Laws about Vows
Moses introduces the LORD’s command, then states the governing principle: when a man vows to the LORD or binds himself by oath, he must do what he has said.
T1hen Moses said to the heads of the tribes of Israel, “This is what the LORD has commanded: 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.
A young woman’s vow in her father’s house remains in force if her father hears and stays silent. If he forbids it that day, the vow does not stand, and the LORD releases her.
3And if a woman in her father’s house during her youth makes a vow to the LORD or obligates herself by a pledge, 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. 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.
If a woman marries while already under a vow or rash promise, that obligation stands if her husband hears and says nothing. If he objects when he hears, he nullifies it, and the LORD absolves her.
6If a woman marries while under a vow or rash promise by which she has bound herself, 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. 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.
A widow or divorced woman remains fully bound by any vow she has pledged to fulfill.
9Every vow a widow or divorced woman pledges to fulfill is binding on her.
A married woman’s vow made in her husband’s house stands if he hears and remains silent, but not if he nullifies it on the day he hears it. If he delays and later overturns it, the guilt shifts to him, because his earlier silence had already confirmed it.
10If a woman in her husband’s house has made a vow or put herself under an obligation with an oath, 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. 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. 13Her husband may confirm or nullify any vow or any sworn pledge to deny herself. 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. 15But if he nullifies them after he hears of them, then he will bear her iniquity.”
The chapter closes by naming these rulings as the LORD’s statutes for a husband and wife, and for a father and his daughter still at home.
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.