When I first read this I was a bit puzzled that there was so much interest in pledges and vows, and why women wouldn't be allowed to make them without the permission of father or husband. But then I realized that this is an illiterate society. They weren't any leases or contracts or debt instruments or salary letters. If you wanted someone to farm one of your fields in exchange for 10% of the produce, or rent out a house, or employ someone, each party had to make a vow to the other. If you wanted to give somebody 5 shekels to buy the material needed to sew some tunics, and pay them another 5 on delivery, you would each have to make a vow. (I don't know what a shekel was worth so I don't know if this is realistic.) Same if you wanted to lend or borrow money, or by on credit, or take an apprenticeship, or any other transaction.
In other words, we are talking about everyday commerce. What this says is that women can't do any sort of business without permission from their owner, who is their father until they get married, and is then their husband. And note that if the obligation is allowed, it actually falls on the man, who is responsible for his female property. Just so we're clear.
Brace yourself. Wednesday it's going to get very, very ugly.
30 [a]Moses said to the heads of the tribes of Israel: “This is what the Lord commands: 2 When a man makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath to obligate himself by a pledge, he must not break his word but must do everything he said.
3 “When a young woman still living in her father’s household makes a vow to the Lord or obligates herself by a pledge 4 and her father hears about her vow or pledge but says nothing to her, then all her vows and every pledge by which she obligated herself will stand. 5 But if her father forbids her when he hears about it, none of her vows or the pledges by which she obligated herself will stand; the Lord will release her because her father has forbidden her.
6 “If she marries after she makes a vow or after her lips utter a rash promise by which she obligates herself 7 and her husband hears about it but says nothing to her, then her vows or the pledges by which she obligated herself will stand. 8 But if her husband forbids her when he hears about it, he nullifies the vow that obligates her or the rash promise by which she obligates herself, and the Lord will release her.
9 “Any vow or obligation taken by a widow or divorced woman will be binding on her.
10 “If a woman living with her husband makes a vow or obligates herself by a pledge under oath 11 and her husband hears about it but says nothing to her and does not forbid her, then all her vows or the pledges by which she obligated herself will stand. 12 But if her husband nullifies them when he hears about them, then none of the vows or pledges that came from her lips will stand. Her husband has nullified them, and the Lord will release her. 13 Her husband may confirm or nullify any vow she makes or any sworn pledge to deny herself.[b] 14 But if her husband says nothing to her about it from day to day, then he confirms all her vows or the pledges binding on her. He confirms them by saying nothing to her when he hears about them. 15 If, however, he nullifies them some time after he hears about them, then he must bear the consequences of her wrongdoing.”
16 These are the regulations the Lord gave Moses concerning relationships between a man and his wife, and between a father and his young daughter still living at home.
Footnotes
- Numbers 30:1 In Hebrew texts 30:1-16 is numbered 30:2-17.
- Numbers 30:13 Or to fast
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