Numbers 26-30

The Facts (Chapter number: Verse)

26:33 - Zelophehad son of Hepher had no sons, only daughters, names Mahlah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah, and Tirzah.
26:46 - The daughter of Asher was Serah.
26:59 - The wife of Amram was Jochebed daughter of Levi, who was born to Levi in Egypt. And she bore Amram Aaron, Moses and their sister Miriam.

Numbers 27 - The daughters of Zelophehad were Mahah, Noah, Hoglah, Milcah and Tirzah. They stood before Moses, Eleazar the priest, the leaders and the congregation at the entrance of the tent of meeting. They said that their father had died in the wilderness and had no sons. Why should the name of their father be taken away from the clan just because he had no sons? They asked to have a possession among their father's brothers. Moses took this before the Lord and the Lord said that the daughters were correct. If a man dies and has no sons then his inheritance shall go to his daughters, if he has no daughters then it shall go to his brothers, if he has no brother's then it shall go to his father's brothers, and if he has none of those then it shall go to the nearest kinsman of his clan.

Numbers 28 - No mention of any women.

Numbers 29 - No mention of any women.

Numbers 30 - If a woman makes a vow or pledge while in her father's house, in her youth, and her father hears the pledge by which she has bound herself, and says nothing to her, then her vow shall stand and any pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand. But if the father expresses disapproval at the time he hears of it then her vow is nullified and shall not stand, and the Lord will forgive her because her father had expressed to her his disapproval. If she marries while obligated by a vow by which she has bound herself and her husband hears of t and says nothing then the vow shall stand. But if at the time he hears of it her husband disapproves then he shall nullify the vow by which she was obligated. Every vow of a widow or of a divorced woman shall be binding upon her. If a woman makes a vow while in her husband's house and her husband hears of it and says nothing then her vow shall stand. But if he hears of it and disapproves then her vow is nullified and does not stand, and the Lord shall forgive her. Any vow or any binding oath to deny herself (or to fast), her husband may allow or nullify. But if a husband says nothing to her from day to do and validated her pledge by which she is obligated then he has validated her vows because he said nothing at the time he heard of it. If a husband nullifies her vows some time after he has heard about them then he shall bear her guilt. These are the statutes the Lord commanded Moses concerning a husband and his wife and a father and his daughter while she is still young and in his house.

My Comments

I guess the up side to a woman's vows being taken from her by her father or husband (read: owner) is that she isn't punished for these actions at all. Which is nice for a change, a woman not being punished for something a man does to her. Does suck that a woman basically isn't allowed the privilege of being able to honor God the same way a man could. But I guess that's what we get for being women folk and having "thoughtless" words spill from our mouths all the time. I did love the addition of the word "thoughtless" when describing a woman's vows, like woman couldn't possibly put any thought into a vow to God. I guess she's thoughtless because she didn't bother to think what her male owner would think of such a vow. Even if it is to God.

And God does allow women to get their father's inheritance if their father has no sons, so I guess this section is two for two in decent women sections.

I may want to rail on it but for the Bible, as it's been going so far, this is really progressive. It's sad that the Bible just giving a nod to women as being human is progressive but yeah. That's how it goes. So I'm not gonna rail on it too hard (especially since I got a wicked headache tonight that just doesn't want to go away). Maybe the Bible'll keep this kind of thing up? Maybe next women'll not just be people but will be individuals with actual ideas that are worth people's time to hear and aren't just harbingers of uncleanliness or baby incubators?

... yeah, not holding my breath. But yay, glimmer of hope.

Tomorrow: Numbers 31-34 (if my head hasn't exploded by then)