Numbers 5:16
in Numbers 5The priest is to bring the wife forward and have her stand before the LORD.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before Jehovah:
KJV
And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the Lord:
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This verse in Numbers 5
Commentary
2 notes on this verseAnd the priest shall bring her near,.... Or "offer it", as the Vulgate Latin version, that is, the offering of jealousy: and set her before the Lord; or "it", the offering; for which the Tigurine version is more express,"let the priest offer that sacrifice, and set that before the Lord,''for the setting of the woman before the Lord is spoken of in Num 5:18.
This site's exposition
The priest is to bring the wife forward
on Numbers 5:16-18
The priest puts “holy water in a clay jar”, words found nowhere else in Scripture, and adds “dust from the tabernacle floor”. The text gives no reason for the dust, and Adam Clarke suggests the crime’s baseness.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
On the verses either side of this one
מים קדשים HOLY WATER — i.e., water that has become holy through being in the laver. — The water was taken from the laver because that was made of the copper mirrors of the women who had gathered (Exodus:8) [at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting] and this woman deviated from their chaste ways. Because they had cherished their husbands’ love in Egypt (cf.
1 more on this passage, in their own words ▾
HE SHALL POUR NO OIL UPON IT — “so that her offering shall not be enriched, for oil is called light, whereas she acted in darkness. NOR SHALL HE PUT FRANKINCENSE THEREON, for the matriarchs are compared to frankincense, as it is said, to the hill of frankincense.
This section is reception history: how the passage was read and kept in the Jewish tradition. Where a reading parts from an essential of the Christian faith, the section says so at that point.
Texts and citation data: Sefaria; each excerpt follows its version’s licence. 4 further sources are cited on this chapter that carry no English text this site may quote or only restate the verse.
The words behind it
6 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהִקְרִ֥יב | vehikriv | and he will bring near | H7126 → | 280 times |
| אֹתָ֖הּ | ʾotah | <obj.> her | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הַכֹּהֵ֑ן | hakohen | the priest | H3548 → | 750 times |
| וְהֶֽעֱמִדָ֖הּ | veheemidah | and he will make stand her | H5975 → | 521 times |
| לִפְנֵ֥י | lifnei | <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| יְהוָֽה׃ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
וְהִקְרִ֥יבand he will bring near
vehikrivH7126 →280 times
אֹתָ֖הּ<obj.> her
ʾotahH853 →10935 times
הַכֹּהֵ֑ןthe priest
hakohenH3548 →750 times
וְהֶֽעֱמִדָ֖הּand he will make stand her
veheemidahH5975 →521 times
לִפְנֵ֥י<to> before
lifneiH6440 →2123 times
יְהוָֽה׃Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.
The walk
8 stopsEach card is a verse this one points to, and under it the verses that one points to in turn. Where several paths arrive at the same place, that place is listed first: the text keeps returning to it.
Through
Hebrews 13:4Marriage should be honored by all and the marriage bed kept undefiled, for God will judge the sexually immoral and adulterers.
it leads to
- Genesis 2:24
For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and they will become one flesh.
- Genesis 2:24
Through
Jeremiah 17:10I, the LORD, search the heart; I examine the mind to reward a man according to his way, by what his deeds deserve.
it leads to
- 1 Samuel 16:7
But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or height, for I have rejected him; the LORD does not see as man does. For man sees the outward appearance, but the…
- Romans 8:27
And He who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for the saints according to the will of God.
- Jeremiah 11:20
O LORD of Hosts, who judges righteously, who examines the heart and mind, let me see Your vengeance upon them, for to You I have committed my cause.
- Revelation 2:23
Then I will strike her children dead, and all the churches will know that I am the One who searches minds and hearts, and I will repay each of you according to your deeds.
- 1 Samuel 16:7
Through
Leviticus 1:3If one’s offering is a burnt offering from the herd, he is to present an unblemished male. He must bring it to the entrance to the Tent of Meeting for its acceptance before the…
it leads to
- Deuteronomy 15:21
But if an animal has a defect, is lame or blind, or has any serious flaw, you must not sacrifice it to the LORD your God.
- Hebrews 9:14
how much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself unblemished to God, purify our consciences from works of death, so that we may serve the living God!
- Leviticus 22:19–24
must offer an unblemished male from the cattle, sheep, or goats in order for it to be accepted on your behalf.
- Deuteronomy 15:21
Where this verse is studied
About Numbers
This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament.