Numbers 5:17
in Numbers 5Then he is to take some holy water in a clay jar and put some of the dust from the tabernacle floor into the water.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
and the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water.
KJV
And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water:
⋯
This verse in Numbers 5
Commentary
5 notes on this verseAnd the priest shall take holy water,.... Out of the laver, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan, and so Jarchi and Aben Ezra: in an earthen vessel; which held half a log, and that was but a quarter of a pint, or three egg shells; for no more was assigned, to a suspected woman, according to the Misnah (r).
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, while John Gill reports the rabbinic ruling that the jar was new. The priest is to “let down her hair”, which Clarke reads as public shame and links with 1 Corinthians 11:5-6.
This site's exposition
some of the dust from the tabernacle floor
Commentators read the dust in two ways. John Wesley and Jamieson, Fausset and Brown take it as an emblem of vileness and misery, and Wesley adds that dust from the holy floor struck deeper fear into a guilty woman. Matthew Henry takes it as honour paid to the place and connects it with Jesus writing on the ground at John 8:6.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Holy water - Water of purification appointed for such uses. This was used, that if she were guilty, she might be afraid to add profaneness to her other crime. An earthen vessel - Because, after this use, it was to be broken in pieces, that the remembrance of it might be blotted out as far as was possible.
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
Holy water - Water out of the laver, called holy because consecrated to sacred uses. This is the most ancient case of the trial by ordeal. See at Num 5:31 (note). In an earthen vessel - Supposed by the Jews to be such as had never been previously used. Dust that is in the floor - Probably intended to point out the baseness of the crime of which she was accused.
How the passage was read
What the Jewish commentators add
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.
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
17 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְלָקַ֧ח | velakach | and he will take | H3947 → | 966 times |
| הַכֹּהֵ֛ן | hakohen | the priest | H3548 → | 750 times |
| מַ֥יִם | mayim | water | H4325 → | 581 times |
| קְדֹשִׁ֖ים | kedoshim | holy | H6918 → | 116 times |
| בִּכְלִי־ | bikhli- | in a vessel of | H3627 → | 325 times |
| חָ֑רֶשׂ | chares | earthenware | H2789 → | |
| וּמִן־ | umin- | and some of | H4480 → | 1188 times |
| הֶֽעָפָ֗ר | heafar | the dust | H6083 → | 110 times |
| אֲשֶׁ֤ר | ʾasher | which | H834 → | 5497 times |
| יִהְיֶה֙ | yihyeh | it will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| בְּקַרְקַ֣ע | bekarka' | on [the] floor of | H7172 → | |
| הַמִּשְׁכָּ֔ן | hamishkan | the tabernacle | H4908 → | 139 times |
| יִקַּ֥ח | yikach | he will take | H3947 → | 966 times |
| הַכֹּהֵ֖ן | hakohen | the priest | H3548 → | 750 times |
| וְנָתַ֥ן | venatan | and he will put [it] | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| אֶל־ | ʾel- | into | H413 → | 5510 times |
| הַמָּֽיִם׃ | hamayim | the water | H4325 → | 581 times |
וְלָקַ֧חand he will take
velakachH3947 →966 times
הַכֹּהֵ֛ןthe priest
hakohenH3548 →750 times
מַ֥יִםwater
mayimH4325 →581 times
קְדֹשִׁ֖יםholy
kedoshimH6918 →116 times
בִּכְלִי־in a vessel of
bikhli-H3627 →325 times
חָ֑רֶשׂearthenware
charesH2789 →
וּמִן־and some of
umin-H4480 →1188 times
הֶֽעָפָ֗רthe dust
heafarH6083 →110 times
אֲשֶׁ֤רwhich
ʾasherH834 →5497 times
יִהְיֶה֙it will be
yihyehH1961 →3559 times
בְּקַרְקַ֣עon [the] floor of
bekarka'H7172 →
הַמִּשְׁכָּ֔ןthe tabernacle
hamishkanH4908 →139 times
יִקַּ֥חhe will take
yikachH3947 →966 times
הַכֹּהֵ֖ןthe priest
hakohenH3548 →750 times
וְנָתַ֥ןand he will put [it]
venatanH5414 →2011 times
אֶל־into
ʾel-H413 →5510 times
הַמָּֽיִם׃the water
hamayimH4325 →581 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
John 8:6They said this to test Him, in order to have a basis for accusing Him. But Jesus bent down and began to write on the ground with His finger.
it leads to
- Jeremiah 17:13
O LORD, the hope of Israel, all who abandon You will be put to shame. All who turn away will be written in the dust, for they have abandoned the LORD, the fountain of…
- Luke 10:25
One day an expert in the law stood up to test Him. “Teacher,” he asked, “what must I do to inherit eternal life?”
- Ecclesiastes 3:7
a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak,
- Jeremiah 17:13
Through
Job 2:12When they lifted up their eyes from afar, they could barely recognize Job. They began to weep aloud, and each man tore his robe and threw dust in the air over his head.
it leads to
- Lamentations 2:10
The elders of the Daughter of Zion sit on the ground in silence. They have thrown dust on their heads and put on sackcloth. The young women of Jerusalem have bowed their heads to…
- Ezekiel 27:30
They will raise their voices for you and cry out bitterly. They will throw dust on their heads and roll in ashes.
- Joshua 7:6
Then Joshua tore his clothes and fell facedown before the ark of the LORD until evening, as did the elders of Israel; and they all sprinkled dust on their heads.
- Lamentations 2:10
Through
Exodus 30:18“You are to make a bronze basin with a bronze stand for washing. Set it between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and put water in it,
it leads to
- Exodus 40:7
And place the basin between the Tent of Meeting and the altar, and put water in it.
- Exodus 38:8
Next he made the bronze basin and its stand from the mirrors of the women who served at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting.
- Exodus 40:7
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 Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament; John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.