⁵ But if her father overrules her on the day that he hears, then none of her vows nor her agreements by which she has bound herself shall stand; and the LORD will release her, because her father overruled her. ⁶ If indeed she takes a husband, while bound by her vows or by a rash utterance from her lips by which she bound herself, ⁷ and her husband hears it, and makes no response to her on the day that he hears, then her vows shall stand, and her agreements by which she bound herself shall stand. ⁸ But if her husband overrules her on the day that he hears it, he shall make void her vow which she took and what she uttered with her lips, by which she bound herself, and the LORD will release her. ⁹ Also any vow of a widow or a divorced woman, by which she has bound herself, shall stand against her. ¹⁰ If she vowed in her husband’s house, or bound herself by an agreement with an oath, ¹¹ and her husband heard it, and made no response to her and did not overrule her, then all her vows shall stand, and every agreement by which she bound herself shall stand. ¹² But if her husband truly made them void on the day he heard them, then whatever proceeded from her lips concerning her vows or concerning the agreement binding her, it shall not stand; her husband has made them void, and the LORD will release her. ¹³ Every vow and every binding oath to afflict her soul, her husband may confirm it, or her husband may make it void. ¹⁴ Now if her husband makes no response whatever to her from day to day, then he confirms all her vows or all the agreements that bind her; he confirms them, because he made no response to her on the day that he heard them. ¹⁵ But if he does make them void after he has heard them, then he shall bear her guilt.”

The Law affords protection against unwise vows, or, perhaps, vows one is no longer in a position to fulfill. In the cases cited above, a woman’s vow may be cancelled, and she set free from its obligations, if her father – if she is a young woman and unmarried – or her husband decides to nullify the vow.

In His grace God does not hold us to vows which were unwise when we first made them or which, for appropriate reasons, we are no longer able to keep. Yet we must not simply walk away from such vows; there are procedures to follow. Church membership vows can be transferred to another congregation, for example. And even marriage vows can be nullified, if the Biblical conditions for divorce are met.

The third commandment cautions us about making vows and oaths in a careless and frivolous manner. When we take God’s Name upon ourselves, let’s make sure our word is as good – as far as we can make it – as His.

T. M. Moore

The Law of God is the soil which, fertilized by the rest of God’s Word and watered by His Spirit, brings forth the fruit of Christian life. If you’d like to understand this process better, and how to make best use of the Law in your walk with and work for the Lord, order the book, The Ground for Christian Ethics, from our online store.

Except as indicated, Scripture taken from the New King James Version. © Copyright 1982 by Thomas Nelson, Inc. Used by permission. All rights reserved.