Seder 126: Numbers 30---Keeping Faith in the Promised Land

 As the children of Israel prepare to enter the Promised Land in year 40 of their time in the wilderness, God emphasizes that it will be important for them to keep their word, as we read in Numbers 30:2:  "If a man vows a vow to the LORD or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word.  He shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth."

In particular, the Israelites were to keep promises made to God.  Vows---formal promises made to God---were a common part of worship in that culture---see for example Num 29:39; Dt. 12:6, 11, 17, 26.  Commentator Micheal Morales explains that vows "were often used in order to intensify prayers of petition" (p. 354 of his Numbers 20-36 commentary).  A person would promise to make an offering if a prayer was answered.  Job 22:27 describes the usual process:  "You will make your prayer to him, and he will hear you, and you will pay your vows."  

Similarly, David declares in Psalm 66:13-15:  "I will come into your house with burnt offerings; I will perform my vows to you, that which my lips uttered and my mouth promised when I was in trouble.  I will offer to you burnt offerings of fattened animals, with the smoke of the sacrifice of rams; I will make an offering of bulls and goats.  Selah."  The offeror might accompany the offering with a public declaration of what God had done for him (verse 16).

In another typical scenario, a person is thankful for God's deliverance in some situation and makes a spontaneous promise at that point to present an offering.  

Since a vow was costly, there was a temptation not to follow through, which is probably why the Bible admonishes people who have made these voluntary commitments to keep them (Dt 23:21-23).  The Bible also praises those who make a promise "to their own hurt" and keep it (Ps 15:4). 

A vow did affect one's whole family, at least indirectly, and so a head of household in Israel had the authority to veto a vow, if this was done promptly.  Three cases are mentioned in Numbers 30:

• that of a young girl under the authority of her father (vv 3-5);
• that of a married woman who made a vow before she got married (vv 6-8) ---in this case, the husband can decide on the status of this vow when he first learns of it;
• that of an adult woman alone who had previously been married (vv 9-12); in this case, a vow made while the husband was alive would continue to have the same status after the marriage had ended by death or divorce.  

Morales sees a possible analogy between the three cases in Numbers 5-6 and these three cases.  The case in Numbers 30:3-5, like that of Numbers 5:5-10, deals with integrity on the level of general interpersonal relationships.  The second case in 30:6-8 deals with integrity in a marriage, as does Numbers 5:10-31.  The third case deals with integrity in one's relationship with God, as with the Nazirite vow in Numbers 6.  

Morales also looks at possible symbolic meanings of Numbers 30 on the level of Israel as God's bride.  For example, in Numbers 25 Israel makes a pledge to the Ba'al of Peor, but God nullifies that pledge through Phinehas.  God as Israel's husband may choose to bear Israel's guilt (verse 15) rather than give Israel the punishment it deserves for breaking its word to him.