“Also, if a woman makes a vow to the Lord, and binds herself by an obligation in her father’s house in her youth, and her father hears her vow and her obligation by which she has bound herself, and her father says nothing to her, then all her vows shall stand and every obligation by which she has bound herself shall stand. But, if her father should forbid her on the day he hears of it, none of her vows or her obligations by which she has bound herself shall stand; and the Lord will forgive her because her father had forbidden her.”
Age seems to be a factor here. She is old enough to be called a woman but one who is still regarded to be in her youth. Clearly, she is of sufficient age for her vow to be give serious consideration because if her father allows it, her vow remains binding. Verse six tells us that she is of sufficient age to marry. The woman’s vow is considered binding unless her father overrules it. Later, if she married while still under the vow, this vow then became subject to the approval of her husband.
If a married woman made a vow, the only way the vow could be overturned was by her husband, and then only if he became aware of the vow. If the husband never became aware of the vow, then the woman must fulfill her vow.