The Test for Adultery
Numbers 5:11-31
Num.5.11 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וידבר: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אל: NEG
- משה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- לאמר: INF,qal,infc
Parallels
- Exod.7.1 (verbal): Same introductory formula—“And the LORD said unto Moses…”—used to mark a divine address to Moses that introduces commands or actions (here, God commissions Moses for dealings with Pharaoh; in Num 5:11 it introduces legal/ritual instruction).
- Lev.1.1 (structural): Another canonical instance where God calls or speaks to Moses to deliver cultic/legal material: the formula frames priestly/tabernacle legislation, paralleling Num 5:11’s role as the narrative marker that opens a law (the sotah ritual).
- Deut.22.13-21 (thematic): A cluster of laws dealing with accusations about a wife’s sexual conduct and the community’s response to alleged unchastity—thematises marital fidelity and evidentiary procedures, parallel to Numbers 5’s treatment of suspected adultery and its social-legal ritual resolution.
- Mal.2.14-16 (thematic): Prophetic concern for covenantal faithfulness in marriage and God’s hatred of treachery against a wife frames marital fidelity in covenantal/theological terms; thematically echoes the moral and covenantal interests behind the sotah regulations introduced in Num 5:11.
Alternative generated candidates
- And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
- And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
Num.5.12 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- דבר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אל: NEG
- בני: NOUN,m,pl,construct
- ישראל: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ואמרת: CONJ+VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- אלהם: PREP+PRON,3,m,pl
- איש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- איש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- כי: CONJ
- תשטה: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg
- אשתו: NOUN,f,sg,cs+3,m,sg
- ומעלה: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg
- בו: PREP+PRON,3,m,sg
- מעל: PREP
Parallels
- Deuteronomy 22:13-21 (structural): Both passages prescribe procedures for when a husband accuses his wife of unchastity and set out evidentiary/formal responses to such accusations (verification, public inquiry, and consequences).
- Deuteronomy 22:22-24 (thematic): Addresses the crime of adultery and its severe legal consequences; parallels Numbers 5 in treating marital unfaithfulness as a matter of communal/ceremonial consequence.
- Leviticus 20:10 (verbal): A clear legal prohibition against adultery with the husband’s wife; shares the same legal concern and imperative language about punishment for sexual unfaithfulness.
- Hosea 2:2-7 (allusion): Uses the imagery of an unfaithful wife to describe Israel’s covenant infidelity; thematically parallels the motif of a wife’s adultery as symbolic of breach of relationship/ covenant.
- John 8:3-11 (thematic): The episode of the woman caught in adultery centers on a public accusation against a woman and raises questions about proof, judgment, and mercy—echoing the social and moral dynamics behind the Numbers ritual.
Alternative generated candidates
- Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them: If a man—any man—his wife goes astray and acts unfaithfully toward him,
- Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them: If a man—if his wife goes astray and acts unfaithfully against him,
Num.5.13 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ושכב: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- איש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אתה: PRON,2,m,sg
- שכבת: NOUN,f,sg,cs
- זרע: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ונעלם: CONJ+VERB,niphal,perf,3,m,sg
- מעיני: PREP+NOUN,f,pl,abs+PRON,1,sg
- אישה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ונסתרה: VERB,niphal,perf,3,f,sg
- והיא: CONJ+PRON,3,f,sg
- נטמאה: VERB,niphal,perf,3,f,sg
- ועד: CONJ+PREP
- אין: PART,neg
- בה: PREP+PRON,3,f,sg
- והוא: CONJ+PRON,3,m,sg
- לא: PART_NEG
- נתפשה: VERB,niphal,perf,3,m,sg
Parallels
- Deuteronomy 22:13-21 (thematic): Deals with a husband's charge against his wife concerning premarital chastity and the evidentiary procedures — a legal response to alleged sexual misconduct where proof/witnesses determine outcome, paralleling the concern in Num 5:13 about accusation without witnesses.
- Deuteronomy 22:22-24 (thematic): Prescribes the penalty for proven adultery (sexual relations with another man) and shows the legal consequences when adultery is established, providing the broader legal context for the suspicion of intercourse in Num 5:13.
- Leviticus 20:10 (structural): A statutory prescription that the adulterer and adulteress are to die — a clear legal counterpart to the ritual response in Numbers for suspected adultery and underscores ancient Israel’s legal handling of sexual unfaithfulness.
- Proverbs 6:32-35 (thematic): Discusses the moral and social consequences of adultery (shame, revenge, loss of honor), thematically connecting to the social stigma and ritual/legal procedures that arise when a husband suspects his wife (as in Num 5:13).
- Ezekiel 16:38 (allusion): Prophetic language about punishing Jerusalem for adultery and unfaithfulness to her husband (YHWH) — uses the motif of sexual infidelity and judicial/penal response, echoing the covenantal and legal concerns behind the sotah episode in Numbers.
Alternative generated candidates
- and a man lies with a woman and there is seed and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, so that she is defiled and there is no witness and she has not been caught,
- and a man lies with her and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and she becomes unclean though there is no witness against her and she has not been caught in the act,
Num.5.14 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ועבר: CONJ+VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- עליו: PREP,3,m,sg
- רוח: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- קנאה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- וקנא: CONJ+VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- אשתו: NOUN,f,sg,cs+3,m,sg
- והוא: CONJ+PRON,3,m,sg
- נטמאה: VERB,niphal,perf,3,m,sg
- או: CONJ
- עבר: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עליו: PREP,3,m,sg
- רוח: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- קנאה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- וקנא: CONJ+VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- אשתו: NOUN,f,sg,cs+3,m,sg
- והיא: CONJ+PRON,3,f,sg
- לא: PART_NEG
- נטמאה: VERB,niphal,perf,3,f,sg
Parallels
- Numbers 5:11-31 (structural): Immediate pericope (the sotah ritual): Numbers 5:14 is part of the larger ordinance describing the jealous husband's oath and the ordeal for a suspected adulterous wife.
- Deuteronomy 22:13-21 (thematic): Legal procedure for a husband's charge that his wife was not a virgin—both passages address suspected female unfaithfulness and community/legal responses to a husband's accusation.
- Hosea 2:2-5; 3:1 (thematic): Prophetic use of marital imagery: Israel's adultery provokes Yahweh's jealous anger. Parallels the motif of a jealous husband and divine/communal response to infidelity.
- Proverbs 6:32-35 (verbal): Describes the husband's jealousy and anger when his wife commits adultery; echoes the emotional and social consequences of suspected marital unfaithfulness found in Numbers 5:14.
Alternative generated candidates
- then a spirit of jealousy shall come upon the husband and he shall be jealous of his wife when she is defiled; or a spirit of jealousy shall come upon him and he shall be jealous of his wife though she is not defiled.
- and the spirit of jealousy comes over the man and he becomes jealous of his wife when she is unclean, or the spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife though she is not unclean,
Num.5.15 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- והביא: VERB,hiph,perf,3,m,sg
- האיש: NOUN,m,sg,def
- את: PRT,acc
- אשתו: NOUN,f,sg,cs+3,m,sg
- אל: NEG
- הכהן: NOUN,m,sg,def
- והביא: VERB,hiph,perf,3,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- קרבנה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- עליה: PREP,3,f,sg
- עשירת: NUM,ord,f,sg,cons
- האיפה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- קמח: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- שערים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- לא: PART_NEG
- יצק: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- עליו: PREP,3,m,sg
- שמן: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ולא: CONJ
- יתן: VERB,qal,imperf,3,m,sg
- עליו: PREP,3,m,sg
- לבנה: ADJ,f,sg,abs
- כי: CONJ
- מנחת: NOUN,f,sg,cons
- קנאת: NOUN,f,sg,cons
- הוא: PRON,3,m,sg
- מנחת: NOUN,f,sg,cons
- זכרון: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- מזכרת: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- עון: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Numbers 5:11-31 (structural): The verse is part of the wider 'sotah' ritual (Numbers 5:11–31); the offering described in v.15 and its designation as a 'minḥat kinnat' ('offering of jealousy') belongs to this entire legal-procedural unit.
- Leviticus 2:1-3 (verbal): Leviticus sets the standard rules for meal/grain (minḥah) offerings, normally including oil and frankincense. Numbers 5:15's explicit prohibition of oil and frankincense marks the sotah meal-offering as distinct in form and meaning from standard grain offerings.
- Deuteronomy 22:13-21 (thematic): Deuteronomy provides legal procedures for accusations of a wife's sexual unfaithfulness and related evidentiary/penal responses. Both passages address suspected marital infidelity and prescribe communal/legal rituals or consequences for such cases.
- Leviticus 5:5-6 (allusion): Leviticus' regulations for confession and offerings for sin/guilt (asham) echo the concern with iniquity and restitution. Numbers 5:15 calls the sotah offering a 'memorial of iniquity,' linking it functionally to sacrificial responses to wrongdoing in Levitical law.
Alternative generated candidates
- And the man shall bring his wife to the priest, and he shall present her offering—an ephah of barley meal; he shall not pour oil on it or put frankincense on it, for it is a grain offering of jealousy, a memorial grain offering, a reminder of guilt.
- then the man shall bring his wife to the priest and shall bring the offering required for her: a tenth of an ephah of barley meal; he shall not pour oil on it and shall not put frankincense on it; for it is a grain-offering of jealousy, a memorial grain-offering, an offering for remembrance of guilt.
Num.5.16 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- והקריב: VERB,hiph,impf,3,m,sg
- אתה: PRON,2,m,sg
- הכהן: NOUN,m,sg,def
- והעמדה: VERB,hiph,impf,3,m,sg
- לפני: PREP
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Leviticus 8:2-3 (verbal): Moses is instructed to bring Aaron and his sons and set them before the LORD for consecration—same language and priestly act of presenting persons before the Lord as in the sotah ritual.
- Exodus 29:4 (structural): Moses brings Aaron and his sons to the door of the tent of meeting for washing and consecration; parallels the procedural bringing/presentation of an individual to a sacred place by priestly authority.
- Leviticus 14:8-9 (thematic): In the cleansing ritual for a healed leper the priest examines, pronounces, and acts to restore the person to the community before the LORD—similar priestly presentation and ritual determination of status.
- Leviticus 16:8-10 (thematic): Aaron casts lots over two goats—one 'for the LORD' and one for Azazel—and presents them in a ritual choice; parallels the priest's role in presenting and adjudicating through a rite that determines divine outcome.
Alternative generated candidates
- The priest shall present her before the LORD.
- And the priest shall present it and set the woman before the LORD.
Num.5.17 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ולקח: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- הכהן: NOUN,m,sg,def
- מים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- קדשים: NOUN,m,pl,abs
- בכלי: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- חרש: ADJ,m,sg,abs
- ומן: CONJ+PREP
- העפר: NOUN,m,sg,def
- אשר: PRON,rel
- יהיה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- בקרקע: PREP
- המשכן: NOUN,m,sg,def
- יקח: VERB,qal,imperfect,3,m,sg
- הכהן: NOUN,m,sg,def
- ונתן: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- אל: NEG
- המים: NOUN,m,pl,def
Parallels
- Numbers 19:17 (verbal): Both prescriptions mix holy/cleansing earth or ashes with water in a vessel for a priestly ritual (Num 5:17 uses dust from the tabernacle floor; Num 19:17 mixes ashes of the red heifer with running water).
- Numbers 5:18 (structural): Immediate continuation of the same 'ordeal of jealousy' ritual — verse 17 sets up the water/earth mixture that verse 18–31 then uses in the priest's action and oath formula.
- Leviticus 14:6–7 (structural): Priestly purification rites involving a mixture/dipping and the use of water (and subsequent sprinkling) for cleansing — parallels the form and function of a priest-administered water-ritual for ritual impurity or stain.
- Ezekiel 36:25 (thematic): Divine promise to 'sprinkle clean water' for purifying the people — thematically parallels the use of water by a priest to effect ritual cleansing or adjudicate purity/impurity.
- Psalm 51:2 (thematic): Petition for washing and cleansing from sin ('wash me thoroughly from my iniquity') echoes the theological association of water with purifying guilt/impurity found in the Numbers ritual.
Alternative generated candidates
- And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and some dust from the floor of the tabernacle he shall put into the water.
- The priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water.
Num.5.18 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- והעמיד: VERB,hifil,perf,3,m,sg
- הכהן: NOUN,m,sg,def
- את: PRT,acc
- האשה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- לפני: PREP
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- ופרע: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- ראש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- האשה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- ונתן: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- על: PREP
- כפיה: NOUN,f,pl,poss3f
- את: PRT,acc
- מנחת: NOUN,f,sg,cons
- הזכרון: NOUN,m,sg,def
- מנחת: NOUN,f,sg,cons
- קנאת: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- הוא: PRON,3,m,sg
- וביד: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הכהן: NOUN,m,sg,def
- יהיו: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,pl
- מי: PRON,interr,sg
- המרים: ADJ,m,pl,def
- המאררים: ADJ,m,pl,def
Parallels
- Numbers 5:11-31 (structural): The broader sotah ritual of which v.18 is a part: the priest brings the woman before the LORD, performs the jealousy rite, gives the remembrance/jealousy offering, and administers the bitter water.
- Deuteronomy 22:13-21 (thematic): Alternative legal procedure for suspected sexual unfaithfulness in marriage: investigation of the wife's virginity and public adjudication of accusations—both texts address husband’s suspicions, evidentiary procedures, and communal consequences for alleged sexual misconduct.
- Deuteronomy 22:22 (thematic): Prescribes the death penalty for proven adultery (both parties) — relevant background for the sotah ritual as a cultic means of dealing with suspected marital unfaithfulness when proof is lacking.
- Hosea 2:2-13 (thematic): Uses the marriage metaphor of unfaithfulness and divine jealousy; God as a husband who shames and punishes an unfaithful bride—resonant language of public humiliation and judgment for infidelity.
- Ezekiel 16:38-39 (thematic): Describes punishment and public exposure for Jerusalem’s sexual unfaithfulness—echoes themes of shame, exposure (loss of honor), and punitive display found in the sotah procedure (uncovering hair, public rite).
Alternative generated candidates
- And the priest shall set the woman before the LORD, and shall loosen the woman's hair and put the grain offering of remembrance—the offering of jealousy—into her hands; and the priest shall hold in his hand the bitter water that brings the curse.
- Then the priest shall set the woman before the LORD, uncover her head, and put the grain-offering of remembrance—the grain-offering of jealousy—into her hands; and the priest shall hold the bitter water that brings the curse.
Num.5.19 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- והשביע: VERB,hiphil,impf,3,m,sg
- אתה: PRON,2,m,sg
- הכהן: NOUN,m,sg,def
- ואמר: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- אל: NEG
- האשה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- אם: CONJ
- לא: PART_NEG
- שכב: VERB,qal,inf
- איש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אתך: PREP+PRON,2,m,sg
- ואם: CONJ
- לא: PART_NEG
- שטית: VERB,qal,perf,2,f,sg
- טמאה: ADJ,f,sg
- תחת: PREP
- אישך: NOUN,m,sg,abs+poss3,ms
- הנקי: ADJ,m,sg,def
- ממי: PREP+PRON,rel
- המרים: PRTCP,hiphil,act,m,pl,def
- המאררים: PRTCP,hiphil,act,m,pl,def
- האלה: DEM,pl
Parallels
- Numbers 5:12–31 (structural): The larger sotah pericope; contains the priest’s oath formula, the 'bitter water' ritual and the consequences described in v.19 — this verse is embedded in and mirrored by the surrounding ritual material.
- Deuteronomy 22:13–21 (thematic): Procedure for adjudicating claims about a woman’s sexual status (betrothed virgin); thematically parallel in addressing suspected sexual misconduct and evidentiary/ritual responses within the community.
- Deuteronomy 22:22–24 (thematic): Law prescribing capital punishment for proven adultery; contrasts with Numbers’ ritual for cases lacking clear proof, highlighting different legal/ritual responses to suspected infidelity.
- Hosea 2:2–13 (allusion): Prophetic portrayal of Israel as an unfaithful wife who will be judged and shamed; uses marital infidelity imagery and divine punishment/testing that parallels the sotah motif of unfaithfulness and consequence.
- Ezekiel 16:38–41 (thematic): Ezekiel depicts punitive humiliation of an adulterous wife (Israel) before nations; shares themes of shame, exposure and divine judgment similar to the sotah account’s focus on proving and punishing alleged unfaithfulness.
Alternative generated candidates
- Then the priest shall make her take an oath and say to the woman, "If no man has lain with you, if you have not gone aside to uncleanness while under your husband's care, be free from these bitter waters that bring the curse.
- And the priest shall put her under oath and say to the woman, 'If no man has lain with you and you have not gone astray to uncleanness while under your husband's authority, may you be free from the effects of these bitter waters.'
Num.5.20 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ואת: CONJ
- כי: CONJ
- שטית: VERB,qal,perf,2,m,sg
- תחת: PREP
- אישך: NOUN,m,sg,construct
- וכי: CONJ
- נטמאת: VERB,niphal,perf,2,f,sg
- ויתן: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- איש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- בך: PREP+PRON,2,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- שכבתו: NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,3,m,sg
- מבלעדי: PREP
- אישך: NOUN,m,sg,construct
Parallels
- Numbers 5:12-31 (structural): The immediate legal context—the full 'ordeal of the bitter water' (sotah) in which 5:20 occurs, describing the husband's charge and the ritual for suspected adultery.
- Leviticus 20:10 (thematic): Prescribes the death penalty for a married woman who has sexual relations with another man; a legal parallel to the adultery alleged in Num 5:20.
- Deuteronomy 22:22 (thematic): States that both the adulterer and adulteress shall die if a married woman commits adultery—another legal treatment of the same offense referenced in Num 5:20.
- Exodus 20:14 (verbal): The Decalogue's succinct prohibition 'You shall not commit adultery,' providing the foundational moral command underlying laws like Num 5:20.
- Proverbs 6:32-33 (thematic): Warns of disgrace, violence, and lasting shame for adultery; echoes the social and personal consequences implied by the charge in Num 5:20.
Alternative generated candidates
- But if you have gone aside—and you are defiled, and a man's lie has been with you besides your husband—"
- But if you have gone astray under your husband and are defiled, and a man other than your husband has lain with you,
Num.5.21 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- והשביע: VERB,hiph,impf,3,m,sg
- הכהן: NOUN,m,sg,def
- את: PRT,acc
- האשה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- בשבעת: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- האלה: DEM,pl
- ואמר: VERB,qal,wayyiqtol,3,m,sg
- הכהן: NOUN,m,sg,def
- לאשה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- יתן: VERB,qal,imperf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- אותך: PRON,2,m,sg
- לאלה: PREP+DEM,pl
- ולשבעה: CONJ+PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- בתוך: PREP
- עמך: NOUN,m,sg,suff-2m
- בתת: PREP+VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- את: PRT,acc
- ירכך: NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,2,f,sg
- נפלת: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- ואת: CONJ
- בטנך: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,2,f,sg
- צבה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
Parallels
- Numbers 5:11-31 (structural): The whole passage containing the 'ordeal of the jealous wife'—verse 21 is part of this ritual unit; the oath formula and procedural details are located here.
- Numbers 5:27 (verbal): Immediate literary parallel that repeats and specifies the curse's physical effects ('may this water that brings the curse enter your body… cause your belly to swell and your thigh to waste away'), echoing the language of 5:21.
- Deuteronomy 22:13-21 (thematic): A related legal concern about a wife's sexual fidelity and the community procedures for testing and sanctioning alleged sexual misconduct; both texts regulate suspected marital unfaithfulness.
- Leviticus 20:10 (thematic): Prescribes the severe penalty for adultery (death for both adulterer and adulteress); provides the broader legal and moral context for why suspected sexual infidelity is treated seriously in Numbers 5.
Alternative generated candidates
- then the priest shall make the woman swear with this oath and say, "May the LORD make you a curse and an oath among your people, when the LORD makes your thigh fall away and your belly swell.
- the priest shall put the woman under this oath of cursing, and shall say to her, 'May the LORD make you a curse and an object of an oath among your people; may the LORD make your thigh fall away and your belly swell.'
Num.5.22 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ובאו: VERB,qal,imp,2,mp
- המים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- המאררים: ADJ,m,pl,def
- האלה: DEM,pl
- במעיך: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs+PRON,2,m,sg
- לצבות: INF+VERB,qal,inf
- בטן: NOUN,f,sg,def
- ולנפל: CONJ+INF+VERB,qal,inf
- ירך: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ואמרה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- האשה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- אמן: INTJ
- אמן: INTJ
Parallels
- Numbers 5:21 (verbal): Immediate parallel within the sotah ritual — the priest's pronouncement uses essentially the same language about the bitter water entering the bowels and causing the belly to swell and the thigh to fall away.
- Numbers 5:27 (structural): Continuation/parallel within the same chapter describing the outcome when the woman drinks the water; repeats the causal link between the bitter water and physical affliction as the sign of her guilt.
- Deuteronomy 28:27 (thematic): Part of the covenant curses where God brings painful physical maladies on covenant-breakers; thematically parallels the idea of divine or ritually‑mediated bodily affliction as punishment for unfaithfulness.
- Psalm 69:21 (thematic): Uses the image of a bitter or poisonous drink (gall, vinegar) as a symbol of suffering and reproach — a literary parallel to the 'bitter water' as an instrument of curse and shame.
- Jeremiah 25:15 (thematic): The metaphor of receiving and drinking a cup of God's wrath (bitter drink) as punishment; parallels the sotah's bitter water as a ritualized cup signifying divine judgment.
Alternative generated candidates
- May these bitter waters come into your bowels to make your belly swell and your thigh fall away." And the woman shall say, "Amen, amen."
- And the bitter waters shall go into your innards and make your belly swell and your thigh fall away, and the woman shall say, 'Amen—amen.'
Num.5.23 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וכתב: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- האלת: NOUN,f,pl,abs
- האלה: DEM,pl
- הכהן: NOUN,m,sg,def
- בספר: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- ומחה: VERB,qal,perf,3,m,sg
- אל: NEG
- מי: PRON,interr,sg
- המרים: VERB,qal,ptc,pl,m
Parallels
- Numbers 5:24-27 (structural): Immediate continuation of the same ritual — the priest writes the curse, mixes it into the 'water of bitterness,' and the woman drinks; this passage completes the procedure sketched in 5:23.
- Leviticus 5:5-6 (thematic): Both texts place responsibility for sin on the individual and prescribe a priestly procedure (confession, priestly action, and a ritual remedy) to remove guilt and restore purity.
- Exodus 32:32-33 (verbal): Uses the imagery of names written in a book and being 'blotted out' for sinners; parallels the motif of writing and erasing as a means of juridical/ritual consequence.
- Revelation 3:5 (allusion): Echoes the language of names being kept or blotted out from a heavenly book; reflects the broader biblical theme of written records and divine judgment/affirmation tied to names in a book.
Alternative generated candidates
- And the priest shall write these curses in a book and shall blot them out into the bitter waters.
- And the priest shall write these curses in a book and shall wash them off into the bitter water.
Num.5.24 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- והשקה: VERB,hiphil,impf,3,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- האשה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- את: PRT,acc
- מי: PRON,interr,sg
- המרים: ADJ,m,pl,def
- המאררים: VERB,pi'el,ptcp,m,pl,def
- ובאו: VERB,qal,imp,2,mp
- בה: PREP+PRON,3,f,sg
- המים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- המאררים: VERB,pi'el,ptcp,m,pl,def
- למרים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
Parallels
- Numbers 5:18 (structural): Immediate context that prescribes the priest's oath and examination before administering the bitter water—sets up the ritual described in 5:24.
- Numbers 5:27 (verbal): Follows 5:24 and reports the possible outcomes when the woman drinks the bitter water (clearing or curse), using the same language of the water bringing bitterness and affliction.
- Deuteronomy 22:13-21 (thematic): Deals with accusations against a wife's chastity and the legal procedures and consequences for alleged adultery—parallel legal‑thematic concern with suspected unfaithfulness.
- Leviticus 20:10 (thematic): Prescribes the penalty for adultery (death for both adulterer and adulteress) and thus relates to the broader legal and moral framework for handling sexual unfaithfulness in Israelite law.
- John 8:3-11 (thematic): The New Testament episode of the woman caught in adultery raises related issues of accusation, judgment, mercy, and evidentiary procedure in cases of alleged sexual sin—a later moral and judicial parallel to the Israelite responses to adultery.
Alternative generated candidates
- He shall make the woman drink the bitter water that brings the curse; and the water that brings the curse shall enter into her and become bitter.
- Then the priest shall make the woman drink the bitter water that brings the curse; and the bitter water shall enter into her and become bitter.
Num.5.25 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ולקח: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- הכהן: NOUN,m,sg,def
- מיד: PREP
- האשה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- את: PRT,acc
- מנחת: NOUN,f,sg,cons
- הקנאת: NOUN,f,sg,def
- והניף: VERB,hif,perf,3,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- המנחה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- לפני: PREP
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- והקריב: VERB,hiph,impf,3,m,sg
- אתה: PRON,2,m,sg
- אל: NEG
- המזבח: NOUN,m,sg,def
Parallels
- Numbers 5:21 (structural): Same sotah ritual — the priest pronounces the oath and prepares the ritual elements (the woman's declaration and the binding words) that accompany the offering described in 5:25.
- Numbers 6:18-20 (verbal): Nazirite termination ritual: the priest takes the shaved hair, waves it before the LORD and offers it — parallels the actions and language of taking something from a person, waving it before YHWH, and offering it.
- Exodus 29:24-28 (structural): Priestly consecration incorporates waving and presenting parts of sacrifices before the LORD and assigning them to the priests — similar cultic procedure of waving (tenufah) and presenting offerings on the altar.
- Leviticus 3:11 (verbal): Uses the technical formula for a wave offering ('and the priest shall wave them for a wave offering before the LORD'), echoing the terminology and cultic function of 'והניף המנחה לפני יהוה' in 5:25.
Alternative generated candidates
- And the priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy out of the woman's hand and shall wave the grain offering before the LORD and offer it on the altar.
- The priest shall take the grain-offering of jealousy out of the woman's hand, wave the offering before the LORD, and offer it on the altar.
Num.5.26 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- וקמץ: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- הכהן: NOUN,m,sg,def
- מן: PREP
- המנחה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- את: PRT,acc
- אזכרתה: NOUN,f,sg,abs,poss:3,f,sg
- והקטיר: VERB,hiph,perf,3,m,sg
- המזבחה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ואחר: CONJ
- ישקה: VERB,hif,impf,3,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- האשה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- את: PRT,acc
- המים: NOUN,m,pl,def
Parallels
- Numbers 5:11–31 (structural): The larger 'sotah' pericope containing this verse; outlines the priestly procedure (presentation, offering, and administering the bitter water) and provides immediate legal and ritual context.
- Leviticus 2:2 (verbal): Describes the priest taking a handful (a memorial portion) of the grain/meal offering and burning it on the altar—parallels the ritual act of the priest taking and offering a portion of the meal offering here.
- Deuteronomy 22:13–21 (thematic): Laws dealing with accusations of sexual unfaithfulness and procedures for proving or adjudicating a wife's chastity—themically related to the sotah ritual as a legal response to suspected adultery.
- Daniel 13 (Susanna) (allusion): The Additions to Daniel (Susanna) narrate a case of false accusation of sexual immorality and a judicial probe to establish innocence—a literary/thematic parallel concerning accusations of sexual wrongdoing and their resolution.
Alternative generated candidates
- Then the priest shall take a handful of the offering and burn it on the altar as the memorial portion, and afterward he shall make the woman drink the water.
- He shall take from the offering its remembrance portion and burn it on the altar, and afterward he shall make the woman drink the water.
Num.5.27 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- והשקה: VERB,hiphil,perf,3,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- המים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- והיתה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- אם: CONJ
- נטמאה: VERB,niphal,perf,3,f,sg
- ותמעל: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- מעל: PREP
- באישה: PREP+NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ובאו: VERB,qal,imp,2,mp
- בה: PREP+PRON,3,f,sg
- המים: NOUN,m,pl,def
- המאררים: ADJ,m,pl,def
- למרים: PREP+NOUN,m,pl,abs
- וצבתה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- בטנה: NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,3,f,sg
- ונפלה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- ירכה: NOUN,f,sg,abs+PRON,3,f,sg
- והיתה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- האשה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- לאלה: PREP+DEM,pl
- בקרב: PREP
- עמה: PREP+PRON,3,f,sg
Parallels
- Numbers 5:11-31 (quotation): The immediate legislative context — the full 'sotah' ritual (bitter water) that describes the procedure, its words, and the same consequences (abdomen swelling, thigh wasting, being a curse among the people).
- Deuteronomy 22:13-21 (thematic): Treatment of alleged female sexual misconduct and public vindication/disgrace — both passages address accusations concerning a wife's sexual faithfulness and communal/public consequences when proof is lacking or guilt is established.
- Leviticus 20:10 (thematic): Law concerning adultery and its severe sanction — presents the Torah's basic punitive concern for marital unfaithfulness that the sotah ritual seeks to adjudicate when human proof is absent.
- Leviticus 15:19-24 (verbal): Laws of ritual impurity surrounding a woman’s bodily condition — both texts use the language of uncleanness and bodily affliction to mark a woman's ritually disqualifying state (though for different causes and outcomes).
- Deuteronomy 28:20-22 (allusion): Covenantal curse motif — like the bitter-water outcome, these curses describe divine-inflicted physical disease and suffering (afflictions, wasting, and public calamity) as the result of covenant breach, echoing the theme of bodily punishment as a sign of divine judgment.
Alternative generated candidates
- And when he has made her drink the water, if she has defiled herself and committed unfaithfulness, the water that brings the curse shall enter into her and cause bitterness; her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall fall away, and the woman shall become a curse among her people.
- When he has made her drink the water, if she has been defiled and has committed pollution, the bitter water that brings the curse shall enter into her and cause her to suffer; her belly shall swell and her thigh shall fall away, and the woman shall be a curse among her people.
Num.5.28 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ואם: CONJ
- לא: PART_NEG
- נטמאה: VERB,niphal,perf,3,f,sg
- האשה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- וטהרה: VERB,qal,perf,3,f,sg
- הוא: PRON,3,m,sg
- ונקתה: VERB,niphal,perf,3,f,sg
- ונזרעה: VERB,niphal,perf,3,f,sg
- זרע: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Numbers 5:11-31 (structural): Immediate literary context — the full 'sotah' ritual that lays out the conditions, curse formula, and the outcome (vindication or curse) of a wife suspected of adultery; v.28 states the vindication and promise of conception.
- Deuteronomy 22:13-21 (thematic): Deals with a husband's charge that his wife was not a virgin at marriage and the procedures and penalties for false accusation versus proven immorality — parallels concerns about proving sexual guilt and protecting the innocent.
- Deuteronomy 22:22-24 (thematic): Prescribes capital punishment for adultery when a married woman is proven unfaithful — contrasts the ritual-testing approach in Numbers with the Deuteronomic penalties for proven adultery.
- Leviticus 20:10 (thematic): States the punishment for adultery (death for both parties) and reflects the broader legal concern with marital fidelity that frames the sotah episode's purpose of determining guilt or innocence.
- John 8:3-11 (thematic): New Testament episode of a woman accused of adultery; thematically connected by issues of accusation, proof, judgment, and mercy — offers a different resolution to the problem of alleged sexual sin than the Israelite ritual in Numbers.
Alternative generated candidates
- But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, she shall be free and shall conceive seed.
- But if the woman is not defiled and is clean, she shall be cleared and shall conceive seed.
Num.5.29 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- זאת: DEM,f,sg
- תורת: NOUN,f,sg,cons
- הקנאת: NOUN,f,sg,def
- אשר: PRON,rel
- תשטה: VERB,qal,impf,3,f,sg
- אשה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- תחת: PREP
- אישה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- ונטמאה: VERB,niphal,perf,3,f,sg
Parallels
- Numbers 5:11-31 (structural): The immediate ritual context: verses 11–31 set out the ‘ordeal of jealousy’ whose summary statement is verse 29, describing the case of a wife suspected of unfaithfulness and the sacramental procedure applied.
- Deuteronomy 22:13-21 (thematic): A legal treatment of a husband’s charge concerning a wife’s sexual defect/faithfulness; like Num 5:29 it addresses suspicion of a wife’s sexual conduct and prescribed communal/legal responses.
- Leviticus 20:10 (thematic): Prescribes the severe legal sanction for adultery (death for both parties), reflecting the Pentateuch’s concern with marital fidelity underlying the jealousy-law’s protective/forensic purpose.
- Proverbs 6:32-35 (thematic): Wisdom-language about the husband’s jealous rage and consequences of adultery; provides an ethical and emotional parallel to the jealousy motif in Num 5:29.
- Hosea 3:1 (allusion): Prophetic use of the unfaithful wife motif—God’s relationship to Israel depicted as marital infidelity—echoing the jealousy/uncleanness imagery behind the Numbers law.
Alternative generated candidates
- This is the law of jealousy, when a woman goes astray and is defiled.
- This is the law of jealousy when a woman goes astray and is defiled,
Num.5.30 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- או: CONJ
- איש: NOUN,m,sg,abs
- אשר: PRON,rel
- תעבר: VERB,qal,impf,2,ms
- עליו: PREP,3,m,sg
- רוח: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- קנאה: NOUN,f,sg,abs
- וקנא: CONJ+VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- אשתו: NOUN,f,sg,cs+3,m,sg
- והעמיד: VERB,hifil,perf,3,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- האשה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- לפני: PREP
- יהוה: NOUN,prop,m,sg,abs
- ועשה: VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- לה: PREP+PRON,3,f,sg
- הכהן: NOUN,m,sg,def
- את: PRT,acc
- כל: DET
- התורה: NOUN,f,sg,def
- הזאת: DEM,f,sg,def
Parallels
- Numbers 5:11–31 (structural): The immediate context: the full sotah ritual (suspected adulteress). Verse 30 recalls and invokes “all this law,” so the whole passage is the direct structural parallel and source of the practice described.
- Deuteronomy 22:13–30 (thematic): Other Mosaic regulations addressing accusations about a wife’s sexual faithfulness (procedures, evidence, and penalties). Both passages regulate suspected female sexual misconduct and community/judicial responses.
- Song of Solomon 8:6 (thematic): Uses the language of overpowering, consuming jealousy (“for jealousy is as fierce as the grave”), echoing the motif of jealous love that underlies the husband’s motive in the sotah ritual.
- Hosea 2:2–13; 3:1 (allusion): Prophetic portrayal of Israel as an unfaithful wife and Yahweh as a jealous husband who punishes and then seeks restoration. Uses marital/adultery imagery and divine jealousy that thematically parallels the sotah material.
- John 8:1–11 (thematic): NT narrative about a woman accused of adultery where Jesus intervenes. While different in outcome, it parallels the social and religious handling of alleged female sexual transgression and raises competing emphases of law, judgment, and mercy.
Alternative generated candidates
- And if a spirit of jealousy comes upon a man and he is jealous of his wife, he shall bring the woman before the LORD, and the priest shall deal with her according to this whole law.
- or when a man is overcome by a spirit of jealousy and is jealous of his wife, and he sets the woman before the LORD and the priest applies to her all this law.
Num.5.31 - Details
Original Text
Morphology
- ונקה: CONJ+VERB,qal,impf,3,m,sg
- האיש: NOUN,m,sg,def
- מעון: PREP+NOUN,m,sg,abs
- והאשה: CONJ+NOUN,f,sg,def
- ההוא: DEM,ms,sg
- תשא: VERB,qal,impf,2,m,sg
- את: PRT,acc
- עונה: NOUN,m,sg,abs
Parallels
- Numbers 5:28-29 (verbal): Immediate context: the priest's declaration about the sotah ritual earlier in the episode states the outcomes—if the woman is innocent the man is cleared; if guilty she bears the curse—language and legal result echoed in v.31.
- Deuteronomy 22:13-21 (thematic): Law concerning a husband's public charge that his new wife was not a virgin: procedures, evidentiary claims, and the potential punishment of the woman—parallels the legal/sexual-ethos framework that assigns guilt or innocence to the wife and vindicates or condemns parties.
- Deuteronomy 22:22-24 (thematic): Statute on adultery between a married woman and another man, prescribing severe punishment for the woman (and the man) — thematically related to communal allocation of guilt for sexual misconduct and the consequences borne by the woman.
- Leviticus 20:10 (thematic): Priestly law prescribing capital punishment for adultery (a man with another man's wife), illustrating the legal sanctions for sexual unfaithfulness that form the broader legal background to the sotah ritual's determination of guilt.
Alternative generated candidates
- Then the man shall be clear of wrongdoing, but the woman shall bear her guilt.
- Then the man shall be clear of guilt, but the woman shall bear her iniquity.
And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them: If any man's wife goes astray and acts unfaithfully toward him,
and a man lies with her and it is hidden from her husband, and she is defiled and there is no witness against her and she has not been caught,
and the spirit of jealousy comes upon her husband and he becomes jealous of his wife—though she has been defiled—or the spirit of jealousy comes upon him and he is jealous though she has not been defiled,
then the man shall bring his wife to the priest, and he shall bring the offering required for her: a tenth of an ephah of barley flour; he shall not pour oil on it, nor put frankincense on it, for it is a grain offering of jealousy—a reminder-offering, a memorial of iniquity. And the priest shall present her and set her before the LORD.
The priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and some of the dust from the floor of the tabernacle he shall put into the water.
He shall set the woman before the LORD, loosen her hair, and put the grain offering of remembrance—the grain offering of jealousy—into her hands; and the priest shall hold the water of bitterness that brings the curse in his hand.
Then the priest shall put her under oath and say to the woman, ‘If no man has lain with you, and you have not gone astray, being defiled under your husband, be exempt from these bitter waters.’ But if you have gone astray under your husband and are defiled, and a man other than your husband has lain with you,
the priest shall put the woman under the curse and say to her, ‘May the LORD make you a curse and an oath among your people—when the LORD makes your thigh fall away and your belly swell.’ And the bitter waters shall enter into your innards, making your belly swell and your thigh fall away; and the woman shall say, ‘Amen, amen.’ And the priest shall write these curses in a book and blot them out with the bitter water.
He shall give the woman the bitter water to drink; and the water shall come into her and become bitterness.
The priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman's hand and wave the offering before the LORD, and shall offer it on the altar. And the priest shall take a handful of the grain offering as a memorial and make it smoke on the altar; afterward the priest shall give the woman the water to drink.
He shall give her the water to drink; and if she is defiled and has committed adultery, the bitter water that brings the curse shall enter into her and cause her belly to swell and her thigh to fall away, and the woman shall become a curse among her people. But if she has not been defiled and is clean, she shall be free and shall conceive seed.
This is the law of jealousy, when a woman goes astray and is defiled.
Or when the spirit of jealousy comes upon a man and he is jealous of his wife, he shall set the woman before the LORD, and the priest shall apply to her all this law.
The man shall be clean of guilt, but the woman shall bear her guilt.