But if her father expresses disapproval to her on the day that he hears of it: But renders well the Hebrew waw conjunction, which introduces a contrast here. The Hebrew verb rendered expresses disapproval (heniʾ) may also be translated “restrains” (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), “forbids” (Good News Translation), or “overrules” (NET Bible). But why would a father forbid his daughter from fulfilling a vow? According to Cole (page 483), if she made a vow that she might not be able to fulfil or one that might cause hardship or embarrassment to the family, her father could cancel it. For he hears of it, see verse 4.
No vow of hers, no pledge by which she has bound herself, shall stand: For the distinction between vow and pledge by which she has bound herself, see the comments on verse 2. The Hebrew verb for stand is the same one as in verse 4, but here it may need to be expressed differently; for example, Good News Translation renders this clause as “she is not required to keep it,” and Chewa has “there is no law which forces that child to do/keep it.”
And the LORD will forgive her: The central meaning of forgive here is the legal sense of releasing (so Bijbel in Gewone Taal, De Nieuwe Bijbelvertaling) the young woman from the commitment or obligation that she now cannot keep, so Chewa uses the verb “untie.” From another perspective, the non-performance of the vow incurs guilt, but since the woman has been prevented from fulfilling the vow by a higher authority, the LORD absolves her of this vow (so Ashley, page 580).
Because her father opposed her gives the reason why the LORD will release the woman from her vow. The Hebrew verb for opposed (heniʾ) is the same one rendered expresses disapproval. If possible, translators should render it the same way both times; for example, Good News Translation‘s model may be adjusted here to read “because her father forbade her.”
Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .