Sifrei Bamidbar 154

¹(Bamidbar 30:10) "And the vow of a widow or of a divorced woman": widowed or divorced after marriage. You say after marriage, but perhaps it is after betrothal? You reason thus: Since a father cannot annul the vows of his daughter once she has come of age (bogereth [twelve and a half years]), and he cannot annul the vows of his widowed daughter, then just as a bogereth is one who has entirely left her father's domain, so, the widowed and divorced woman in question must be one who has left her father's domain (i.e., widowed and divorced after marriage, as opposed to after betrothal, in which instance she is still partially in his domain.) R. Akiva says: She is called "an orphan in her father's lifetime" (in respect to vows.) — But perhaps even if she were widowed or divorced (after marriage) and married another, I "pronounce" over her "and the vow of a widow or of a divorced woman" (her vows shall stand)? It is, therefore, written (to negate this, Ibid. 11) "and if in the house of her husband, etc." This tells me only of a woman who married an Israelite. Whence do I derive (the same for) a widow who married a high-priest or a divorcée or a chalutzah (one who had received release from levirate marriage), who married an ordinary Cohein? From "And if in the house of her husband" — in any event. "And if in the house of her husband she vowed": This refers to a married woman. — But perhaps it refers only to a betrothed woman? (This cannot be,) for (Ibid. 7) "And if she be (betrothed) to a man" already refers to a betrothed woman. How, then, am I to understand "And if in the house of her husband she vowed"? As referring to a married woman. ²(Bamidbar 30:12) "and her husband heard": to exclude one who was deaf. "And her husband heard": This tells me only of one who himself heard (the vow). Whence do I derive (the same for) his being informed by others? From (13) "on the day of his hearing," "and he was silent to her": to (the end of) confirmation. You say this, but perhaps (the "silence" intended is the silence of) taunting. (This cannot be, for (Ibid. 15) "And if her husband be silent to her from day to day" already speaks of (the silence of) taunting. How, then, am I to understand "and he was silent to her"? As referring to (the silence of) confirmation. (Ibid. 12) "then all of her vows shall stand": If she vowed and he confirmed (her vow by his silence), and he later annulled it, I might think that it is annulled. And how would I understand "then all of her vows shall stand"? If he did not annul them. Or, even if he did annul them, and how would I understand "and he annul her vow"? If he had not confirmed it. Or, even if he did confirm it? It is, therefore, written (Ibid. 12) "shall stand." ³(Bamidbar 30:13) "Her husband has annulled them": If the husband annuls, they are annulled; if not, they are not annulled. If she said: "I know that any vow of mine that my husband would hear of he would annul," I might think that it is annulled. It is, therefore, written "Her husband has annulled them." If the husband annuls, they are annulled; if not, they are not annulled. If he said to a caretaker: "Annul all the vows that my wife makes from now until I return from that place," and he did so, I might think that they would be annulled. It is, therefore, written "Her husband has annulled them." If the husband annuls, they are annulled; if not, they are not annulled. These are the words of R. Yoshiyah. R. Yonathan says: We find in all places that a man's messenger is like the man himself. "and the L-rd will forgive her": If she vowed and he annulled it in his heart, and she went and broke (the vow wilfully), whence do we derive that she (still) requires forgiveness? From "and the L-rd will forgive her."