N
U M B E R S
CHAP. XXX.
In
this chapter we have a law concerning vows, which had been mentioned in the
close of the foregoing chapter. I. Here is a general rule laid down that all
vows must be carefully performed, ver. 1, 2. II. Some particular exceptions to
this rule. 1. That the vows of daughters should not be binding unless allowed
by the father, ver. 3-5. Nor, 2. The vows of wives unless allowed by the
husband, ver. 6, &c.
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Concerning
Vows.
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B.
C. 1452.
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1 And Moses spake unto
the heads of the tribes concerning the children of Israel, saying, This is
the thing which the LORD
hath commanded. 2 If a man vow a vow unto the LORD,
or swear an oath to bind his soul with a bond; he shall not break his word, he
shall do according to all that proceedeth out of his mouth.
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.
1. The case supposed is that a person vows a vow unto the Lord, making God a
party to the promise, and designing his honour and glory in it. The matter of
the vow is supposed to be something lawful: no man can be by his own promise
bound to do that which he is already by the divine precept prohibited from
doing. Yet it is supposed to be something which, in such and such measures and
degrees, was not a necessary duty antecedent to the vow. A person might vow to
bring such and such sacrifices at certain times, to give such and such a sum
or such a proportion in alms, to forbear such meats and drinks which the law
allowed, to fast and afflict the soul (which is specified v. 13) at
other times besides the day of atonement. And many similar vows might be made
in an extraordinary heat of holy zeal, in humiliation for some sin committed
or for the prevention of sin, in the pursuit of some mercy desired or in
gratitude for some mercy received. It is of great use to make such vows as
these, provided they be made in sincerity with due caution. Vows (say the
Jewish doctors) are the hedge of separation, that is, a fence to
religion. He that vows is here said to bind his soul with a bond. It is
a vow to God, who is a spirit, and to him the soul, with all its powers, must
be bound. A promise to man is a bond upon the estate, but a promise to God is
a bond upon the soul. Our sacramental vows, by which we are bound to no more
than what was before our duty, and which neither father nor husband can
disannul, are bonds upon the soul, and by them we must feel ourselves bound
out from all sin and bound up to the whole will of God. Our occasional vows
concerning that which before was in our own power (Acts v. 4), when
they are made, are bonds upon the soul likewise. 2. The command given is that
these vows be conscientiously performed: He shall not break his word,
though afterwards he may change his mind, but he shall do according to what he
has said. Margin, He shall not profane his word. Vowing is an ordinance
of God; if we vow in hypocrisy we profane that ordinance: it is plainly
determined, Better not vow than vow and not pay, Eccl. v. 5. Be not
deceived, God is not mocked. His promises to us are yea and amen,
let not ours to him be yea and nay.
3 If a woman also vow a
vow unto the LORD,
and bind herself by a bond, being in her father's house in her
youth; 4 And her father hear her vow, and her bond wherewith she
hath bound her soul, and her father shall hold his peace at her: then all her
vows shall stand, and every bond wherewith she hath bound her soul shall
stand. 5 But if her father disallow her in the day that he heareth;
not any of her vows, or of her bonds wherewith she hath bound her soul, shall
stand: and the LORD
shall forgive her, because her father disallowed her. 6 And if she
had at all an husband, when she vowed, or uttered ought out of her lips,
wherewith she bound her soul; 7 And her husband heard it,
and held his peace at her in the day that he heard it: then her vows
shall stand, and her bonds wherewith she bound her soul shall stand.
8 But if her husband disallowed her on the day that he heard it; then
he shall make her vow which she vowed, and that which she uttered with her
lips, wherewith she bound her soul, of none effect: and the LORD
shall forgive her. 9 But every vow of a widow, and of her that is
divorced, wherewith they have bound their souls, shall stand against
her. 10 And if she vowed in her husband's house, or bound her soul
by a bond with an oath; 11 And her husband heard it, and
held his peace at her, and disallowed her not: then all her vows shall
stand, and every bond wherewith she bound her soul shall stand. 12
But if her husband hath utterly made them void on the day he heard them;
then whatsoever proceeded out of her lips concerning her vows, or
concerning the bond of her soul, shall not stand: her husband hath made them
void; and the LORD
shall forgive her. 13 Every vow, and every binding oath to afflict
the soul, her husband may establish it, or her husband may make it void.
14 But if her husband altogether hold his peace at her from day to day; then
he establisheth all her vows, or all her bonds, which are upon her: he
confirmeth them, because he held his peace at her in the day that he heard them.
15 But if he shall any ways make them void after that he hath heard them;
then he shall bear her iniquity. 16 These are the statutes,
which the LORD
commanded Moses, between a man and his wife, between the father and his
daughter, being yet in her youth in her father's house.
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:--
I. The case of a daughter in her father's house: and some think, probably
enough, that it extends to a son likewise, while he is at home with his
father, and under tutors and governors. Whether the exception may thus be
stretched I cannot say. Non est distinguendum, ubi lex non distinguit--We
are not allowed to make distinctions which the law does not. The rule is
general, If a man vow, he must pay. But for a daughter it is express: her vow
is nugatory or in suspense till her father knows it, and (it is supposed)
knows it from her; for, when it comes to his knowledge, it is in his power
either to ratify or nullify it. But in favour of the vow, 1. Even his silence
shall suffice to ratify it: If he hold his peace, her vows shall stand,
v. 4. Qui tacet, consentire videtur--Silence gives consent.
Hereby he allows his daughter the liberty she has assumed, and, as long as he
says nothing against her vow, she shall be bound by it. But, 2. His
protestation against it shall perfectly disannul it, because it is possible
that such vow may by prejudicial to the affairs of the family, break the
father's measures, perplex the provision made for his table if the vow related
to meats, or lessen the provision made for his children if the vow would be
more expensive than his estate would bear; however, it was certain that it was
an infringement of his authority over his child, and therefore, if he disallow
it, she is discharged, and the Lord shall forgive her, that is, she
shall not be charged with the guilt of violating her vow; she showed her
good-will in making the vow, and, if her intentions therein were sincere, she
shall be accounted better than sacrifice. This shows how great a deference
children owe to their parents, and how much they ought to honour them and be
obedient to them. It is for the interest of the public that the paternal
authority be supported; for, when children are countenanced in their
disobedience to their parents (as they were by the tradition of the elders,
Matt. xv. 5, 6), they soon become in other things children of Belial.
If this law be not to be extended to children's marrying without their
parents' consent so far as to put it in parents' power to annul the marriage
and dissolve the obligation (as some have thought it does), yet certainly it
proves the sinfulness of it, and obliges the children that have thus done
foolishly to repent and humble themselves before God and their parents.
II. The case of a wife is much the same. As for a woman that is a widow or
divorced, she has neither father nor husband to control her, so that, whatever
vows she binds her soul with, they shall stand against her (v.
9), it is at her peril if she run back; but a wife, who has nothing that she
can strictly call her own, but with her husband's allowance, cannot, without
that, make any such vow. 1. The law is plain in case of a wife that continues
so long after the vow. If her husband allow her vow, though only by silence,
it must stand, v. 6, 7. If he disallow it, since her obligation to that
which she had vowed arose purely from her own act, and not from any prior
command of God, her obligation to her husband shall take place of it, for to
him she ought to be in subjection as unto the Lord; and now it is so
far from being her duty to fulfil her vow that it would be her sin to disobey
her husband, whose consent perhaps she ought to have asked before she made the
vow; therefore she needs forgiveness, v. 8. 2. The law is the
same in case of a wife that soon after becomes a widow, or is put away.
Though, if she return to her father's house, she does not therefore so come
again under his authority as that he has power to disannul hew vows (v.
9), yet if the vow was made while she was in the house of her husband, and her
husband disallowed it, it was made void and of no effect for ever, and she
does not return under the law of her vow when she is loosed from the law of
her husband. This seems to be the distinct meaning of v. 10-14, which
otherwise would be but a repetition of v. 6-8. But it is added (v.
15) that, if the husband make void the vows of his wife, he shall bear her
iniquity; that is, if the thing she had vowed was really good, for the
honour of God and the prosperity of her own soul, and the husband disallowed
it out of covetousness, or humour, or to show his authority, though she be
discharged from the obligation of her vow, yet he will have a great deal to
answer for. Now here it is very observable how carefully the divine law
consults the good order of families, and preserves the power of superior
relations, and the duty and reverence of inferiors. It is fit that every man
should bear rule in his own house, and have his wife and children in
subjection with all gravity; and rather than this great rule should be broken,
or any encouragement given to inferior relations to break those bonds asunder,
God himself would quit his right, and release the obligations even of a solemn
vow; so much does religion strengthen the ties of all relations, and secure
the welfare of all societies, that in it the families
of the earth are blessed.
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