Numbers 30:15 (WEB)
But if he makes them null and void after he has heard them, then he shall bear her iniquity.”
As quoted in the map (KJV)
Numbers 30:15 (KJV)
But if he shall any ways make them void after that he hath heard them; then he shall bear her iniquity.
Key words
- וְנָשָׂא אֶת־עֲוֹנָהּvenasa et-avonah · Hebrew
- 'he shall bear her iniquity' — a husband who later breaks a vow he had accepted takes the guilt on himself.
Why it matters
If a husband annuls his wife's vow after having let it stand, 'he shall bear her iniquity.' Pitre draws the consequence for Joseph (p 100): Matthew calls him a 'righteous man,' obedient to the Law, so once he had accepted Mary's vow he was bound under penalty of sin to honour it. This is why the couple's abstinence, even on the wedding night, is exactly what a vow under Numbers 30 would produce.