13 Every vow, and every binding oath to afflict the soul, her husband may establish it, or her husband may make it void.
And it shall be a statute for ever unto you: in the seventh month, on the tenth day of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and shall do no manner of work, the home-born, or the stranger that sojourneth among you:
Howbeit on the tenth day of this seventh month is the day of atonement: it shall be a holy convocation unto you, and ye shall afflict your souls; and ye shall offer an offering made by fire unto Jehovah.
And on the tenth day of this seventh month ye shall have a holy convocation; and ye shall afflict your souls: ye shall do no manner of work;
Then I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek of him a straight way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.
Is such the fast that I have chosen? the day for a man to afflict his soul? Is it to bow down his head as a rush, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? wilt thou call this a fast, and an acceptable day to Jehovah?
Defraud ye not one the other, except it be by consent for a season, that ye may give yourselves unto prayer, and may be together again, that Satan tempt you not because of your incontinency.
for neither was the man created for the woman; but the woman for the man:
In like manner, ye wives, `be' in subjection to your won husbands; that, even if any obey not the word, they may without the word be gained by the behavior of their wives; beholding your chaste behavior `coupled' with fear. Whose `adorning' let it not be the outward adorning of braiding the hair, and of wearing jewels of gold, or of putting on apparel; but `let it be' the hidden man of the heart, in the incorruptible `apparel' of a meek and quiet spirit, which is in the sight of God of great price. For after this manner aforetime the holy women also, who hoped in God, adorned themselves, being in subjection to their own husbands: as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord: whose children ye now are, if ye do well, and are not put in fear by any terror.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Numbers 30
Commentary on Numbers 30 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 30
In this chapter we have a law concerning vows, which had been mentioned in the close of the foregoing chapter.
Num 30:1-2
This law was delivered to the heads of the tribes that they might instruct those who were under their charge, explain the law to them, give then necessary cautions, and call them to account, if there were occasion, for the breach of their vows. Perhaps the heads of the tribes had, upon some emergency of this kind, consulted Moses, and desired by him to know the mind of God, and here they are told it: This is the thing which the Lord has commanded concerning vows, and it is a command still in force.
Num 30:3-16
It is here taken for granted that all such persons as are sui juris-at their own disposal, and are likewise of sound understanding and memory, are bound to perform whatever they vow that is lawful and possible; but, if the person vowing be under the dominion and at the disposal of another, the case is different. Two cases much alike are here put and determined:-