La Bibbia

 

Numbers 30

Studio

   

1 And Moses said to the heads of the tribes of the children of Israel, This is the order of the Lord.

2 When a man takes an oath to the Lord, or gives an undertaking having the force of an oath, let him not go back from his word, but let him do whatever he has said he will do.

3 If a woman, being young and under the authority of her father, takes an oath to the Lord or gives an undertaking;

4 If her father, hearing of her oath or the undertaking she has given, says nothing to her, then all her oaths and every undertaking she has given will have force.

5 But if her father, hearing of it, makes her take back her word, then the oaths or the undertakings she has given will have no force; and she will have forgiveness from the Lord, because her oath was broken by her father.

6 And if she is married to a husband at the time when she is under an oath or an undertaking given without thought;

7 If her husband, hearing of it, says nothing to her at the time, then the oaths she made and the undertakings she gave will have force.

8 But if her husband, hearing of it, makes her take it back, then the oath she made and the undertaking she gave without thought will have no force or effect, and she will have the Lord's forgiveness.

9 But an oath made by a widow or one who is no longer married to her husband, and every undertaking she has given, will have force.

10 If she made an oath while she was under the authority of her husband,

11 And her husband, hearing of it, said nothing to her and did not put a stop to it, then all her oaths and every undertaking she gave will have force.

12 But if her husband, on hearing of it, made them without force or effect, then whatever she has said about her oaths or her undertaking has no force: her husband has made them without effect, and she will have the Lord's forgiveness.

13 Every oath, and every undertaking which she gives, to keep herself from pleasure, may be supported or broken by her husband.

14 But if the days go on, and her husband says nothing whatever to her, then he is giving the support of his authority to her oaths and undertakings, because at the time of hearing them he said nothing to her.

15 But if at some time after hearing of them, he makes them without force, then he is responsible for her wrongdoing.

16 These are the laws which the Lord gave Moses in relation to a man and his wife, or a father and a young daughter who is under his authority.

   

Commento

 

Iniquity, transgression and sin

  

In the Word three terms are used to refer to bad actions: transgression, iniquity, and sin. Transgression is the least bad. It means a violation of what is true in an external context, a violation of what is right and orderly. Iniquity is next and denotes acts that violate more interior truths. Sin is the worst. It is a violation of what is holy and righteous, a violation against the Lord. Sin is the deepest kind of evil. Regarding iniquity -- to be in charity, or live a life of charity is to live a life where the acts and thoughts that have top priority are those that have within them a love for the neighbor. Sometimes our love of self, our inborn desire to put ourselves first, is stronger than our charity and we do something for ourselves at the expense of our neighbor, or even do harm to our neighbor. Such an act, if our motive is selfish, is an iniquity.

(Riferimenti: Arcana Coelestia 9156, 9965 [2-3])