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Numbers

About this book
Chapter 30

1 Moses told the leaders of the tribes concerning the Israelites, “This is what the Lord has commanded: 2 If a man makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath of binding obligation on himself, he must not break his word, but must do whatever he has promised.⁠ 3 “If a young woman who is still living in her father’s house makes a vow to the Lord or places herself under an obligation, 4 and her father hears of her vow or the obligation to which she has pledged herself, and her father remains silent about her, then all her vows will stand, and every obligation to which she has pledged herself will stand. 5 But if her father overrules her when he hears about it, then none of her vows or her obligations that she has pledged for herself will stand. And the Lord will release her from it, because her father overruled her. 6 “And if she marries a husband while under a vow, or she uttered anything impulsively by which she has pledged herself, 7 and her husband hears about it but remains silent about her when he hears about it, then her vows will stand and her obligations that she has pledged for herself will stand. 8 But if when her husband hears it he overrules her, then he will nullify the vow she has taken, and whatever she uttered impulsively that she has pledged for herself. And the Lord will release her from it. 9 “But every vow of a widow or of a divorced woman which she has pledged for herself will remain intact. 10 If she made the vow in her husband’s house or put herself under obligation with an oath, 11 and her husband heard about it, but remained silent about her, and did not overrule her, then all her vows will stand, and every obligation which she pledged for herself will stand. 12 But if her husband clearly nullifies them when he hears them, then whatever she says by way of vows or obligations will not stand. Her husband has made them void, and the Lord will release her from them. 13 “Any vow or sworn obligation that would bring affliction to her, her husband can confirm or nullify. 14 But if her husband remains completely silent about her from day to day, he thus confirms all her vows or all her obligations which she is under; he confirms them because he remained silent about her when he heard them. 15 But if he should nullify them after he has heard them, then he will bear her iniquity.” 16 These are the statutes that the Lord commanded Moses, relating to a man and his wife, and a father and his young daughter who is still living in her father’s house.

Texts in conversation

Compare Numbers 30:2 and Matthew 5:33

Hebrew Bible · New Testament

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Summary

Numbers instructs that anyone who makes a vow to God must keep it. In Matthew, Jesus discourages oath-taking as a way to avoid failing to fulfill a vow, following the practice later known in Jewish tradition as “putting a fence around the Torah.”

Passages

Numbers 30:2

Hebrew Bible
1 Moses told the leaders of the tribes concerning the Israelites, “This is what the Lord has commanded: 2 If a man makes a vow to the Lord or takes an oath of binding obligation on himself, he must not break his word, but must do whatever he has promised. 3 “If a young woman who is still living in her father’s house makes a vow to the Lord or places herself under an obligation, 4 and her father hears of her vow or the obligation to which she has pledged herself, and her father remains silent about her, then all her vows will stand, and every obligation to which she has pledged herself will stand.
750–400 BCE (scholarly estimate) Read in Numbers

Matthew 5:33

New Testament
31 “It was said, ‘Whoever divorces his wife must give her a legal document.’ 32 But I say to you that everyone who divorces his wife, except for immorality, makes her commit adultery, and whoever marries a divorced woman commits adultery. 33 “Again, you have heard that it was said to an older generation, ‘Do not break an oath, but fulfill your vows to the Lord.’ 34 But I say to you, do not take oaths at all—not by heaven, because it is the throne of God, 35 not by earth because it is his footstool, and not by Jerusalem, because it is the city of the great King.
70–90 CE (scholarly estimate) Read in Matthew

References

"... The next stage presented in the Sermon on the Mount is quite readily connected with the Temple, for it was the pre-eminent place of swearing oaths and making vows, often accompanied by offerings and oblations (Leviticus 22:18). In this section, Jesus gave instructions principally regarding oaths, not vows ... (Matthew 5:33–7). Several texts in the Old Testament sternly caution people against failing to perform the things they have solemnly sworn by God that they would do. Even more serious is the problem of not completing a votive offering that one has promised to pay to the holy place in reciprocation for the receipt of God’s blessing connected with their pledge. To Jesus’ audience, all this was emphatically clear: Either if “a man vows a vow (euxētai euchēn) to the Lord, or swears an oath (omosēi horkon) to bind himself by a pledge (horisētai horismōi), he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth” (Numbers 30:2) ... One way to avoid the risk of nonperformance of an oath was simply to “swear not at all” (Matthew 5:34). But there were other options as well. Nonperformance was most grievous if God’s name or his holy things had been invoked when the oath was sworn, which meant that the Divine would be demeaned and his holiness would be compromised by any failure of the oath. Thus, a second way to avoid the risk of offending God in making oaths was simply not to invoke God’s name or his holy things when swearing an oath. And this is what the Sermon on the Mount recommends ..."
John W. Welch, The Sermon on the Mount in the Light of the Temple, SOTSMS (Farnham: Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2009), 98–100.

References are not endorsements of their contents. Read each reference in full to understand its author's intentions in using these texts.

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Numbers 30:2 and Matthew 5:33

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