Numbers 5:16-28 KJV

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 5:25

Then the priest shall take the jealousy offering out of the woman's hand ,.... Which she was obliged to hold in her hand while the above rites and ceremonies were performed; which was very heavy, being an omer of barley flour, a measure about three quarts, which was put into an Egyptian basket made of small palm tree twigs: and this was put into her hands to weary her, as before observed, that, having her mind distressed, she might the sooner confess her crime: and shall wave the offering... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 5:26

And the priest shall take an handful of the offering, even the memorial thereof ,.... For good or evil, according as her works were, as Aben Ezra observes; a memorial for good, if innocent, and a memorial for evil, if guilty: and burn it upon the altar ; as the handful of other meat offerings used to be, Leviticus 1:2 , and afterwards shall cause the woman to drink the water ; oblige her to it; having proceeded thus far, and no confession made, namely, an oath taken, the curses... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 5:27

And when he hath made her to drink the water ,.... For, as before observed, and here by Jarchi again, if she says I will not drink it, after the roll is blotted out, they oblige her, and make her drink it whether she will or not, unless she says I am defiled: then it shall come to pass, that if she be defiled, and have done trespass against her husband ; or has committed adultery: that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter ; the water drank by... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 5:28

And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean ,.... If she is not guilty of adultery, but pure from that sin: then she shall be free ; from the effects of the bitter water; they shall have no such influence upon her, but she shall be as soured and healthful as ever; nay, the Jewish writers say more so, that if she had any sickness or disease upon her she would now be freed from it F14 Maimon. Hilchot Sotah, c. 3. sect. 22. ; the Targum of Jonathan has it, her splendour shall shine,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Numbers 5:17

Holy water - Water out of the laver, called holy because consecrated to sacred uses. This is the most ancient case of the trial by ordeal. See at Numbers 5:31 ; (note). In an earthen vessel - Supposed by the Jews to be such as had never been previously used. Dust that is in the floor - Probably intended to point out the baseness of the crime of which she was accused. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Numbers 5:18

Uncover the woman's head - To take off a woman's veil, and expose her to the sight of men, would be considered a very great degradation in the East. To this St. Paul appears to allude, 1 Corinthians 11:5 , 1 Corinthians 11:6 , 1 Corinthians 11:10 . read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Numbers 5:21

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 Jeremiah 29:22 , Jeremiah 29:23 ; : "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 neighbors' wives." - Ainsworth. read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Numbers 5:22

Thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot - What is meant by these expressions cannot be easily ascertained. ירך לנפל lanpel yarech signifies literally thy thigh to fall. As the thigh, feet, etc., were used among the Hebrews delicately to express the parts which nature conceals, (see Genesis 46:26 ;), the expression here is probably to be understood in this sense; and the falling down of the thigh here must mean something similar to the prolapsus uteri , or falling down of the womb,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Numbers 5:23

The priest shall write these curses - and he shall blot them out - It appears that the curses which were written down with a kind of ink prepared for the purpose, as some of the rabbins think, without any calx of iron or other material that could make a permanent dye, were washed off the parchment into the water which the woman was obliged to drink, so that she drank the very words of the execration. The ink used in the East is almost all of this kind - a wet sponge will completely efface... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Numbers 5:24

The bitter water that causeth the curse - Though the rabbins think that the priest put some bitter substance in the water, yet as nothing of the kind is intimated by Moses, we may consider the word as used here metaphorically for affliction, death, etc. These waters were afflicting and deadly to her who drank them, being guilty. In this sense afflictions are said to be bitter, Isaiah 38:17 ; so also is death, 1 Samuel 15:32 ; : Ecclesiastes 7:26 . read more

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 5:25

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 5:26

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 5:27

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Numbers 5:28

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Numbers 5:17

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Numbers 5:18

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Numbers 5:21

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Numbers 5:22

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Numbers 5:23

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Numbers 5:24

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