13 Every vow, and every binding oath to afflict the soul, her husband can establish it, or her husband can annul it.
And this shall be an everlasting statute unto you. In the seventh month, on the tenth of the month, ye shall afflict your souls, and do no work at all, the home-born, and the stranger that sojourneth among you;
Also on the tenth of this seventh month is the day of the atonement: a holy convocation shall it be unto you; and ye shall afflict your souls, and present an offering by fire to Jehovah.
And on the tenth of this seventh month ye shall have a holy convocation; and ye shall afflict your souls; no manner of work shall ye do.
And I proclaimed a fast there, at the river Ahava, that we might humble ourselves before our God, to seek of him a right way for us, and for our little ones, and for all our substance.
Is such the fast that I have chosen, a day for a man to afflict his soul, -- that he should bow down his head as a bulrush, and spread sackcloth and ashes [under him]? Wilt thou call this a fast, and a day acceptable to Jehovah?
Defraud not one another, unless, it may be, by consent for a time, that ye may devote yourselves to prayer, and again be together, that Satan tempt you not because of your incontinency.
For also man was not created for the sake of the woman, but woman for the sake of the man.
Likewise, wives, [be] subject to your own husbands, that, even if any are disobedient to the word, they may be gained without [the] word by the conversation of the wives, having witnessed your pure conversation [carried out] in fear; whose adorning let it not be that outward one of tressing of hair, and wearing gold, or putting on apparel; but the hidden man of the heart, in the incorruptible [ornament] of a meek and quiet spirit, which in the sight of God is of great price. For thus also the holy women who have hoped in God heretofore adorned themselves, being subject to their own husbands; as Sarah obeyed Abraham, calling him lord; whose children ye have become, doing good, and not fearing with any kind of consternation.
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:-