Numbers 5:19-24 sits inside this longer paragraph.
11Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying, 12“Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them: ‘If any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him, 13and a man lies with her carnally, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband and this is kept concealed, and she is defiled, there is no witness against her, and she isn’t taken in the act; 14and the spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife and she is defiled; or if the spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife and she isn’t defiled; 15then the man shall bring his wife to the priest, and shall bring her offering for her: one tenth of an ephah of barley meal. He shall pour no oil on it, nor put frankincense on it, for it is a meal offering of jealousy, a meal offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to memory. 16The priest shall bring her near, and set her before Yahweh. 17The priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and the priest shall take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water. 18The priest shall set the woman before Yahweh, and let the hair of the woman’s head go loose, and put the meal offering of memorial in her hands, which is the meal offering of jealousy. The priest shall have in his hand the water of bitterness that brings a curse. 19The priest shall cause her to take an oath and shall tell the woman, “If no man has lain with you, and if you haven’t gone aside to uncleanness, being under your husband’s authority, be free from this water of bitterness that brings a curse. 20But if you have gone astray, being under your husband’s authority, and if you are defiled, and some man has lain with you besides your husband—” 21then the priest shall cause the woman to swear with the oath of cursing, and the priest shall tell the woman, “May Yahweh make you a curse and an oath among your people, when Yahweh allows your thigh to fall away, and your body to swell; 22and this water that brings a curse will go into your bowels, and make your body swell, and your thigh fall away.” The woman shall say, “Amen, Amen.”
23“ ‘The priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall wipe them into the water of bitterness. 24He shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that causes the curse; and the water that causes the curse shall enter into her and become bitter. 25The priest shall take the meal offering of jealousy out of the woman’s hand, and shall wave the meal offering before Yahweh, and bring it to the altar. 26The priest shall take a handful of the meal offering, as its memorial portion, and burn it on the altar, and afterward shall make the woman drink the water. 27When he has made her drink the water, then it shall happen, if she is defiled and has committed a trespass against her husband, that the water that causes the curse will enter into her and become bitter, and her body will swell, and her thigh will fall away; and the woman will be a curse among her people. 28If the woman isn’t defiled, but is clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive offspring.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On vv21–23 Hebrew, to fall.
Hebrew, to fall.
Both because she had committed so heinous a fault, and forsware herself in denying the same.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv19, 21, 22, 23 Num 5:19 And the priest shall charge her by…
Num 5:19 And the priest shall charge her by an oath, and say unto the woman, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness [with another] instead of thy husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse:
Ver. 19. Causeth the curse.] The divine justice caused it; the water discovered it.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv19, 21, 22, 23, 24 Charge her by an oath, to answer truly to…
Charge her by an oath, to answer truly to his question, or to declare by oath whether she be guilty or no, and after such oath shall say as follows.
If no man, to wit, except thy husband, as is manifest from the whole context; or no other man, the word another being understood here, as it is thought to be also Gen 14:1; 36:6; Exo 22:20. With another, or, with him, i.e. the man now mentioned. So it is an ellipsis easily supplied out of the text.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv19–24 And the priest shall charge her by an oath,....…
And the priest shall charge her by an oath,.... Or give her her oath:
and say unto the woman, if no man hath lain with thee: besides her husband:
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and thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness with another instead of thy husband; which is but another phrase expressive of the same thing, the sin of adultery:
be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse; if this is the case, it shall produce no bitter effects, or bring any curse upon thee.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On vv19, 21, 22, 23, 24 By an oath - To answer truly to his…
By an oath - To answer truly to his question, or to declare whether she be guilty or no, and after such oath shall say as follows.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv21–24 Verse 21. The Lord make thee a curse and…
Verse 21. The Lord make thee a curse and an oath] Let thy name and punishment be remembered and mentioned as an example and terror to all others. Like that mentioned Jer 29:22-23: "The Lord make thee like Zedekiah, and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire, because they have committed villany in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbours' wives." - Ainsworth.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv19, 21, 22, 23, 24 Adjure. The woman was put to her oath. (Josephus)…
Adjure. The woman was put to her oath. (Josephus) (Haydock)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv21–23 The Lord make thee a curse, &c.--a usual form…
The Lord make thee a curse, &c.--a usual form of imprecation (Isa 65:15; Jer 29:22).
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv19, 21, 22, 23, 24 19. Instead of thy husband — Hebrew, under thy…
19. Instead of thy husband — Hebrew, under thy husband; that is, being in the power of thy husband. This explains the words, no man.
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv19, 23, 24 19. being under thy husband] i.e. under his authority;…
19. being under thy husband] i.e. under his authority; cf. Eze_23:5 ‘when she was mine’ (R.V. ), lit. ‘under me.’
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv19, 21, 22, 23, 24 If no man. The oath presupposed her innocence. With…
If no man. The oath presupposed her innocence. With another instead of thy husband. Hebrew, "under thy husband, i.e., as a wife subject to a husband. (Eze_23:5 Hos_4:12) Upandrov ousa , Septuagint. It was only as a femme couverte that she could commit this sin.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv20, 23, 24 under her husband
under her husband
This phrase means that she is under her husband's authority. AT: "under her husband's authority" (See: Metonymy)
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have gone astray
The words "gone astray" is an idiom that means "to be unfaithful." AT: "have been unfaithful to your husband" (See: Idiom)
you are defiled
This can be stated in active form. AT: "you have defiled yourself" (See: Active or Passive)
that can bring down a curse on her
The phrase "bring down a curse" is an idiom meaning for a curse to come upon her. AT: "that can cause a curse to come upon her" (See: Idiom)
Yahweh will make you into a curse ... your people to be such
Here the author speaks about the woman bearing the curse that Yahweh gives her, which causes other people to curse her. This is spoken of as if the woman herself becomes a curse. AT: "Because Yahweh curses you, other people will curse you as well, and Yahweh will show people that you are truly cursed" (See: Metaphor)
that will be shown to your people to be such
This can be stated in active form. AT: "that he will show to your people as a curse" (See: Active or Passive)
your thigh to waste away and your abdomen to swell
Possible meanings are 1) that the woman will become unable to have children or 2) that the woman's pregnancy will end too early and the baby will die.
your thigh to waste away
Here the word "thigh" is a polite way of referring to the woman's womb or her private parts. AT: "your womb to be useless" (See: Euphemism)
translationWords
defile
priest
people group
waste
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv21, 23 5:21 when he makes you infertile, causing your womb…
5:21 when he makes you infertile, causing your womb to shrivel: Literally when he causes your thigh to waste away. “Thigh” is a euphemism for the reproductive organs (cp. Gen 24:2; 47:29); something would go wrong with her reproductive abilities. The punishment suited the crime as sexual immorality resulted in the inability to have children.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.