Introduction
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Submission
While the fact that women could be "overruled" by husbands or fathers gives some credibility to the theology that women are always to be submissive to a man, it actually only reinforces that women were to be submissive in manners relating to God. One thing that is often left out of the discussion is the matter of the needing a sacrifice for completion of a vow. In Numbers 6 we learned that after fulfilling a vow, a sacrifice was needed. Since women didn't technically own anything, they would have needed permission to complete this part of the vow. Basically, this would be like me offering someone a room in my parents' house; clearly, my parents would have the right to put a stop to this. If the matter didn't require a sacrifice (which is the case now that Jesus counts as our sacrifice), I wonder if women would have full freedom to commit to a vow, regardless of their husband or father's opinion. It is important to note that while women are given an out from their vows in the instance a man forbade their vow, they are never forbidden from making the vow in general.Top
The Vow
A vow generally had the form "I will [insert action] if God will [insert action]." An example is when Jacob promises to follow God if He will help Jacob prosper. These vows were bartering tools to gain something from God. Many of the vows taken in the Bible from women are for children. It is noted by some that it was not permissible for a person to make a vow that was against something in God's law (i.e. vowing to kill someone or to work during the Sabbath).Doing such a thing caused people to sin twice, once in making an unlawful vow and again in carrying out the action.[1]Top
Further Reading
- Vows and Vowing - Jewish Virtual Library
- Numbers 6: The Nazarite Vow
References
- "Numbers 30:2 Commentaries". Bible Hub. 2016
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