Numbers 5:21
in Numbers 5and the priest shall have the woman swear under the oath of the curse—‘then may the LORD make you an attested curse among your people by making your thigh shrivel and your belly swell.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
then the priest shall cause the woman to swear with the oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman, Jehovah make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when Jehovah doth make thy thigh to fall away, and thy body to swell;
KJV
Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman, The Lord make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the Lord doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell;
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This verse in Numbers 5
Commentary
5 notes on this verseThe Lord make thee a curse and an oath - Let thy name and punishment be remembered and mentioned as an example and terror to all others. Like that mentioned Jer 29:22, Jer 29:23: “The Lord make thee like Zedekiah, and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire, because they have committed villany in Israel, and have committed adultery with their neighbors’ wives.” - Ainsworth.
This site's exposition
Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing
on Numbers 5:21-22
Amen enters Scripture here, in the mouth of a woman swearing to a curse laid on her own body, and she doubles it. The next place a whole nation says it is Deuteronomy 27:15-26, where Israel answers Amen to twelve curses called out from Ebal. The curse itself is given in the terms of verse 21, the thigh to rot and the belly to swell, and Adam Clarke draws on Jeremiah 29:22 to show what being made a curse and an oath among a people amounts to, a name other men use when they swear.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices
To rot - Hebrew. to fall, that is, to die or waste away. To swell - Suddenly and violently till it burst, which the Jews note was frequent in this case. And it was a clear evidence of the truth of their religion.
(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 (
quarantine:debris (2026-07-29) — unbalanced-parens
Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing,....
The words behind it
24 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהִשְׁבִּ֨יעַ | vehishbia' | and he will make swear | H7650 → | 186 times |
| הַכֹּהֵ֥ן | hakohen | the priest | H3548 → | 750 times |
| אֶֽת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָֽאִשָּׁה֮ | haishah | the woman | H802 → | 781 times |
| בִּשְׁבֻעַ֣ת | bishvuat | with [the] oath of | H7621 → | 30 times |
| הָאָלָה֒ | haalah | the curse | H423 → | 35 times |
| וְאָמַ֤ר | veamar | and he will say | H559 → | 5305 times |
| הַכֹּהֵן֙ | hakohen | the priest | H3548 → | 750 times |
| לָֽאִשָּׁ֔ה | laishah | to the woman | H802 → | 781 times |
| יִתֵּ֨ן | yiten | may he make | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| יְהוָ֥ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אוֹתָ֛ךְ | ʾotakh | <obj.> you | H853 → | 10935 times |
| לְאָלָ֥ה | lealah | into a curse | H423 → | 35 times |
| וְלִשְׁבֻעָ֖ה | velishvuah | and into a oath | H7621 → | 30 times |
| בְּת֣וֹךְ | betokh | in among | H8432 → | 418 times |
| עַמֵּ֑ךְ | ʾamekh | people your | H5971 → | 1873 times |
| בְּתֵ֨ת | betet | when makes | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| יְהוָ֤ה | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| יְרֵכֵךְ֙ | yerekhekh | thigh your | H3409 → | 34 times |
| נֹפֶ֔לֶת | nofelet | falling | H5307 → | 435 times |
| וְאֶת־ | veet | and <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| בִּטְנֵ֖ךְ | bitnekh | belly your | H990 → | 72 times |
| צָבָֽה׃ | tzavah | swollen | H6639 → |
וְהִשְׁבִּ֨יעַand he will make swear
vehishbia'H7650 →186 times
הַכֹּהֵ֥ןthe priest
hakohenH3548 →750 times
אֶֽת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הָֽאִשָּׁה֮the woman
haishahH802 →781 times
בִּשְׁבֻעַ֣תwith [the] oath of
bishvuatH7621 →30 times
הָאָלָה֒the curse
haalahH423 →35 times
וְאָמַ֤רand he will say
veamarH559 →5305 times
הַכֹּהֵן֙the priest
hakohenH3548 →750 times
לָֽאִשָּׁ֔הto the woman
laishahH802 →781 times
יִתֵּ֨ןmay he make
yitenH5414 →2011 times
יְהוָ֥הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אוֹתָ֛ךְ<obj.> you
ʾotakhH853 →10935 times
לְאָלָ֥הinto a curse
lealahH423 →35 times
וְלִשְׁבֻעָ֖הand into a oath
velishvuahH7621 →30 times
בְּת֣וֹךְin among
betokhH8432 →418 times
עַמֵּ֑ךְpeople your
ʾamekhH5971 →1873 times
בְּתֵ֨תwhen makes
betetH5414 →2011 times
יְהוָ֤הYahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
יְרֵכֵךְ֙thigh your
yerekhekhH3409 →34 times
נֹפֶ֔לֶתfalling
nofeletH5307 →435 times
וְאֶת־and <obj.>
veetH853 →10935 times
בִּטְנֵ֖ךְbelly your
bitnekhH990 →72 times
צָבָֽה׃swollen
tzavahH6639 →
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
Joshua 6:26At that time Joshua invoked this solemn oath: “Cursed before the LORD is the man who rises up and rebuilds this city, Jericho; at the cost of his firstborn he will lay its foundations;…
it leads to
- 1 Kings 16:34
In Ahab’s days, Hiel the Bethelite rebuilt Jericho. At the cost of Abiram his firstborn he laid its foundation, and at the cost of Segub his youngest he set up its gates, according to…
- Acts 19:13
Now there were some itinerant Jewish exorcists who tried to invoke the name of the Lord Jesus over those with evil spirits. They would say, “I bind you by Jesus, whom Paul proclaims.”
- 1 Kings 16:34
Through
Isaiah 65:15You will leave behind your name as a curse for My chosen ones, and the Lord GOD will slay you; but to His servants He will give another name.
it leads to
- Isaiah 62:2
Nations will see your righteousness, and all kings your glory. You will be called by a new name that the mouth of the LORD will bestow.
- Romans 9:26
and, “It will happen that in the very place where it was said to them, ‘You are not My people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’”
- Isaiah 62:2
Through
Jeremiah 29:22Because of them, all the exiles of Judah who are in Babylon will use this curse: ‘May the LORD make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire!’
it leads to
- Daniel 3:6
And whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into the blazing fiery furnace.”
- Isaiah 65:15
You will leave behind your name as a curse for My chosen ones, and the Lord GOD will slay you; but to His servants He will give another name.
- Genesis 48:20
So that day Jacob blessed them and said: “By you shall Israel pronounce this blessing: ‘May God make you like Ephraim and Manasseh.’” So he put Ephraim before Manasseh.
- Daniel 3:6
Through
Nehemiah 10:29hereby join with their noble brothers and commit themselves with a sworn oath to follow the Law of God given through His servant Moses and to carefully obey all the commandments, ordinances, and statutes…
it leads to
- Ezekiel 36:27
And I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes and to carefully observe My ordinances.
- Ezekiel 36:27
Where this verse is studied
On this page
Studies1
About Numbers

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763); John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament; Keil and Delitzsch, Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament: The Pentateuch and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.
