Numbers 5:25

THE MESSAGE

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
The Kohen shall take the meal offering of jealousy out of the woman's hand, and shall wave the meal offering before the LORD, and bring it to the altar.

King James Version
Then the priest shall take the jealousy offering out of the woman's hand, and shall wave the offering before the Lord , and offer it upon the altar:

Lexham English Bible
The priest will take the grain offering of jealousy from the hand of the woman, and he will wave the grain offering before Yahweh, and he will present it to the altar;

New Century Version
Then the priest will take the grain offering for jealousy from her. He will present it before the Lord and bring it to the altar.

New English Translation
The priest will take the grain offering of suspicion from the woman's hand, wave the grain offering before the Lord , and bring it to the altar.

Amplified Bible
'Then the priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy out of the woman's hand, and he shall wave the grain offering before the LORD and offer it on the altar.

New American Standard Bible
'And the priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman's hand, and he shall wave the grain offering before the LORD and bring it to the altar;

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then the Priest shall take the ielousie offring out of the womans hand, and shal shake the offring before the Lord, and offer it vpon ye altar.

Legacy Standard Bible
And the priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman's hand, and he shall wave the grain offering before Yahweh and bring it near to the altar;

Contemporary English Version
He will take the barley offering from her and lift it up in dedication to me, the Lord . Then he will place it on my altar

Complete Jewish Bible
Then the cohen is to remove the grain offering for jealousy from the woman's hand, wave the grain offering before Adonai and bring it to the altar.

Darby Translation
And the priest shall take out of the woman's hand the oblation of jealousy, and shall wave the oblation before Jehovah, and shall present it at the altar.

Easy-to-Read Version
"Then the priest will take the grain offering from her (the offering for jealousy) and raise it before the Lord . Then he will carry it to the altar.

English Standard Version
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 bring it to the altar.

George Lamsa Translation
Then the priest shall take the jealousy meal offering out of the womans hand, and shall wave the meal offering before the LORD, and offer it upon the altar;

Good News Translation
the priest shall take the offering of flour out of the woman's hands, hold it out in dedication to the Lord , and present it on the altar.

Christian Standard Bible®
The priest is to take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman, present the offering before the Lord, and bring it to the altar.

Literal Translation
And the priest shall take the food offering of jealousy out of the woman's hand, and shall wave the food offering before Jehovah, and shall bring it near to the altar.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
And wha the cursinge water is gone in her, so yt it is bytter vnto her then shal the prest take the gelousy offerynge out of the wyues hande, and waue it for a meatofferynge before the LORDE, and offre it vpon the altare:

American Standard Version
And the priest shall take the meal-offering of jealousy out of the woman's hand, and shall wave the meal-offering before Jehovah, and bring it unto the altar:

Bible in Basic English
And the priest will take from her hand the meal offering of doubt, waving it before the Lord, and will take it to the altar;

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And then the priest shall take the gelousie offeryng out of the womans hande, and waue it before the Lorde, and bryng it vnto the aulter.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the priest shall take the meal-offering of jealousy out of the woman's hand, and shall wave the meal-offering before the LORD, and bring it unto the altar.

King James Version (1611)
Then the Priest shall take the ielousie offering out of the womans hand, and shall waue the offering before the Lord, and offer it vpon the Altar.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the priest shall take from the hand of the woman the sacrifice of jealousy, and shall present the sacrifice before the Lord, and shall bring it to the altar.

English Revised Version
And the priest shall take the meal offering of jealousy out of the woman's hand, and shall wave the meal offering before the LORD, and bring it unto the altar:

Berean Standard Bible
The priest shall take from her hand the grain offering for jealousy, wave it before the LORD, and bring it to the altar.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
the preest schal take of hir hond the sacrifice of gelousie, and he schal reise it bifor the Lord, and he schal putte on the auter;

Young's Literal Translation
`And the priest hath taken out of the hand of the woman the present of jealousy, and hath waved the present before Jehovah, and hath brought it near unto the altar;

Update Bible Version
And the priest shall take the meal-offering of jealousy out of the woman's hand, and shall wave the meal-offering before Yahweh, and bring it to the altar:

Webster's Bible Translation
Then the priest shall take the jealousy-offering out of the woman's hand, and shall wave the offering before the LORD, and offer it upon the altar:

World English Bible
The priest shall take the meal offering of jealousy out of the woman's hand, and shall wave the meal offering before Yahweh, and bring it to the altar.

New King James Version
Then the priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman's hand, shall wave the offering before the LORD, and bring it to the altar;

New Living Translation
"The priest will take the jealousy offering from the woman's hand, lift it up before the Lord , and carry it to the altar.

New Life Bible
The religious leader will take the grain gift of jealousy from the woman's hand. He will wave the grain gift before the Lord and bring it to the altar.

New Revised Standard
The priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy out of the woman's hand, and shall elevate the grain offering before the Lord and bring it to the altar;

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
Then shall the priest take from the hand of the woman the jealousy meal-offering, - and shall wave the meal-offering before Yahweh, and bring it near unto the altar;

Douay-Rheims Bible
The priest shall take from her hand the sacrifice of jealousy, and shall elevate it before the Lord, and shall put it upon the altar: yet so as first,

Revised Standard Version
And the priest shall take the cereal offering of jealousy out of the woman's hand, and shall wave the cereal offering before the LORD and bring it to the altar;

New American Standard Bible (1995)
'The priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman's hand, and he shall wave the grain offering before the LORD and bring it to the altar;

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

priest: Numbers 5:15, Numbers 5:18

wave: Exodus 29:24, Leviticus 8:27

Reciprocal: Numbers 6:20 - the priest shall

Gill's Notes on the Bible

Then the priest shall take the jealousy offering out of the woman's hand,.... Which she was obliged to hold in her hand while the above rites and ceremonies were performed; which was very heavy, being an omer of barley flour, a measure about three quarts, which was put into an Egyptian basket made of small palm tree twigs: and this was put into her hands to weary her, as before observed, that, having her mind distressed, she might the sooner confess her crime:

and shall wave the offering before the Lord: backwards and forwards, upwards and downwards, as Jarchi; who also observes, that the woman waved with him, for her hand was above the hand of the priest so the tradition is,

"he (her husband) took her offering out of the Egyptian basket, and put it into a ministering vessel, and gave it into her hand, and the priest put his hand under hers, and waved it a:''

and offer it upon the altar: this was the bringing of it to the southwest corner of the altar, as Jarchi says, before he took a handful out of it, as in other meat offerings.

a Misnah, ut supra, (Sotah) c. 3. sect. 1.

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.