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 5:22 concludes the oath portion of the "Ordeal of Jealousy," a unique Mosaic Law ritual designed to supernaturally determine a woman's guilt or innocence when accused of infidelity without witnesses. This verse precisely details the severe physical consequences—a swollen abdomen and a decaying reproductive system—that would befall a woman proven guilty by this divine test, culminating in her solemn, repeated affirmation of the terms and consequences of the oath. It underscores the gravity of marital fidelity and the direct, observable nature of divine judgment in ancient Israel.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Numbers 5:22 employs several powerful literary devices to convey its message with striking impact. Imagery is stark and visceral, with phrases like "belly to swell" and "thigh to rot" painting a vivid and disturbing picture of the severe physical consequences. This graphic description serves to underscore the gravity of infidelity and the intensity of divine judgment. Symbolism is central, as the "water that causeth the curse" is not merely a drink but a potent symbolic vehicle for divine truth and judgment, made effective by its mixture with dust from the tabernacle floor, representing God's holy presence and the earth from which humanity was formed. The afflictions themselves are symbolic, targeting the reproductive organs to signify the defilement of marital purity and the loss of the ability to bear legitimate offspring. The Repetition of "Amen, amen" serves as a powerful rhetorical device, emphasizing the woman's solemn affirmation and the binding nature of the oath, elevating the moment with profound gravity and finality.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
Numbers 5:22 powerfully articulates God's unwavering commitment to justice, purity, and the sanctity of covenant relationships, particularly marriage. It demonstrates that God is omniscient, seeing even hidden sins, and is actively involved in upholding moral order within His covenant community. The ordeal underscores the profound consequences of sin, especially secret sin, and God's willingness to supernaturally intervene to expose truth when human means are insufficient. It highlights the seriousness with which God views vows and fidelity, asserting that breaking such sacred commitments incurs divine judgment and visible consequences, ensuring that the community's moral fabric is maintained.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
While the specific ritual of the "Ordeal of Jealousy" is part of the Old Testament Mosaic Law and is not practiced today, Numbers 5:22 conveys timeless principles about God's character and human responsibility that remain profoundly relevant. It reminds us that God is a God of truth and justice, before whom nothing is hidden. Our actions, even those concealed from human eyes, are fully known to Him, and there will ultimately be a reckoning. This verse calls us to a life of integrity, purity, and faithfulness in all our relationships, especially within the sacred covenant of marriage, understanding that God values fidelity and sees our hearts. Furthermore, the woman's solemn "Amen, amen" serves as a powerful reminder of the weight of our words and the seriousness with which we should approach our commitments, particularly our affirmations of faith and obedience to God's will. It challenges us to live with sincerity, acknowledging God's sovereign hand in all circumstances and trusting in His ultimate justice and redemptive purposes.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Why did God institute such a seemingly harsh ritual as the "Ordeal of Jealousy"?
Answer: God instituted the "Ordeal of Jealousy" (Numbers 5:11-31) to address a specific societal problem in ancient Israel: a husband's suspicion of his wife's infidelity when there were no witnesses or direct evidence. In a legal system without modern forensic capabilities, this ritual provided a divinely sanctioned means to resolve such deeply personal and potentially destabilizing accusations. It served multiple purposes: to protect the innocent from false accusations, to expose hidden sin, to deter unfaithfulness by demonstrating severe divine consequences, and to uphold the sanctity of marriage and the moral order of the community. It was an appeal to God's direct intervention and omniscience, ensuring that ultimate justice was rendered in matters that human courts could not fully discern.
Is the "Ordeal of Jealousy" still relevant for believers today, given that it's an Old Testament ritual?
Answer: While the specific ritual of the "Ordeal of Jealousy" is not practiced today by Christians, as it was part of the Mosaic Law given to ancient Israel, the underlying theological principles remain highly relevant. It teaches us about God's character—His omniscience, His justice, and His commitment to purity and truth. It underscores the seriousness of sin, especially hidden sin, and the importance of marital fidelity. Believers today are called to live lives of integrity, knowing that nothing is hidden from God's sight. The New Testament emphasizes internal purity and the sanctity of marriage as a reflection of Christ's relationship with the church (e.g., Ephesians 5:22-33, Hebrews 13:4).
What is the significance of the woman saying "Amen, amen" at the end of the verse?
Answer: The woman's repeated "Amen, amen" is a profound and binding affirmation. The Hebrew word amen means "so be it," "truly," or "let it be affirmed." Its repetition signifies a solemn, emphatic agreement to the terms of the oath and the consequences that will follow, whether for blessing or curse. It highlights her full submission to the divine process and her acknowledgment of God's authority and justice in the matter. It is a powerful declaration of truth and consequence, akin to saying "truly, truly" or "verily, verily" in other biblical contexts, and underscores the gravity of the situation and her acceptance of the divine verdict.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Numbers 5:22, with its depiction of a curse-inducing water revealing hidden sin and bringing physical judgment, finds profound Christ-centered fulfillment in several ways. While this Old Testament ritual addressed the consequences of a wife's potential infidelity, it ultimately points to Christ as the one who fully exposes sin and, more importantly, bears its curse. The "water that causeth the curse" foreshadows the ultimate "cup" that Jesus drank—the cup of God's wrath against sin (e.g., Matthew 26:39). He, the innocent Lamb of God, took upon Himself the "curse" of sin, enduring the ultimate physical and spiritual consequences that humanity deserved, so that those who believe in Him might be set free from condemnation (e.g., Galatians 3:13). Furthermore, the ordeal's purpose was to bring hidden sin to light. Christ, as the light of the world, perfectly reveals all things (e.g., John 3:19-21). He is the ultimate judge who discerns the thoughts and intentions of the heart, far more perfectly than any bitter water (e.g., Hebrews 4:12). In the New Covenant, our cleansing comes not from a ritualistic drink but from the atoning blood of Christ, which purifies us from all sin and makes us righteous before God (e.g., 1 John 1:7). The "Amen, amen" of the woman in Numbers 5:22, signifying submission to divine truth, finds its ultimate echo in our "Amen" to Christ, acknowledging Him as Lord and Savior, accepting His perfect sacrifice, and submitting to His righteous reign, which brings not a curse but everlasting life and true spiritual fruitfulness (e.g., 2 Corinthians 1:20).