Man, as head of family, has authority over vows of daughter, wife, ex-wife and widow.

The message in Genesis is very clear: woman was not created to lead man. And as we will see later, this is why she is to be submissive and this is why she is to “learn in silence” rather than taking a leadership role in the body of Messiah.

In light of the above, it is understandable why men have the power to overrule the words of his daughter, wife, ex-wife or widow…even if she made a vow:

Numbers 30:3- “Or if a woman makes a vow to Yahuwah, and binds [herself] by some agreement while in her father’s house in her youth, 4 – and her father hears her vow and the agreement by which she has bound herself, and her father holds his peace, then all her vows shall stand, and every agreement with which she has bound herself shall stand. 5 – But if her father overrules her on the day that he hears, then none of her vows nor her agreements by which she has bound herself shall stand; and Yahuwah will release her, because her father overruled her. 6 – If indeed she takes a husband, while bound by her vows or by a rash utterance from her lips by which she bound herself, 7 – and her husband hears [it], and makes no response to her on the day that he hears, then her vows shall stand, and her agreements by which she bound herself shall stand. 8 – But if her husband overrules her on the day that he hears [it], he shall make void her vow which she took and what she uttered with her lips, by which she bound herself, and Yahuwah will release her. 9 – Also any vow of a widow or a divorced woman, by which she has bound herself, shall stand against her. 10 – If she vowed in her husband’s house, or bound herself by an agreement with an oath, 11 – and her husband heard [it], and made no response to her [and] did not overrule her, then all her vows shall stand, and every agreement by which she bound herself shall stand. 12 – But if her husband truly made them void on the day he heard [them], then whatever proceeded from her lips concerning her vows or concerning the agreement binding her, it shall not stand; her husband has made them void, and Yahuwah will release her. 13 – every vow and every binding oath to afflict her soul, her husband may confirm it, or her husband may make it void.

It must be understood clearly that it is Yahuwah’s will for the man to be the voice of the family. Just as in the garden of Eden, the man’s mere silence can mean a lot! If the wife had done anything (even an oath to Yahuwah) that wasn’t according to the husband’s will, then the husband was given the authority to overrule it. The authority of a father over a child is on even par with the authority of the husband over a wife. Yahuwah directs the wife to be subject to her husband and her husband has the right to reverse and overrule her words and decisions, even if it were an oath to Yahuwah. This is all quite foreign to our culture and the way families operate, including how children are raised today. However, no matter how far our culture strays from the scriptures, it does not change the scriptures. Yahuwah does not need to change because Yahuwah is not wrong, it is man who is wrong and need to change. To resist or scoff at this notion (as some do today) is to resist and scoff at Yahuwah’s clear will.