Numbers 5:16

THE MESSAGE

"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.'

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
The Kohen shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD;

King James Version
And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the Lord :

Lexham English Bible
"‘Then the priest will bring her near and present her before Yahweh;

New Century Version
"‘The priest will bring in the woman and make her stand before the Lord .

New English Translation
"‘Then the priest will bring her near and have her stand before the Lord .

Amplified Bible
'Then the priest shall have her approach and have her stand before the LORD,

New American Standard Bible
'Then the priest shall bring her forward and have her stand before the LORD,

Geneva Bible (1587)
And the Priest shall bring her, and set her before the Lord.

Legacy Standard Bible
‘Then the priest shall bring her near and have her stand before Yahweh,

Contemporary English Version
The priest is to have the woman stand at my altar,

Complete Jewish Bible
The cohen will bring her forward and place her before Adonai .

Darby Translation
And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before Jehovah.

Easy-to-Read Version
"The priest will take the woman before the Lord and make her stand there.

English Standard Version
"And the priest shall bring her near and set her before the Lord .

George Lamsa Translation
And the priest shall bring her near, and she shall stand before the LORD;

Good News Translation
The priest shall bring the woman forward and have her stand in front of the altar.

Christian Standard Bible®
“The priest is to bring her forward and have her stand before the Lord.

Literal Translation
And the priest shall bring her near, and shall cause her to stand before Jehovah.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
Then shall the prest brynge her, and sett her before the LORDE,

American Standard Version
And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before Jehovah:

Bible in Basic English
And the priest will make her come near and put her before the Lord;

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the priest shall bryng her, and set her before the Lorde.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD.

King James Version (1611)
And the Priest shall bring her neere, and set her before the Lord.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the priest shall bring her, and cause her to stand before the Lord.

English Revised Version
And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD:

Berean Standard Bible
The priest is to bring the wife forward and have her stand before the LORD.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
Therfor the preest schal offre hir, and schal sette bifore the Lord;

Young's Literal Translation
`And the priest hath brought her near, and hath caused her to stand before Jehovah,

Update Bible Version
And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before Yahweh:

Webster's Bible Translation
And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD:

World English Bible
The priest shall bring her near, and set her before Yahweh;

New King James Version
"And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD.

New Living Translation
"The priest will then present her to stand trial before the Lord .

New Life Bible
‘Then the religious leader will bring her near and have her stand before the Lord.

New Revised Standard
Then the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the Lord ;

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then shall the priest bring her near, - and cause her to stand before Yahweh;

Douay-Rheims Bible
The priest therefore shall offer it, and set it before the Lord.

Revised Standard Version
"And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD;

New American Standard Bible (1995)
'Then the priest shall bring her near and have her stand before the LORD,

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

bring her near: or, rather, "bring it near;" i. e. her offering

set her: Rather, "set it," i.e., the offering; for the woman is afterwards ordered to be set before the Lord - Numbers 5:18. Leviticus 1:3, Jeremiah 17:10, Hebrews 13:4, Revelation 2:22, Revelation 2:23

Reciprocal: 1 Kings 8:31 - the oath

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the priest shall bring her near,.... Or "offer it", as the Vulgate Latin version, that is, the offering of jealousy:

and set her before the Lord; or "it", the offering; for which the Tigurine version is more express,

"let the priest offer that sacrifice, and set that before the Lord,''

for the setting of the woman before the Lord is spoken of in Numbers 5:18.

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.