20131218 Wednesday, December 18 2013
Numbers 30: Vows That Bind The Soul

by Wayne Blank
See also 1 Year Holy Bible Reading Plan

"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"

In English, the word "soul" originated from an ancient Anglo-Saxon word, sawel, that meant an age, as in a lifetime - a physical, mortal existence. The original meaning of "soul" was physical, not something spiritual - the "immortal soul" fantasy originated from a number of pagan religions. The Word of God plainly says "18:20 The soul that sinneth, it shall die" (Ezekiel 18:20 KJV).

Whether coincidence or not, the Anglo-Saxon word from which "soul" originated sounds very much like the Biblical Hebrew word, pronounced sheol, that referred to the place where physical creatures return after they have lived their lives (see Adam and Adamah and Dust and Ashes). Both words are based upon that reality, that is described throughout the Holy Scriptures (see Leviticus 5: What Does The LORD Say About Your Soul?).

A "vow" is a solemn pledge to do something, or to behave in a certain manner. In the Holy Scriptures, vows of different sorts were made to the LORD (Who was and is Jesus Christ - see Genesis 1: In The Beginning Was The Word and The Kingdom Of The LORD God) or to other humans.

"30:1 And Moses spake unto the heads of the tribes concerning the children of Israel, saying, This is the thing which the LORD hath commanded.

30:2 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." (Numbers 30:1-2 KJV)

Vows between men and women were not intended to give one advantage over the other. They were about individual rights and responsibilities for everyone. Salvation is not based upon or concerned with gender or genetics (i.e. "race"): "19:4 And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read, that he which made them at the beginning made them male and female, 19:5 And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? 19:6 Wherefore they are no more twain, but one flesh. What therefore God hath joined together, let not man put asunder" (Matthew 19:4-6 KJV) and "3:28 There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither bond nor free, there is neither male nor female: for ye are all one in Christ Jesus. 3:29 And if ye be Christ's, then are ye Abraham's seed, and heirs according to the promise" (Galatians 328-29 KJV).

"30:3 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; 30:4 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. 30:5 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.

30:6 And if she had at all an husband, when she vowed, or uttered ought out of her lips, wherewith she bound her soul; 30:7 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. 30:8 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.

30:9 But every vow of a widow, and of her that is divorced, wherewith they have bound their souls, shall stand against her.

30:10 And if she vowed in her husband's house, or bound her soul by a bond with an oath; 30:11 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. 30:12 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. 30:13 Every vow, and every binding oath to afflict the soul, her husband may establish it, or her husband may make it void. 30:14 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. 30:15 But if he shall any ways make them void after that he hath heard them; then he shall bear her iniquity.

30:16 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. " (Numbers 30:3-16 KJV)

Fact Finder: Were Nazarite vows made by men and women i.e. "When either man or woman shall separate themselves to vow a vow of a Nazarite, to separate themselves unto the LORD"?
See Numbers 6: The Nazarite Vow