If, however, a woman is a widow or is divorced, she must fulfill all her vows and pledges.
Parallel translations
- WEB “But the vow of a widow, or of her who is divorced, everything with which she has bound her soul, shall stand against her.
- KJV But every vow of a widow, and of her that is divorced, wherewith they have bound their souls, shall stand against her.
- BSB Every vow a widow or divorced woman pledges to fulfill is binding on her.
- NKJV “Also any vow of a widow or a divorced woman, by which she has bound herself, shall stand against her.
- NASB “But as for the vow of a widow or of a divorced woman, every binding obligation under which she has put herself, shall remain valid against her.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
A widow or divorced woman is fully bound by her own vows, since she has no husband to confirm or cancel them.
Overview
Women not under a husband's or father's authority bore full responsibility for their own vows. This underscores both the dignity and accountability of every person before God. Each soul ultimately stands answerable to the Lord for the words it speaks, a truth that magnifies the grace by which Christ bears the failures of His people.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 3
- Luke 2:37and she had been a widow for about eighty-four years), who didn’t depart from the temple, worshiping with fastings and petitions night and day.
- Rom 7:2For the woman that has a husband is bound by law to the husband while he lives, but if the husband dies, she is discharged from the law of the husband.
- Lev 21:7“‘They shall not marry a woman who is a prostitute, or profane. They shall not marry a woman divorced from her husband; for he is holy to his God.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
Christ at the center
In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.
How Numbers 30:9 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.