Numbers 5:25 - Exposition

Offer it upon the altar. According to tile law of the minchah ( Leviticus 2:1-16 ), only an handful was burnt as a "memorial" (Hebrew, azkarah ) , the rest being "presented,'' and then laid at the side of the altar to be subsequently eaten by the priests. All this was done before the actual ordeal by drinking the water, in order that the woman might in the most solemn and complete way possible be brought face to face with the holiness of God. She stood before him as one of his own, yet as one suspected and abashed, courting the worst if guilty, claiming complete acquittal if innocent.