Numbers, Chapter 30

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11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30
31 32 33 34 35 36

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-The Woman's Bible, Numbers By Elizabeth Cady Stanton



Numbers 30
30:1 And Moses spake unto the heads of the tribes concerning the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded.
30:2 If a man vow a vow unto the LORD, or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.	In Mt.5:34,37 and Jas.5:12 oaths are strictly forbidden. But in this verse, God gives instructions for making oaths and says that such oaths are binding. Is it okay to take oaths?
30:3 If a woman also vow a vow unto the LORD, and bind herself by a bond, being in her father's house in her youth;	(30:3-16) Women are not legally responsible for anything. If a man makes a vow, then God expects him to keep it. But a woman cannot make a vow, unless it is "allowed" by her husband or father. If it is "allowed," then she must keep it -- but even so, she is not responsible (her husband or father is).
30:4 And her father hear her vow, and her bond wherewith she hath bound her soul, and her father shall hold his peace at her; then all her vows shall stand, and every bond wherewith she hath bound her soul shall stand.
30:5 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.
30:6 And if she had at all an husband, when she vowed, or uttered ought out of her lips, wherewith she bound her soul;
30:7 And her husband heard it, and held his peace at her in the day that he heard it: then her vows shall stand, and her bonds wherewith she bound her soul shall stand.
30:8 But if her husband disallowed her on the day that he heard it; then he shall make her vow which she vowed, and that which she uttered with her lips, wherewith she bound her soul, of none effect: and the LORD shall forgive her.
30:9 But every vow of a widow, and of her that is divorced, wherewith they have bound their souls, shall stand against her.
30:10 And if she vowed in her husband's house, or bound her soul by a bond with an oath;
30:11 And her husband heard it, and held his peace at her, and disallowed her not: then all her vows shall stand, and every bond wherewith she bound her soul shall stand.
30:12 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.
30:13 Every vow, and every binding oath to afflict the soul, her husband may establish it, or her husband may make it void.
30:14 But if her husband altogether hold his peace at her from day to day; then he establisheth all her vows, or all her bonds, which are upon her: he confirmeth them, because he held his peace at her in the day that he heard them.
30:15 But if he shall any ways make them void after that he hath heard them; then he shall bear her iniquity.
30:16 These are the statutes, which the LORD commanded Moses, between a man and his wife, between the father and his daughter, being yet in her youth in her father's house.

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Numbers 30