Numbers 5:12
in Numbers 5“Speak to the Israelites and tell them that if any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man’s wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him,
KJV
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man’s wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him,
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This verse in Numbers 5
Commentary
4 notes on this verseIf a man's wife - This law was given partly to deter wives from adulterous practices, and partly to secure wives against the rage of their hard-hearted husbands, who otherwise might upon mere suspicions destroy them, or at least put them away.
This site's exposition
If any man's wife go aside
on Numbers 5:12-14
The law is defined by what evidence cannot reach. Verse 13 stacks the conditions, hidden from her husband, kept close, no witness against her, and she was not taken in the act, which is exactly the case Leviticus 20:10 and Deuteronomy 22:22 cannot touch, since those laws require proof and carry death. Verse 14 then states the case twice, once where the wife is defiled and once where she is not, so the law is written for a husband whose suspicion may be wrong. Adam Clarke takes the spirit of jealousy as either an influence working on the man or the passion itself, and leaves the choice open.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them,....
The sin of adultery is justly represented as an exceedingly sinful sin; it is going aside from God and virtue, and the good way, Prov. ii. 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.
The words behind it
14 Hebrew wordsEvery Hebrew word of this verse in the order it stands, with what it means and the door to its own study. The last column counts the times a word stands in the whole Bible: the rarer the word, the more the places it appears belong together.
| Hebrew | Sound | Meaning | Word study | In the Bible |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| דַּבֵּר֙ | daber | speak | H1696 → | 1141 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | to | H413 → | 5510 times |
| בְּנֵ֣י | benei | [the] people of | H1121 → | 4930 times |
| יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל | yisrael | Israel | H3478 → | 2507 times |
| וְאָמַרְתָּ֖ | veamarta | and you will say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| אֲלֵהֶ֑ם | ʾalehem | to them | H413 → | 5510 times |
| אִ֥ישׁ | ʾish | a man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| אִישׁ֙ | ʾish | a man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| כִּֽי־ | ki- | if | H3588 → | 4482 times |
| תִשְׂטֶ֣ה | tisteh | she will turn aside | H7847 → | 6 times |
| אִשְׁתּ֔וֹ | ʾishto | wife his | H802 → | 781 times |
| וּמָעֲלָ֥ה | umaalah | and she will act unfaithfully | H4603 → | 36 times |
| ב֖וֹ | vo | against <the> him | ||
| מָֽעַל׃ | maal | unfaithfulness | H4604 → | 28 times |
דַּבֵּר֙speak
daberH1696 →1141 times
אֶל־to
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
בְּנֵ֣י[the] people of
beneiH1121 →4930 times
יִשְׂרָאֵ֔לIsrael
yisraelH3478 →2507 times
וְאָמַרְתָּ֖and you will say
veamartaH559 →5305 times
אֲלֵהֶ֑םto them
ʾalehemH413 →5510 times
אִ֥ישׁa man
ʾishH376 →1663 times
אִישׁ֙a man
ʾishH376 →1663 times
כִּֽי־if
ki-H3588 →4482 times
תִשְׂטֶ֣הshe will turn aside
tistehH7847 →6 times
אִשְׁתּ֔וֹwife his
ʾishtoH802 →781 times
וּמָעֲלָ֥הand she will act unfaithfully
umaalahH4603 →36 times
ב֖וֹagainst <the> him
vo
מָֽעַל׃unfaithfulness
maalH4604 →28 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Numbers
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; Jamieson, Fausset & Brown, Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.