Numbers 5:14

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
and 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:

King James Version
And the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled:

Lexham English Bible
if a spirit of jealousy comes over him, and he is jealous of his wife and she is defiled; or if a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife but she is not defiled,

New Century Version
But if her husband has feelings of jealousy and suspects she has sinned—whether she has or not—

New English Translation
and if jealous feelings come over him and he becomes suspicious of his wife, when she is defiled; or if jealous feelings come over him and he becomes suspicious of his wife, when she is not defiled—

Amplified Bible
and if a spirit (sense, attitude) of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous and angry at his wife who has defiled herself—or if a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife when she has not defiled herself—

New American Standard Bible
if an attitude of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife when she has defiled herself, or if an attitude of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife when she has not defiled herself,

Geneva Bible (1587)
If he be moued with a ielous minde, so that he is ielous ouer his wife, which is defiled, or if he haue a ielous minde, so that he is ielous ouer his wife, which is not defiled,

Legacy Standard Bible
if a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife and she has defiled herself, or if a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife but she has not defiled herself,

Complete Jewish Bible
then, if a spirit of jealousy comes over him, and he is jealous of his wife, and she has become impure — or, for that matter, if the spirit of jealousy comes over him, and he is jealous of his wife, and she has not become impure —

Darby Translation
and the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she have been defiled,—or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she have not been defiled,

Easy-to-Read Version
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.

English Standard Version
and if the spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife who has defiled herself, or if the spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife, though she has not defiled herself,

George Lamsa Translation
And the temper of jealousy comes upon him and he be jealous of his wife and she is defiled; or if the temper of jealousy comes upon him and he becomes jealous of his wife and she is not defiled,

Christian Standard Bible®
and if a feeling of jealousy comes over the husband and he becomes jealous because of his wife who has defiled herself—or if a feeling of jealousy comes over him and he becomes jealous of her though she has not defiled herself—

Literal Translation
and a spirit of jealousy has passed over him, and he has become jealous of his wife, and she has been defiled. Or, a spirit of jealousy has passed over him, and he has become jealous of his wife, and she has not become defiled:

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
and the sprete of gelousye kyndleth him, so that he is gelous ouer his wife: whether she be vncleane or not vncleane,

American Standard Version
and the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled:

Bible in Basic English
If the spirit of doubt comes into her husband's heart, and he has doubts of his wife, with good cause; or if he has doubts of her without cause:

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the spirite of gelousie commeth vpon hym, so that he is gelous ouer his wyfe which is defyled: or if the spirite of gelousie come vpon hym, so that he is gelous ouer his wyfe which is yet vndefyled:

JPS Old Testament (1917)
and the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled; or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled;

King James Version (1611)
And the spirit of ielousie come vpon him, and he be ielous of his wife, and shee be defiled: or if the spirit of ielousie come vpon him, and hee be ielous of his wife, and she be not defiled:

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
and there should come upon him a spirit of jealousy, and he should be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled; or there should come upon him a spirit of jealousy, and he should be jealous of his wife, and she should not be defiled;

English Revised Version
and the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled:

Berean Standard Bible
and if a feeling of jealousy comes over her husband and he suspects his wife who has defiled herself-or if a feeling of jealousy comes over him and he suspects her even though she has not defiled herself-

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
if the spirit of gelousie stirith the housebonde ayens his wijf, which is ether defoulid, ethir is apechid bi fals suspecioun,

Young's Literal Translation
and a spirit of jealousy hath passed over him, and he hath been jealous of his wife, and she hath been defiled; -- or, a spirit of jealousy hath passed over him, and he hath been jealous of his wife, and she hath not been defiled --

Update Bible Version
and the spirit of jealousy passed over him, and he is jealous of his wife, and she is defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy passed over him, and he is jealous of his wife, and she is not defiled:

Webster's Bible Translation
And the spirit of jealousy shall come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy shall come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled:

World English Bible
and 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:

New King James Version
if the spirit of jealousy comes upon him and he becomes jealous of his wife, who has defiled herself; or if the spirit of jealousy comes upon him and he becomes jealous of his wife, although she has not defiled herself--

New Living Translation
If her husband becomes jealous and is suspicious of his wife and needs to know whether or not she has defiled herself,

New Life Bible
but a spirit of jealousy comes over her husband, he will be jealous of his wife when she has made herself unclean. Or if he becomes jealous of his wife when she has done nothing to make herself unclean,

New Revised Standard
if a spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife who has defiled herself; or if a spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife, though she has not defiled herself;

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
but there shall pass over him a spirit of jealousy, and he shall become jealous of his wife, she having committed uncleanness, - or there shall pass over him a spirit of jealousy, and he shall become jealous of his wife, she not, having committed uncleanness,

Douay-Rheims Bible
If the spirit of jealousy stir up the husband against his wife, who either is defiled, or is charged with false suspicion,

Revised Standard Version
and if the spirit of jealousy comes upon him, and he is jealous of his wife who has defiled herself; or if the spirit of jealousy comes upon him, and he is jealous of his wife, though she has not defiled herself;

New American Standard Bible (1995)
if a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife when she has defiled herself, or if a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife when she has not defiled herself,

Contextual Overview

¹¹ God spoke to Moses: "Tell the People of Israel, Say a man's wife goes off and has an affair, is unfaithful to him by sleeping with another man, but her husband knows nothing about it even though she has defiled herself. And then, even though there was no witness and she wasn't caught in the act, feelings of jealousy come over the husband and he suspects that his wife is impure. Even if she is innocent and his jealousy and suspicions are groundless, he is to take his wife to the priest. He must also take an offering of two quarts of barley flour for her. He is to pour no oil on it or mix incense with it because it is a Grain-Offering for jealousy, a Grain-Offering for bringing the guilt out into the open. ¹⁶"The priest then is to take her and have her stand in the presence of God . He is to take some holy water in a pottery jar and put some dust from the floor of The Dwelling in the water. After the priest has her stand in the presence of God he is to uncover her hair and place the exposure-offering in her hands, the Grain-Offering for jealousy, while he holds the bitter water that delivers a curse. Then the priest will put the woman under oath and say, ‘If no man has slept with you and you have not had an adulterous affair and become impure while married to your husband, may this bitter water that delivers a curse not harm you. But if you have had an affair while married to your husband and have defiled yourself by sleeping with a man other than your husband'—here the priest puts the woman under this curse—‘may God cause your people to curse and revile you when he makes your womb shrivel and your belly swell. Let this water that delivers a curse enter your body so that your belly swells and your womb shrivels.' "Then the woman shall say, ‘Amen. Amen.' ²³"The priest is to write these curses on a scroll and then wash the words off into the bitter water. He then is to give the woman the bitter water that delivers a curse. This water will enter her body and cause acute pain. The priest then is to take from her hands a handful of the Grain-Offering for jealousy, wave it before God, and bring it to the Altar. The priest then is to take a handful of the Grain-Offering, using it as an exposure-offering, and burn it on the Altar; after this he is to make her drink the water. If she has defiled herself in being unfaithful to her husband, when she drinks the water that delivers a curse, it will enter her body and cause acute pain; her belly will swell and her womb shrivel. She will be cursed among her people. But if she has not defiled herself and is innocent of impurity, her name will be cleared and she will be able to have children. ²⁹"This is the law of jealousy in a case where a woman goes off and has an affair and defiles herself while married to her husband, or a husband is tormented with feelings of jealousy because he suspects his wife. The priest is to have her stand in the presence of God and go through this entire procedure with her. The husband will be cleared of wrong, but the woman will pay for her wrong."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

Rooach kinah, either a supernatural diabolic influence, exciting him to jealousy, or, rather, the passion or affection of jealousy. Numbers 5:30, Proverbs 6:34, Song of Solomon 8:6, Zephaniah 3:8, 1 Corinthians 10:22

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the spirit of jealousy come upon him,.... A thought rises up in his mind, a strong suspicion works in him, which he cannot resist and throw off, but it remains with him, and makes him very uneasy, that his wife has defiled his bed, as it follows:

and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled; that his wife is defiled by a man; and which is the real case, as it afterwards appears, though at present he is not certain, only has a suspicion of it:

or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled; it is mere jealousy and suspicion, without any foundation for it; and his wife proved a chaste and virtuous woman; yet be it which it would, he being jealous, the following law was to take place, and the following rules to be observed.

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.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Numbers 5:14. The spirit of jealousy — רוח קנאה ruach kinah, either a supernatural diabolic influence, exciting him to jealousy, or the passion or affection of jealousy, for so the words may be understood.