TRV
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Commentary on Numbers 5 verses 11–31
We have here the law concerning the solemn trial of a wife whose husband was jealous of her. Observe,
I. What was the case supposed: That a man had some reason to suspect his wife to have committed adultery, Num 5:12-14. Here, 1. The sin of adultery is justly represented as an exceedingly sinful sin; it is going aside from God and virtue, and the good way, Pro 2:17. It is committing a trespass against the husband, robbing him of his honour, alienating his right, introducing a spurious breed into his family to share with his children in his estate, and violating her covenant with him. It is being defiled; for nothing pollutes the mind and conscience more than this sin does. 2. It is supposed to be a sin which great care is taken by the sinners to conceal, which there is no witness of. The eye of the adulterer waits for the twilight, Job 24:15. And the adulteress takes her opportunity when the good man is not at home, Pro 7:19. It would not covet to be secret if it were not shameful; and the devil who draws sinners to this sin teaches them how to cover it. 3. The spirit of jealousy is supposed to come upon the husband, of which Solomon says, It is the rage of a man (Pro 6:34), and that it is cruel as the grave, Sol 8:6. 4. "Yet" (say the Jewish writers) "he must make it appear that he has some just cause for the suspicion." The rule they give is, "If the husband have said unto his wife before witnesses, 'Be not thou in secret with such a man;' and, notwithstanding that admonition, it is afterwards proved that she was in secret with that man, though her father or her brother, then he may compel her to drink the bitter water." But the law here does not tie him to that particular method of proving the just cause of his suspicion; it might be otherwise proved. In case it could be proved that she had committed adultery, she was to be put to death (Lev 20:10); but, if it was uncertain, then this law took place. Hence, (1.) Let all wives be admonished not to give any the least occasion for the suspicion of their chastity; it is not enough that they abstain from the evil of uncleanness, but they must abstain from all appearance of it, from every thing that looks like it, or leads to it, or may give the least umbrage to jealousy; for how great a matter may a little fire kindle! (2.) Let all husbands be admonished not to entertain any causeless or unjust suspicions of their wives. If charity in general, much more conjugal affection, teaches to think no evil, Co1 13:5. It is the happiness of the virtuous woman that the heart of her husband does safely trust in her, Pro 31:11.
II. What was the course prescribed in this case, that, if the suspected wife was innocent, she might not continue under the reproach and uneasiness of her husband's jealousy, and, if guilty, her sin might find her out, and others might hear, and fear, and take warning.
1.The process of the trial must be thus: - (1.) Her husband must bring her to the priest, with the witnesses that could prove the ground of his suspicion, and desire that she might be put upon her trial. The Jews say that the priest was first to endeavour to persuade her to confess the truth, saying to this purport, "Dear daughter, perhaps thou wast overtaken by drinking wine, or wast carried away by the heat of youth or the examples of bad neighbours; come, confess the truth, for the sake of his great name which is described in the most sacred ceremony, and do not let it be blotted out with the bitter water." If she confessed, saying, "I am defiled," she was not put to death, but was divorced and lost her dowry; if she said, "I am pure," then they proceeded. (2.) He must bring a coarse offering of barley-meal, without oil or frankincense, agreeably to the present afflicted state of his family; for a great affliction it was either to have cause to be jealous or to be jealous without cause. It is an offering of memorial, to signify that what was to be done was intended as a religious appeal to the omniscience and justice of God. (3.) The priest was to prepare the water of jealousy, the holy water out of the laver at which the priests were to wash when they ministered; this must be brought in an earthen vessel, containing (they say) about a pint; and it must be an earthen vessel, because the coarser and plainer every thing was the more agreeable it was to the occasion. Dust must be put into the water, to signify the reproach she lay under, and the shame she ought to take to herself, putting her mouth in the dust; but dust from the floor of the tabernacle, to put an honour upon every thing that pertained to the place God had chosen to put his name there, and to keep up in the people a reverence for it; see Joh 8:6. (4.) The woman was to be set before the Lord, at the east gate of the temple-court (say the Jews), and her head was to be uncovered, in token of her sorrowful condition; and there she stood for a spectacle to the world, that other women might learn not to do after her lewdness, Eze 23:48. Only the Jews say, "Her own servants were not to be present, that she might not seem vile in their sight, who were to give honour to her; her husband also must be dismissed." (5.) The priest was to adjure her to tell the truth, and to denounce the curse of God against her if she were guilty, and to declare what would be the effect of her drinking the water of jealousy, Num 5:19-22. He must assure her that, if she were innocent, the water would do her no harm, Num 5:19. None need fear the curse of the law if they have not broken the commands of the law. But, if she were guilty, this water would be poison to her, it would make her belly to swell and her thigh to rot, and she should be a curse or abomination among her people, Num 5:21, Num 5:22. To this she must say, Amen, as Israel must do to the curses pronounced on mount Ebal, Deu 27:15-26. Some think the Amen, being doubled, respects both parts of the adjuration, both that which freed her if innocent and that which condemned her if guilty. No woman, if she were guilty, could say Amen to this adjuration, and drink the water upon it, unless she disbelieved the truth of God or defied his justice, and had come to such a pitch of impudence and hard-heartedness in sin as to challenge God Almighty to do his worst, and choose rather to venture upon his curse than to give him glory by making confession; thus has whoredom taken away the heart. (6.) The priest was to write this curse in a scrip or scroll o parchment, verbatim - word for word, as he had expressed it, and then to wipe or scrape out what he had written into the water (Num 5:23), to signify that it was that curse which impregnated the water, and gave it its strength to effect what was intended. It signified that, if she were innocent, the curse should be blotted out and never appear against her, as it is written, Isa 43:25, I am he that blotteth out thy transgression, and Psa 51:9, Blot out my iniquities; but that, if she were guilty, the curse, as it was written, being infused into the water, would enter into her bowels with the water, even like oil into her bones (Psa 109:18), as we read of a curse entering into a house, Zac 5:4. (7.) The woman must then drink the water (Num 5:24); it is called the bitter water, some think because they put wormwood in it to make it bitter, or rather because it caused the curse. Thus sin is called an evil thing and a bitter for the same reason, because it causeth the curse, Jer 2:19. If she had been guilty (and otherwise it did not cause the curse), she was made to know that though her stolen waters had been sweet, and her bread eaten in secret pleasant, yet the end was bitter as wormwood, Pro 9:17, and Pro 5:4. Let all that meddle with forbidden pleasures know that they will be bitterness in the latter end. The Jews say that if, upon denouncing the curse, the woman was so terrified that she durst not drink the water, but confessed she was defiled, the priest flung down the water, and cast her offering among the ashes, and she was divorced without dowry: if she confessed not, and yet would not drink, they forced her to it; and, if she was ready to throw it up again, they hastened her away, that she might not pollute the holy place. (8.) Before she drank the water, the jealousy-offering was waved and offered upon the altar (Num 5:25, Num 5:26); a handful of it was burnt for a memorial, and the remainder of it eaten by the priest, unless the husband was a priest, and then it was scattered among the ashes. This offering in the midst of the transaction signified that the whole was an appeal to God, as a God that knows all things, and from whom no secret is hid. (9.) All things being thus performed according to the law, they were to wait the issue. The water, with a little dust put into it, and the scrapings of a written parchment, had no natural tendency at all to do either good or hurt; but if God was thus appealed to in the way of an instituted ordinance, though otherwise the innocent might have continued under suspicion and the guilty undiscovered, yet God would so far own his own institution as that in a little time, by the miraculous operation of Providence, the innocency of the innocent should be cleared, and the sin of the guilty should find them out. [1.] If the suspected woman was really guilty, the water she drank would be poison to her (Num 5:27), her belly would swell and her thigh rot by a vile disease for vile deserts, and she would mourn at the last when her flesh and body were consumed, Pro 5:11. Bishop Patrick says, from some of the Jewish writers, that the effect of these waters appeared immediately, she grew pale, and her eyes ready to start out of her head. Dr. Lightfoot says that sometimes it appeared not for two or three years, but she bore no children, was sickly, languished, and rotted at last; it is probable that some indications appeared immediately. The rabbin say that the adulterer also died in the same day and hour that the adulteress did, and in the same manner too, that he belly swelled, and his secret parts rotted: a disease perhaps not much unlike that which in these latter ages the avenging hand of a righteous God has made the scourge of uncleanness, and with which whores and whoremongers infect, and plague, and ruin one another, since they escape punishment from men. The Jewish doctors add that the waters had this effect upon the adulteress only in case the husband had never offended in the same kind; but that, if he had at any time defiled the marriage-bed, God did not thus right him against his injurious wife; and that therefore in the latter and degenerate ages of the Jewish church, when uncleanness did abound, this way of trial was generally disused and laid aside; men, knowing their own crimes, were content not to know their wives' crimes. And to this perhaps may refer the threatening (Hos 4:14), I will not punish your spouses when they commit adultery, for you yourselves are separated with whores. [2.] If she were innocent, the water she drank would be physic to her: She shall be free, and shall conceive seed, Num 5:28. The Jewish writers magnify the good effects of this water to the innocent woman, that, to recompense her for the wrong done to her by the suspicion, she should, after the drinking of these waters, be stronger and look better than ever; if she was sickly, she should become healthful, should bear a man-child, and have easy labour.
2.From the whole we may learn, (1.) That secret sins are known to God, and sometimes are strangely brought to light in this life; however, there is a day coming when God will, by Jesus Christ, as here by the priest, judge the secrets of men according to the gospel, Rom 2:16. (2.) That, in particular, Whoremongers and adulterers God will judge. The violation of conjugal faith and chastity is highly provoking to the God of heaven, and sooner or later it will be reckoned for. Though we have not now the waters of jealousy to be a sensible terror to the unclean, yet we have a word from God which ought to be as great a terror, that if any man defile the temple of God, him shall God destroy, Co1 3:17. (3.) That God will find out some way or other to clear the innocency of the innocent, and to bring forth their righteousness as the light. (4.) That to the pure all things are pure, but to the defiled nothing is so, Tit 1:15. The same word is to some a savour of life unto life, to others a savour of death unto death, like those waters of jealousy, according as they receive it; the same providence is for good to some and for hurt to others, Jer 24:5, Jer 24:8, Jer 24:9. And, whatsoever it is intended for, it shall not return void.
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SUMMARY
Numbers 5:19 is a pivotal verse within the "law of jealousy" (Numbers 5:11-31), detailing the solemn oath administered by the priest to a woman suspected of infidelity. This verse outlines the conditional declaration of innocence: if the woman has maintained her marital fidelity and has not "gone aside to uncleanness" with another man, she will be absolved from the curse associated with the "bitter water." It underscores the divine provision for discerning truth in the absence of human witnesses, highlighting God's omniscience and the profound importance of marital sanctity within the Israelite covenant.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Numbers 5:19 employs several significant literary devices that amplify its meaning and impact. The most prominent is the Conditional Statement, clearly articulated by the "If...then..." structure, even if the "then" clause is implied as a declaration of outcome rather than a direct command. This highlights the direct and inescapable link between the woman's fidelity and the outcome of the ordeal, emphasizing divine cause and effect. Symbolism is also crucial, with the "bitter water" acting as a powerful symbol of divine judgment and the potential consequences of hidden sin. The water, mixed with dust from the tabernacle floor and the dissolved ink of the curse, embodies the truth-revealing power of God, transforming an ordinary substance into a conduit of divine justice. Furthermore, the entire ritual functions as a Divine Ordeal, a legal mechanism where God is directly invoked to reveal truth in cases where human evidence is insufficient. This device underscores the Israelite belief in God's active involvement in justice and His ability to expose what is hidden, serving as a deterrent against secret sin and a means of vindication for the innocent.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Numbers 5:19, as part of the law of jealousy, profoundly illustrates God's unwavering concern for truth, justice, and the sanctity of marriage within the covenant community. It reveals a God who is not distant from human affairs but actively intervenes to uphold moral order, even when human means of discernment fail. The ritual underscores the destructive power of hidden sin and unresolved suspicion, providing a divine mechanism to either vindicate the innocent or expose the guilty, thereby maintaining purity and trust within the foundational institution of marriage. This passage reminds us that no sin is truly hidden from God, who sees and knows all, and that His justice will ultimately prevail.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
While the specific ritual of the bitter water is part of the Old Covenant ceremonial law and is not practiced by believers today, Numbers 5:19 offers profound insights into God's character and His enduring principles. It reminds us that God is a God of truth and justice, who cares deeply about the integrity of relationships, especially the covenant of marriage. It challenges us to consider the destructive nature of suspicion, deceit, and unconfessed sin, recognizing that nothing is hidden from the eyes of Him to whom we must give account. For us, the pursuit of truth and resolution in relationships is now guided by principles of grace, forgiveness, and open communication, empowered by the Holy Spirit. We are called to live lives of integrity, knowing that our ultimate vindication or conviction rests not on ritual ordeals but on the perfect righteousness of Christ and the judgment to come. This passage encourages us to cultivate trust, practice transparency, and seek reconciliation in our relationships, always remembering that our God is one who sees and knows all, and delights in truth in the inner being.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Is the "law of jealousy" still applicable to Christians today?
Answer: No, the "law of jealousy" found in Numbers 5:11-31, including verse 19, was part of the ceremonial and judicial laws given specifically to ancient Israel under the Old Covenant. These laws served particular purposes for a specific people at a particular time, often foreshadowing spiritual realities found in Christ. With the coming of Jesus Christ and the establishment of the New Covenant, the ceremonial laws, including ritual purity laws and specific judicial ordeals, have been fulfilled and superseded (as articulated in Hebrews 8:13). While the underlying principles of God's hatred for sin and His desire for marital fidelity remain eternal, the specific ritual is not practiced by Christians.
What was the "bitter water" and how was it supposed to work?
Answer: The "bitter water" was a concoction prepared by the priest, consisting of holy water mixed with dust from the tabernacle floor. The priest would also write the curses associated with adultery on a scroll and then wash the words into the bitter water, causing the ink to dissolve. It was not believed to be a magical potion in itself, but rather a symbolic medium through which God would supernaturally reveal the truth. For the innocent, it would have no effect, but for the guilty, Numbers 5:27 states it was believed to cause internal swelling and a decaying of the reproductive organs, signifying divine judgment. The efficacy of the water was not in its chemical properties but in God's power to act through the ritual, demonstrating His direct involvement in revealing hidden sin.
Does this law imply a lack of trust in marriage or promote suspicion?
Answer: The "law of jealousy" addresses a very specific and extreme scenario: when a husband had a spirit of jealousy (Numbers 5:14) that led to suspicion of his wife's infidelity, but there was no direct evidence or witnesses to prove it. It was a divine provision to resolve a deeply unsettling and potentially destructive situation within a marriage and community, preventing false accusations from festering or unproven guilt from going unaddressed. Rather than promoting general suspicion, it provided a structured, divine mechanism for resolution when human means failed, underscoring the gravity of marital vows and the importance of truth. It served as a deterrent against hidden sin and a means for God to vindicate the innocent, restoring peace and order.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
The "law of jealousy" in Numbers 5:19, with its solemn oath and the bitter water designed to expose hidden sin and bring forth truth, finds its ultimate fulfillment in Jesus Christ. While the ritual itself is abolished, the principles it highlights—God's omniscience, His demand for purity, and His role as the ultimate judge—are perfectly embodied in Him. Christ is the one before whom all hidden things are revealed, for "nothing is covered that will not be revealed, or hidden that will not be known" (Luke 12:2). He is the one who took upon Himself the curse of the law, becoming a curse for us, thereby redeeming us from its condemnation (Galatians 3:13), so that those who are in Him are declared "free" not from a bitter water, but from the spiritual death and judgment that sin brings. Unlike the temporary vindication offered by the ritual, Christ offers eternal justification and a new covenant of grace where our purity is not based on our own performance but on His imputed righteousness (2 Corinthians 5:21). He is the true and perfect High Priest who intercedes for us, cleansing us not with symbolic water but with His own precious blood, enabling us to stand pure and blameless before God (Hebrews 9:14). Through Him, we are not subject to an ordeal of suspicion but are called to live in the light of His truth, empowered by the Spirit to pursue holiness and reconciliation (Romans 8:1-4).