Numbers, Chapter 5

Numbers Chapter 5

Verses 1-31: Laws Concerning Purity, Restitution, and the Test for Adultery

1. The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
2. “Command the Israelites to put out of the camp everyone who is leprous or has a discharge, and everyone who is unclean through contact with the dead.
3. You shall put out both male and female; you shall put them outside the camp, that they may not defile their camp, in the midst of which I dwell.”
4. And the Israelites did so, and put them outside the camp; as the LORD spoke to Moses, so the Israelites did.
5. And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
6. “Speak to the Israelites, When a man or woman commits any sin that people commit by breaking faith with the LORD, and that person realizes his guilt,
7. he shall confess his sin that he has committed. And he shall make full restitution for his wrong, adding a fifth to it and giving it to him to whom he did the wrong.
8. If the man has no kinsman to whom restitution can be made for the wrong, the restitution for wrong shall go to the LORD for the priest, in addition to the ram of atonement with which atonement is made for him.
9. And every contribution, all the holy donations of the Israelites, which they bring to the priest, shall be his.
10. And every man’s sacred donations shall be his; whatever any man gives to the priest shall be his.”
11. And the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,
12. “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: If any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him,
13. if a man lies with her sexually, 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,
14. and if feelings of jealousy come over her husband and he is jealous of his wife who has defiled herself, or if feelings of jealousy come over him and he is jealous of his wife, although she has not defiled herself,
15. then the man shall bring his wife to the priest. And he shall bring the offering required for her, one-tenth of an ephah of barley meal. He shall pour no oil on it and put no frankincense on it, for it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance.
16. And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD,
17. and 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.
18. And the priest shall set the woman before the LORD, and unbind the hair of the woman’s head, and place in her hands the grain offering of memorial, which is the grain offering of jealousy. And in his hand the priest shall have the bitter water that brings the curse.
19. Then the priest shall make her take an oath, saying, ‘If no man has lain with you, and if you have not gone astray into uncleanness while under your husband’s authority, be free from this bitter water that brings the curse.
20. But if you have gone astray while under your husband’s authority, and if you have defiled yourself and some man other than your husband has lain with you,’
21. then the priest shall make the woman take the oath of the curse, and say to the woman, ‘The LORD make you a curse and an oath among your people, when the LORD makes your thigh fall away and your body swell.
22. May this water that brings the curse pass into your bowels and make your womb swell and your thigh fall away.’ And the woman shall say, ‘Amen, amen.’
23. Then the priest shall write these curses in a book and wash them off into the bitter water.
24. And he shall make the woman drink the bitter water that brings the curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter into her to become bitter.
25. Then 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;
26. and the priest shall take a handful of the grain offering, as its memorial portion, and burn it on the altar, and afterward shall make the woman drink the water.
27. And when he has made her drink the water, then, if she has defiled herself and has broken faith with her husband, the water that brings the curse shall enter into her and become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall fall away, and the woman shall become a curse among her people.
28. But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, then she shall be free and shall conceive children.
29. “This is the law in cases of jealousy, when a wife, while under her husband’s authority, goes astray and defiles herself,
30. or when the spirit of jealousy comes upon a man and he is jealous over his wife. Then he shall set the woman before the LORD, and the priest shall carry out for her all this law.
31. The man shall be free from iniquity, but the woman shall bear her iniquity.”

Interpretation: This chapter deals with maintaining purity within the Israelite camp, the importance of restitution for wrongs committed, and a unique ritual to address suspicions of infidelity. The separation of those who are unclean, the requirement for restitution, and the trial by bitter water not only reflect the societal norms and religious practices of the time but also the profound seriousness with which issues of trust, purity, and community harmony were treated. These laws emphasize the importance of personal integrity, the sanctity of marriage, and the role of the divine in adjudicating matters beyond human judgment.