.
- 2Job 22:27You will pray to Him, and He will hear you, and you will fulfill your vows.
- 2Ecclesiastes 5:4–5When you make a vow to God, do not delay in fulfilling it, because He takes no pleasure in fools. Fulfill your vow.
- 1Numbers 7:2And the leaders of Israel, the heads of their families, presented an offering. These men were the tribal leaders who had supervised the registration.
- 2Leviticus 5:4Or if someone swears thoughtlessly with his lips to do anything good or evil—in whatever matter a man may rashly pronounce an oath—even if he is unaware of it, when he realizes it, he is guilty in the matter.
- 2Numbers 30:3–4And if a woman in her father’s house during her youth makes a vow to the LORD or obligates herself by a pledge,
- 2Proverbs 20:25It is a trap for a man to dedicate something rashly, only later to reconsider his vows.
- 2Acts 23:21Do not let them persuade you, because more than forty men are waiting to ambush him. They have bound themselves with an oath not to eat or drink until they have killed him; they are ready now, awaiting your consent.”
- 2Matthew 5:33–34Again, you have heard that it was said to the ancients, ‘Do not break your oath, but fulfill your vows to the Lord.’
- 2Nahum 1:15Look to the mountains—the feet of one who brings good news, who proclaims peace! Celebrate your feasts, O Judah; fulfill your vows. For the wicked will never again march through you; they will be utterly cut off.
- 22 Corinthians 9:9–11As it is written: “He has scattered abroad His gifts to the poor; His righteousness endures forever.”
- 5Mark 7:10–13For Moses said, ‘Honor your father and your mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’
- 5Matthew 15:4–6For God said, ‘Honor your father and mother’ and ‘Anyone who curses his father or mother must be put to death.’
- 5Ephesians 6:1Children, obey your parents in the Lord, for this is right.
- 6Psalms 56:12Your vows are upon me, O God; I will render thank offerings to You.
Onward