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Saturday 9 April 2011

Numbers 28-30 - Various rules

Numbers 28 and 29 contain a repeat of some of the religious rules that had been given earlier. Why are they given again here. We tend to think "we read about these in Exodus and Leviticus. They weren't very interesting then, why do we need to hear about them again?"
However, we need to remember that the community would have relied a great deal on oral communication, and it had been close to forty years since the regulations had first been given. So they would have needed to hear about them again. They also marked continuity between the leadership of Moses and Joshua. Although the leader had changed, it was the same God.
Chapter 30 then gives instructions on vows. Vows were taken very seriously. A woman was under the authority of her husband or father, so the man could override the vow if he saw fit.  Otherwise the woman was bound by the vow. A key principle here is that God recognises the human authority we are under, and takes account of this.
A widow or divorcee was bound by any vows that she made, she was no longer under authority of a man.

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