Numbers 29-30

 Numbers chapter 30 is all about God's law concerning vows. A vow is a promise, which are similar to covenants which emphasize agreement and commitment between two individuals. In the context of this scripture a vow is a binding oath to a verbal agreement which requires action or follow-through such that the person who makes the vow does not break their word. It is of great importance for someone who is making a vow to do so carefully so that the words are not hasty or improper, especially because the vows outlined in this passage are specifically between individual men or women and God - commitments to God carry weight upon the vow-maker to keep or maintain the vow. 

I think about what kind of vows a person might make before the LORD, my grandmother at the age of 17 took a vow of teetotalism and at 96 years old by the grace of God she has maintained sobriety. Other vows people might take are ones relating to consecration or separateness from the world, this is different from participating in sin, because sin is always wrong, rather a vow of consecration might look like refraining or laying aside a good thing like eating a certain food, social media or sleep for the sake of a righteous conviction. I know a man in the church I attend in Vermont who is a vegetarian by choice because of his convictions, as a very intentional man who purposefully lives his life it is in a way a vow that he has not broken since deciding to adhere to the diet in his early 20s. I see many correlations between fasting and vows as it relates to consecration, though it would seem that fasting is timebound when vows could be both ongoing perpetually or timebound, this is demonstrated by the apostle Paul in Acts 18:18 with what seems to be a Nazarite vow, which I discussed at length on March 25th. 

After reading the NET Bible translation notes on Numbers 30:2, I did find the following interpretive notes and Hebrew language commentary helpful in framing a better cultural-linguistic context for the passage. 

Numbers 30:1-2 (NKJV) "This is the thing which the LORD has commanded: If a man makes a vow to the LORD, or swears an oath to bind himself by some agreement, he shall not break his word; she shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth."

"The Hebrew text hasלֶאְסֹר אִסָּר (leʾsorʾissar), meaning “to take a binding obligation.” This is usually interpreted to mean a negative vow, i.e., the person attempts to abstain from something that is otherwise permissible. It might involve fasting, or abstaining from marital sex, but it might also involve some goal to be achieved, and the abstaining from distractions until the vow is fulfilled (see Psalm 132). The נֶדֶר (neder) may have been more for religious matters, and the אִסָּר more for social concerns, but this cannot be documented with certainty." ~NET Bible Translator Note 7 from Numbers 30:2