Numbers 5:13

Easy-to-Read Version

She might have sexual relations with another man and hide this from her husband. And there might not be anyone to tell him that his wife committed this sin. Her husband might never know about the wrong thing she did, and she might not tell her husband about her sin.

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
and a man lies with her carnally, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and is kept close, and she is defiled, and there is no witness against her, and she isn't taken in the act;

King James Version
And a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept close, and she be defiled, and there be no witness against her, neither she be taken with the manner;

Lexham English Bible
and a man sleeps with her and ejaculates and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband and she is concealed, although she is defiled, and there is no witness against her and she was not caught,

New Century Version
and have sexual relations with another man. Her sin might be kept hidden from her husband so that he does not know about the wrong she did. Perhaps no one saw it, and she wasn't caught.

New English Translation
and a man has sexual relations with her without her husband knowing it, and it is hidden that she has defiled herself, since there was no witness against her, nor was she caught—

Amplified Bible
and a man is intimate with her, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband and it is kept secret, although she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her and she has not been caught in the act,

New American Standard Bible
and a man has sexual relations with her and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband and she remains undiscovered, although she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her and she has not been caught in the act,

Geneva Bible (1587)
So that an other man lie with her fleshly, and it bee hid from the eyes of her husbande, and kept close, and yet she be defiled, and there be no witnesse against her, neither she taken with the maner,

Legacy Standard Bible
and a man lies sexually with her, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and she is undetected; but she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her, and she has not been caught in the act,

Complete Jewish Bible
that is, if another man goes to bed with her without her husband's knowledge, so that she becomes impure secretly, and there is no witness against her, and she was not caught in the act;

Darby Translation
and a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and she be defiled in secret, and there be no witness against her, and she have not been caught;

English Standard Version
if a man lies with her sexually, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and she is undetected though she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her, since she was not taken in the act,

George Lamsa Translation
And a man lies with her carnally and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband and the act is kept secret and she is defiled and there is no witness against her, neither is she caught in the act,

Christian Standard Bible®
and sleeps with another, but it is concealed from her husband, and she is undetected, even though she has defiled herself, since there is no witness against her, and she wasn’t caught in the act;

Literal Translation
and a man lies with her with semen, and it has been hidden from her husband's eyes, and is kept hidden, and she is defiled, and there is no other witness against her, and she has not been caught;

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
& eny ma lye with her fleshlye, and the thinge be yet hyd from his eyes, and is not come to light that she is defiled, and he can brynge no witnesse agaynst her (for she was not take therin)

American Standard Version
and a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept close, and she be defiled, and there be no witness against her, and she be not taken in the act;

Bible in Basic English
By taking as her lover another man, and keeps it secret so that her husband has no knowledge of it, and there is no witness against her, and she is not taken in the act;

Bishop's Bible (1568)
So that another man lye with her fleshly, and it be hid from the eyes of her husbande, and is kept close that she is defyled, and there is no witnesse against her, neither she taken with the maner,

JPS Old Testament (1917)
and a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, she being defiled secretly, and there be no witness against her, neither she be taken in the act;

King James Version (1611)
And a man lye with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept close, and she be defiled, and there be no witnesse against her, neither she be taken with the maner;

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
and supposing any one shall lie with her carnally, and the thing shall be hid from the eyes of her husband, and she should conceal it and be herself defiled, and there be no witness with her, and she should not be taken;

English Revised Version
and a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept close, and she be defiled, and there be no witness against her, neither she be taken in the act;

Berean Standard Bible
by sleeping with another man, and it is concealed from her husband and her impurity is undetected (since there is no witness against her and she was not caught in the act),

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and hath slept with another man, and the hosebonde may not take ether preue this, but the auowtrye is hid, and may not be preuyd bi witnessis, for sche is not foundun in leccherie;

Young's Literal Translation
and a man hath lain with her [with] the seed of copulation, and it hath been hid from the eyes of her husband, and concealed, and she hath been defiled, and there is no witness against her, and she hath not been caught,

Update Bible Version
and a man has sex with her, and it is hid from the eyes of her husband, and is kept close, and she is defiled, and there is no witness against her, and she is not taken in the act;

Webster's Bible Translation
And a man shall lie with her carnally, and it shall be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept close, and she be defiled, and [there be] no witness against her, neither she be taken [with the manner];

World English Bible
and a man lies with her carnally, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and is kept close, and she is defiled, and there is no witness against her, and she isn't taken in the act;

New King James Version
and a man lies with her carnally, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and it is concealed that she has defiled herself, and there was no witness against her, nor was she caught--

New Living Translation
and has sex with another man, but neither her husband nor anyone else knows about it. She has defiled herself, even though there was no witness and she was not caught in the act.

New Life Bible
and another man has sex with her and it is hidden from her husband's eyes, even if it is hidden, she will be unclean. And even if no one speaks against her, because she has not been caught in the act,

New Revised Standard
if a man has had intercourse with her but it is hidden from her husband, so that she is undetected though she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her since she was not caught in the act;

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
and a man shall lie with her carnally, and it shall be concealed from the eyes of her husband and he kept close but, she, hath committed uncleanness, - though witness, there is none against her, and she, hath not been caught;

Douay-Rheims Bible
Shall have slept with another man, and her husband cannot discover it, but the adultery is secret, and cannot be proved by witnesses, because she was not found in the adultery:

Revised Standard Version
if a man lies with her carnally, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and she is undetected though she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her, since she was not taken in the act;

New American Standard Bible (1995)
and a man has intercourse with her and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband and she is undetected, although she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her and she has not been caught in the act,

Contextual Overview

¹¹ Then the Lord said to Moses, ¹² "Tell the Israelites this: A man's wife might be unfaithful to him. ¹³ She might have sexual relations with another man and hide this from her husband. And there might not be anyone to tell him that his wife committed this sin. Her husband might never know about the wrong thing she did, and she might not tell her husband about her sin. ¹⁴ But the husband might begin to think that his wife sinned against him, whether she has or not. He might become jealous. He might begin to believe that she is not pure and true to him. ¹⁵ If that happens, he must take his wife to the priest. The husband must also take an offering of 8 cups of barley flour. He must not pour oil or incense on the barley flour. This barley flour is a grain offering to the Lord that is given because the husband is jealous. This offering will show that he thinks his wife has been unfaithful to him. ¹⁶ "The priest will take the woman before the Lord and make her stand there. ¹⁷ Then he will take some special water and put it in a clay jar. He will put some dirt from the floor of the Holy Tent into the water. ¹⁸ He will force the woman to stand before the Lord . Then he will loosen her hair and put the grain offering in her hand. This is the barley flour that her husband gave because he was jealous. At the same time, he will hold the clay jar of special water. This is the special water that can bring trouble to the woman. ¹⁹ "Then the priest will make the woman promise to tell the truth and say to her: ‘If you have not slept with another man, and if you have not sinned against your husband while you were married to him, then this water that causes trouble will not hurt you. ²⁰ But if you have sinned against your husband—if you had sexual relations with a man who is not your husband—then you are not pure.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Leviticus 18:20, Leviticus 20:10, Proverbs 7:18, Proverbs 7:19, Proverbs 30:20

Reciprocal: Romans 7:3 - So then

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And a man lie with her carnally,.... That is, is suspected that he has so done, not that it is a clear case, for it follows;

and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept close; so that it is not known by her husband, nor by any other; "she hath hid herself", so Ainsworth, being in a private place with another man, though warned to the contrary by her husband:

and she be defiled, and [there be] no witness against her; of her being defiled, though there may be of her being in private with such a man:

neither she be taken [with the manner]; or in the act of uncleanness.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

The trial of jealousy. Since the crime of adultery is especially defiling and destructive of the very foundations of social order, the whole subject is dealt with at a length proportionate to its importance. The process prescribed has lately been strikingly illustrated from an Egyptian “romance,” which refers to the time of Rameses the Great, and may therefore well serve to illustrate the manners and customs of the Mosaic times. This mode of trial, like several other ordinances, was adopted by Moses from existing and probably very ancient and widely spread institutions.

Numbers 5:15

The offering was to be of the cheapest and coarsest kind, barley (compare 2 Kings 7:1, 2 Kings 7:16, 2 Kings 7:18), representing the abused condition of the suspected woman. It was, like the sin-offering Leviticus 5:11, to be made without oil and frankincense, the symbols of grace and acceptableness. The woman herself stood with head uncovered Numbers 5:18, in token of her shame.

Numbers 5:17

The dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle - To set forth the fact that the water was endued with extraordinary power by Him who dwelt in the tabernacle. Dust is an emblem of a state of condemnation Genesis 3:14; Micah 7:17.

Numbers 5:19

Gone aside ... - literally, “gone astray from” thy husband by uncleanness; compare Hosea 4:12.

Numbers 5:23

Blot them out with the bitter water - In order to transfer the curses to the water. The action was symbolic. Travelers speak of the natives of Africa as still habitually seeking to obtain the full force of a written charm by drinking the water into which they have washed it.

Numbers 5:24

Shall cause the woman to drink - Thus was symbolised both her full acceptance of the hypothetical curse (compare Ezekiel 3:1-3; Jeremiah 15:16; Revelation 10:9), and its actual operation upon her if she should be guilty (compare Psalms 109:18).

Numbers 5:26

The memorial thereof - See the marginal reference. “Memorial” here is not the same as “memorial” in Numbers 5:15.

Numbers 5:27

Of itself, the drink was not noxious; and could only produce the effects here described by a special interposition of God. We do not read of any instance in which this ordeal was resorted to: a fact which may be explained either (with the Jews) as a proof of its efficacy, since the guilty could not be brought to face its terrors at all, and avoided them by confession; or more probably by the license of divorce tolerated by the law of Moses. Since a husband could put away his wife at pleasure, a jealous man would naturally prefer to take this course with a suspected wife rather than to call public attention to his own shame by having recourse to the trial of jealousy. The trial by red water, which bears a general resemblance to that here prescribed by Moses, is still in use among the tribes of Western Africa.