Numbers 30:3-8

New English Translation

Footnotes

1. Numbers 30:3 tn The qualification comes at the end of the verse, and simply says “in her youth.”
2. Numbers 30:3 tn The Hebrew text just has “in her father’s house” and not “who is still living,” but that is the meaning of the line.
3. Numbers 30:4 tn The intent of this expression is that he does not object to the vow.
4. Numbers 30:4 tn The verb קוּם (qum) is best translated “stand” here, but the idea with it is that what she vows is established as a genuine oath with the father’s approval (or acquiescence).
5. Numbers 30:5 tn The idiom is “in the day of,” but it is used in place of a preposition before the infinitive construct with its suffixed subjective genitive. The clause is temporal.
6. Numbers 30:5 tn The Hebrew “all will not stand” is best rendered “none will stand.”
7. Numbers 30:5 tn The verb has often been translated “forgive” (cf. KJV, ASV, NASB, NRSV, NLT), but that would suggest a sin that needed forgiving. The idea of “release from obligation” is better; the idea is like that of having a debt “forgiven” or “retired.” In other words, she is free from the vow she had made. The Lord will not hold the woman responsible to do what she vowed.
8. Numbers 30:6 tn Heb “and her vows are upon her.” It may be that the woman gets married while her vows are still unfulfilled.
9. Numbers 30:6 tn The Hebrew text indicates that this would be some impetuous vow that she uttered with her lips, a vow that her husband, whether new or existing, would not approve of. Several translate it “a binding obligation rashly uttered.”
10. Numbers 30:8 tn The verb is the Hiphil perfect with a vav (ו) consecutive from the verb פָּרַר (parar, “to annul”). The verb functions here as the equivalent of an imperfect tense; here it is the apodosis following the conditional clause—if this is the case, then this is what will happen.
11. Numbers 30:8 tn Heb “which [she is] under it.”