Mattot-Massei “tribes” and “journeys”
It is customary for religiously practicing Jews to read from an annual cycle of weekly Old Testament readings called Torah Portions. This is said to be the same reading schedule that was taught every Sabbath in the Synagogues during the times of Jesus in the first century.
As Christians exploring the Torah portion cycle we must maintain a balance of including the Old Testament, the prophets, and the gospels in our weekly bible study.
Torah Portion Name and Readings-
Mattot-Massei is a double Torah portion. Mattot is the Hebrew word for “tribes”, and Massei is the Hebrew word for “journeys”, this is the name for the weekly Torah Portion reading for the Numbers starting in chapter 30 verse 1 and going through chapter 36 and verse 13.
Prophets and New Testament-
It is also important to point out that along with the Torah portion readings and teachings, there are what are called Haftarah portions which are readings from the Bible in the books of the prophets. This week’s haftarah readings come from the book of Jeremiah in chapter 2 verse 4 through verse 28 and chapter 3 verse 4.
The gospel readings incorporated with the weekly Torah portion readings come from the book of Mark in chapter 11 with verses 12 through verse 25.
Torah Portion Overview-
In this torah portion we start with clarification of vows. A vow of a man shall stand. A vow of a woman may be overturned by her father or her husband if she is married in the day that they hear it. The vow of a divorced woman or widow shall stand. It is important to remember that a vow would involve a costly offering. Thus, it seems to me that this law would keep a woman, who is not going to have to pay for a vow, from promising something that her father or husband could not afford. This law is not about the value or authority of a person, but about protecting the finances of the house in my opinion. Remembering the seduction of the women of Midian and the harm it caused Moses sends a war party to attack Midian. Israel sends 12,000 men of war to attack Midian and they kill every man and capture the women, children, and livestock. They kill their kings, kill Balaam, and plunder Midian. Moses is upset. These woman represent a very real threat to Israel and Israel has brought them back to keep them. Moses commands that all non-virgin women be put to death because they had seduced Israel at the advice of Balaam and also that all males be put to death. He commands them to purify the plunder and purify themselves. Next the plunder is dealt with. The plunder is divided in half, half for the men of war and half for the rest of Israel. Of the men of war portion 1/500 belongs to the Lord and of Israel’s portion 1/50 belongs to the Lord. The officers of war brought an offering to the Lord because they didn’t lose a single man in the battle. In a controversial move, the Gadites and Reubenites ask to take possession of the land east of the Jordan (the land of Gilead and south, in modern day Jordan) because it is good cattle land. Moses is upset at first, but then they agree to fight with their brothers. Moses agrees, however, they must fight with their brothers when they cross the Jordan. The half tribe of Manasseh also inherited north of them east of the Jordan river. As part of Israel’s history, Moses lists the journey of Israel and their camping locations. God reminds Israel to not take any objects of idolatry but to destroy them. He also reminds them to divide the land fairly. The Lord sets the boundaries of the Promised Land. Because their fathers have all died, except for Calab and Joshua, the leaders of the tribes are named. A place is made for the Levites, so that they will have somewhere to live. 42 towns/cities set to be set aside for the Levites and also 6 cities of refuge (3 on each side of the Jordan). Along with the cities of refuge we get a reminder of the laws about murder and vengeance and laws about accidental manslaughter and the cities of refuge. To protect justice and from false accusation multiple witnesses are required to find guilt for murder and a ransom shall not be accepted for murder. Finally, the leaders of Manasseh came forward and addressed a concern since they have women that will inherit (who had no father or brother). If a woman inherits land because she has no brother then she shall only marry someone from her tribe, so that the inheritance is not transferred to another tribe.
Today I want to talk about vows and oaths. Let’s start by examining some interesting commands given for men and women who take vows.
“Then Moses spoke to the heads of the tribes of the Israelites, saying, “This is what the LORD has commanded. When a man makes a vow to the LORD or swears an oath to bind himself by a pledge, he shall not break his word; he shall do according to all that proceeds out of his mouth. “When a woman makes a vow to the LORD or binds herself by a pledge while within her father’s house, in her youth, and her father hears of her vow or her pledge by which she has bound herself and says nothing to her, then all her vows shall stand, and any pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand. But if her father overrules her at the time that he hears of it, no vow of hers and no pledge by which she has bound herself shall stand, and the LORD will forgive her because her father overruled her. “If she marries, while obligated by her vows or any thoughtless utterance of her lips by which she has bound herself, and her husband hears of it and says nothing to her at the time that he hears, then her vows shall stand, and her pledges by which she has bound herself shall stand. But if, at the time that her husband hears of it, he overrules her, then he shall nullify the vow by which she was obligated or the thoughtless utterance of her lips by which she bound herself, and the LORD will forgive her. (But every vow of a widow or of a divorced woman, by which she has bound herself, shall be binding upon her.) And if she made a vow in her husband’s house or bound herself by a pledge with an oath and her husband heard it and said nothing to her and did not overrule her, then all her vows shall stand, and any pledge by which she bound herself shall stand. But if her husband nullifies them at the time that he hears them, then whatever proceeds out of her lips concerning her vows or concerning her pledge shall not stand. Her husband has nullified them, and the LORD will forgive her. Any vow or any binding oath to humble herself, her husband may allow to stand or her husband may nullify. But if her husband says nothing to her from day to day, then he validates all her vows or all her pledges by which she is obligated; he has validated them because he said nothing to her at the time that he heard of them. But if he nullifies them some time after he has heard of them, then he shall bear her guilt.” These are the statutes that the LORD commanded Moses concerning a husband and his wife and a father and his daughter while she is still young and in her father’s house.”
Numbers 30:1-16 (NRSVue)
Let’s start by defining the language we are using, what is the difference between an oath and a vow? What is a vow? A vow is a promise to give something to God. An oath is taken by swearing in the name of God. Daniel DeWitt Lowery explains in his entry in Lexham Theological Wordbook for “Oaths and Vows”,
“The OT uses three primary verbs to refer to swearing an oath or a vow: שָׁבַע (šābaʿ, “to swear”), נָדַר (nādar, “to vow”), and אָלָה (ʾālâ, “to utter an oath”). Each of these verbs also has a related noun that refers to the oath or promise that was sworn or made. Additionally, two verbs of speaking—דָּבַר (dābar, “to speak”) and אָמַר (ʾāmar, “to say”), and especially the nouns related to them—may also be used to refer to the act of uttering a promise. The NT finds much less use for vows and oaths—not surprising, given Jesus’ apparent condemnation of vows in Matt 5:33–37. The primary verbs used to indicate oath taking or making are ὀμνύω (omnyō, “to swear”) and ὁρκίζω (horkizō, “to cause to swear”), while ὅρκος (horkos, “oath”) and its related noun ὁρκωμοσία (horkōmosia, “oath”) indicate the pledge or vow itself. Additionally, the NT often refers to God’s promises with ἐπαγγελία (epangelia, “promise”).”
An vow (nadar) is further explained in the same entry,
“נָדַר (nādar). vb. to make a vow. This verb indicates making a vow.
This word designates the act of verbally consecrating or promising something to God (i.e., vowing to devote something to God or to perform some activity for God, etc.) if God in turn acts a certain way (e.g., Gen 28:20; Lev 27; Num 30; Psa 132:2).”
Now that we have defined our terms we can start to see that a women was not kept from taking an oath, but she was unable to promise a monetary gift (a vow) without the approval of the person who would pay for it, her father or husband. This is important, because the law is not saying that a woman’s word is less, or that her promise must be agreed upon by a man because she is a woman, but that it must be agreed upon by the person that will pay for it. That is why a divorced woman is not subject to her father’s agreement, because she is no longer in his house. The law is designed, not to restrict woman, but to protect the finances of the home. The idea is that a promise cannot be made that cannot be paid for.
A vow was a form of an oath, since they are both promises. One is a promise based on the name of God, the other is a promise (probably taken in the name of God) for a gift to God. But how does this relate to us today. We know that Jesus commanded, in reference to vows, that we not to swear at all, but instead to keep our word.
“Again, you have heard that it was said to those of ancient times, ‘You shall not swear falsely, but carry out the vows you have made to the Lord.’ But I say to you: Do not swear at all, either by heaven, for it is the throne of God, or by the earth, for it is his footstool, or by Jerusalem, for it is the city of the great King. And do not swear by your head, for you cannot make one hair white or black. Let your word be ‘Yes, Yes’ or ‘No, No’; anything more than this comes from the evil one.”
Matthew 5:33-37 (NRSVue)
Jesus starts by explaining the context of His statements, swearing an oath and taking a vow. He then offers a new commandment and a correction, that we should not swear at all! As Craig S. Keener explains in his commentary The Gospel of Matthew: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary page 194-195, Jews at that time would swear a surrogate oath and think that they could break it.
“Jesus addresses a popular abuse of oaths in his day. To protect the sanctity of the divine name against inadvertent oath-breaking, common Jewish practice introduced kinnuyim, surrogate objects by which to swear (Vermes 1993: 34–35). Some people apparently thought it harmless to deceive if they swore oaths by something like their right hand (t. Ned. 1:1; cf. its use in agreements, e.g., Jos. War 2.451). Others took all oaths more seriously, but specifically warned against using God’s name lest if one break the oath one profane God’s name (Philo Spec. 2.4–5; cf. 1 Enoch 69:13–16; Pesiq. R. 22:6); sometimes vows could not be fulfilled (m. Ned. 3:1). Jewish teachers had to arbitrate which oaths were actually binding as allusions to God’s name (m. Shebu. 4:13; cf. CD 15.1–5; Smith 1951: 136). The further removed the oath was from the actual name of God, the less danger they faced for violating it (Schiffman 1983: 137–38; Sanders 1990: 53–54). Some later teachers had to insist that all roundabout substitutes for vows were equivalent to vows (m. Ned. 1:1; Nazir 1:1). Sages undoubtedly had to evaluate vows’ validity frequently because they had acquired the role of canceling bad vows (e.g., t. Pisha 2:16), extending an Old Testament privilege accorded male guardians of unattached women (Num 30:3–15).
Thus people swore by heaven and earth (many cite Philo Spec. 2.5; m. Shebu. 4:13), Jerusalem (many cite m. Ned. 1:3; others in Lachs 1987: 102), one’s head (m. Sanh. 3:2), God’s throne (Apoc. Mos. 19.2) and the temple service (Sifre Deut. 1.3.2). Jesus teaches that all oaths invoke God’s witness equally. Just as heaven, earth (Is 66:1–2), and Jerusalem (Ps 48:2; Mt 4:5; 27:53) belong to God (5:34–35), so do the hairs on one’s head (5:36; cf. 10:30); one has no genuine control over their aging (cf. 6:27; Pub. Syr. 215). (The assumption would have been that hair was black and turned white with age—Soph. Antig. 1092–93; Phaedrus 2.2.9–10; Babrius 22.2–3. Only deities and magicians could change colors—cf. Ovid Metam. 11.314.) All oaths implicitly call God to witness because everything that exists was made by him. This implies that for Jesus God was actively involved in all aspects of life; no part of life except sin was purely secular.”
Oaths and vows then had become something other than what the Bible intended. For instead of a way to prove a point, they had instead led to a way to lie! Thus Jesus’ commandment makes sense. The command not to swear at all would remove the ability to take an oath or make a vow. Instead, as Christians we should rely on telling the truth. As Keener further explains in the same commentary, pages 193-194,
“Some groups of Essenes may have also avoided oaths altogether (Jos. War 2.135; Ant. 15.370–71), except their initiatory oath for joining the sect (Jos. War 2.139–42; cf. 1QS 5.8; Black 1961: 94, 120).102 Josephus declares that one could trust an Essene’s word more than an oath, however (War 2.135). Philo indicates that their abstention from oaths declared their commitment to truth (Every Good Man Is Free 84; also Vermes 1993: 35), thus affirming that keeping one’s oath was good, but that not swearing because one’s word was as good as an oath was even better (Decal. 84–85).
Jesus and the Essenes probably intended the same as Pythagoras: let one’s word carry such conviction that one need not call deities to witness (Diog. Laert. 8.1.22; cf. Diod. Sic. 10.9.2). The Jewish philosopher Philo declared that an honorable man’s word should be as truthful as any oath (Philo Spec. 2.2). Because oath taking in a deity’s name was so serious, others also discouraged it except under the most extreme circumstances (Isoc. Demon. 23, Or. 1). One should so consistently tell the truth that hearers would value one’s word more highly than other people’s oaths (Isoc. Nic. 22, Or. 2; cf. Kollmann 1996 for other parallels).
The point of this passage is integrity. Letting one’s “yes” function as a “yes” and “no” as a “no” seems to employ ancient Jewish figures of speech simply to demand that one be as good as one’s word, that one keep one’s word.103 Jesus observes that since God witnesses every word one says anyway, one should be able to tell the truth without having to call God to witness by a formal oath (cf. Harrington 1982: 30; Jeremias 1971: 220; Manson 1979: 158–59).”
This Christian law, to let your yes be your yes is further echoed by James.
“Above all, brothers and sisters, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by any other oath, but let your “Yes” be yes and your “No” be no, so that you may not fall under condemnation.”
James 5:12 (NRSVue)
Speaking the truth, doing what you say, is seen as more important than taking an oath. Furthermore, you cannot encourage God to do something through a vow, but instead, should continue to seek Him in prayer and ask Him.
“Ask, and it will be given to you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened. Is there anyone among you who, if your child asked for bread, would give a stone? Or if the child asked for a fish, would give a snake? If you, then, who are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give good things to those who ask him!”
Matthew 7:7-11 (NRSVue)
Instead of vows we are to have faith. We don’t need to promise God anything when we make a request, instead, we are to ask, simply believing that He will do it (if it is a good request and it is His will). This is interesting, for just as we are to let our yes be our yes, so too, we are to see God as letting His yes be His yes, He does not require a vow.
When we ask, we are to have faith, believing that it will be done. It is important to note that the context of this is doing the will of God. We cannot lay our hands on a car and “claim it in the name of Jesus”, for that is frivolous! We cannot ask that God make us rich so that we live a life of luxury. Instead, we must ask things that glorify God and spread His kingdom! If you ask God for riches, get ready to give to His kingdom! If you ask for provision, pay your bills. If you ask for a spouse, let your marriage bring glory to God! But when we ask, we must ask with faith, believing in God!
“Jesus answered them, “Truly I tell you, if you have faith and do not doubt, not only will you do what has been done to the fig tree, but even if you say to this mountain, ‘Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,’ it will be done. Whatever you ask for in prayer with faith, you will receive.”
Matthew 21:21-22 (NRSVue)
Torah Portion Scriptural Highlights-
Numbers 30:1 A vow of a man shall stand. A vow of a woman may be overturned by her father or her husband if she is married in the day that they hear it. The vow of a divorced woman or widow shall stand.
Numbers 31:1 Israel sends 12,000 men of war to attack Midian and they kill every man and capture the women, children, and livestock. They kill their kings, kill Balaam, and plunder Midian.
Numbers 31:13 Moses commands that all non-virgin women be put to death because they had seduced Israel at the advice of Balaam and also that all males be put to death. He commands them to purify the plunder and purify themselves.
Numbers 31:25 The plunder is divided in half, half for the men of war and half for the rest of Israel. Of the men of war portion 1/500 belongs to the Lord and of Israel’s portion 1/50 belongs to the Lord.
Numbers 31:48 The officers of war brought an offering to the Lord because they didn’t lose a single man in the battle.
Numbers 32:1 The Gadites and Reubenites ask to take possession of the land east of the Jordan (the land of Gilead and south, in modern day Jordan) because it is good cattle land. Moses agrees, however, they must fight with their brothers when they cross the Jordan. The half tribe of Manasseh also inherited north of them east of the Jordan river.
Numbers 33:1 The journey of Israel and their camping locations.
Numbers 33:50 Israel commanded to destroy objects of idolatry in the land and to divide the land fairly.
Numbers 34:1 The Lord sets the boundaries of the Promised Land.
Numbers 34:16 Leaders of the tribes are named.
Numbers 35:1 42 towns/cities set to be set aside for the Levites and also 6 cities of refuge (3 on each side of the Jordan).
Numbers 35:16 Laws about murder and vengeance.
Numbers 35:22 Laws about accidental manslaughter and the cities of refuge.
Numbers 35:30 Multiple witnesses are required to find guilt for murder and a ransom shall not be accepted for murder.
Numbers 36:1 If a woman inherits land because she has no brother then she shall only marry someone from her tribe, so that the inheritance is not transferred to another tribe.
Haftarah (Prophets) Scriptural Highlights-
Jeremiah 2:4 The Lord contends with Israel because she is unfaithful.
Brit (Gospel) Scriptural Highlights-
Mark 11:12 Jesus judges a fig tree for producing no fruit.
Mark 11:15 Jesus cleanses the temple.
Mark 11:20 The disciples see that the fig tree is withered and Jesus explains that they should have faith.
References-
Daniel DeWitt Lowery, “Oaths and Vows,” in Lexham Theological Wordbook, ed. Douglas Mangum et al. (Bellingham, WA: Lexham Press, 2014).
Craig S. Keener, The Gospel of Matthew: A Socio-Rhetorical Commentary (Grand Rapids, MI; Cambridge, U.K.: Wm. B. Eerdmans Publishing Co., 2009), 193–195.
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