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Numbers 5:27

in Numbers 5

When he has made her drink the water, if she has defiled herself and been unfaithful to her husband, then the water that brings a curse will enter her and cause bitter suffering; her belly will swell, her thigh will shrivel, and she will become accursed among her people.

BSB

The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾

ASV

And when he hath made her drink the water, then it shall come to pass, if she be defiled, and have committed a trespass against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her and become bitter, and her body shall swell, and her thigh shall fall away: and the woman shall be a curse among her people.

KJV

And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, that, if she be defiled, and have done trespass against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot: and the woman shall be a curse among her people.

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This verse in Numbers 5

Commentary

3 notes on this verse

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

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.

This site's exposition

And when he hath made her to drink the water

on Numbers 5:27-28

The vessel holds water, dust and dissolved ink, and nothing in it accounts for either outcome. The text names no mechanism and simply states the two results, one for the defiled woman and one for the clean, which leaves the verdict with God rather than with the priest or with a court. Adam Clarke sets aside the rabbinic idea that a bitter substance was added and takes bitter in the sense of affliction, while Matthew Henry passes on Bishop Patrick for an effect seen at once and John Lightfoot for one that took years. Verse 28 gives the clean woman more than an acquittal, she shall be free, and shall conceive seed.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice

And when he hath made her to drink the water,....

The words behind it

23 Hebrew words

Every 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.

  • וְהִשְׁקָ֣הּand he will make drink her

    vehishkahH8248 →61 times

  • אֶת־<obj.>

    ʾet-H853 →10935 times

  • הַמַּ֗יִםthe waters

    hamayimH4325 →581 times

  • וְהָיְתָ֣הand she will be

    vehayetahH1961 →3559 times

  • אִֽם־if

    ʾim-H518 →1069 times

  • נִטְמְאָה֮she has made herself unclean

    nitmeahH2930 →162 times

  • וַתִּמְעֹ֣לand she has acted unfaithfully

    vatimolH4603 →36 times

  • מַ֣עַלunfaithfulness

    maalH4604 →28 times

  • בְּאִישָׁהּ֒against husband her

    beishahH376 →1663 times

  • וּבָ֨אוּand they will go

    uvauH935 →2568 times

  • בָ֜הּin <the> her

    vah

  • הַמַּ֤יִםthe waters

    hamayimH4325 →581 times

  • הַמְאָֽרֲרִים֙which bring a curse

    hamararimH779 →63 times

  • לְמָרִ֔יםto bitter [things]

    lemarimH4751 →37 times

  • וְצָבְתָ֣הand it will swell

    vetzavetahH6638 →

  • בִטְנָ֔הּbelly her

    vitnahH990 →72 times

  • וְנָפְלָ֖הand it will fall

    venafelahH5307 →435 times

  • יְרֵכָ֑הּthigh her

    yerekhahH3409 →34 times

  • וְהָיְתָ֧הand she will become

    vehayetahH1961 →3559 times

  • הָאִשָּׁ֛הthe woman

    haishahH802 →781 times

  • לְאָלָ֖ה<into> a curse

    lealahH423 →35 times

  • בְּקֶ֥רֶבin [the] midst of

    bekerevH7130 →227 times

  • עַמָּֽהּ׃people her

    ʾamahH5971 →1873 times

A shaded row is a word that stands 400 times or fewer in the Bible.

Related verses

18 in all, six open

The number beside each verse is how many compiled reference works tie it to this one. The strongest six stand open.

Jeremiah 29:18I will pursue them with sword and famine and plague. I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth—a curse, a desolation, and an object of scorn and reproach among all the nations to which I banish them.5 worksZechariah 8:13As you have been a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you, and you will be a blessing. Do not be afraid; let your hands be strong.”5 worksJeremiah 42:18For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Just as My anger and wrath were poured out on the residents of Jerusalem, so will My wrath be poured out on you if you go to Egypt. You will become an object of cursing and horror, of vilification and disgrace, and you will never see this place again.’5 worksNumbers 5:20But if you have gone astray while under your husband’s authority and have defiled yourself and lain carnally with a man other than your husband’—3 worksJeremiah 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!’3 worksDeuteronomy 28:37You will become an object of horror, scorn, and ridicule among all the nations to which the LORD will drive you.3 works
The other 12 cross-references, with their words ▾
Jeremiah 24:9I will make them a horror and an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a disgrace and an object of scorn, ridicule, and cursing wherever I have banished them.3 worksIsaiah 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.3 worksJeremiah 44:12And I will take away the remnant of Judah who have resolved to go to the land of Egypt to reside there; they will meet their end. They will all fall by the sword or be consumed by famine. From the least to the greatest, they will die by sword or famine; and they will become an object of cursing and horror, of vilification and reproach.3 worksNumbers 5:22May this water that brings a curse enter your stomach and cause your belly to swell and your thigh to shrivel.’ Then the woman is to say, ‘Amen, Amen.’3 worksProverbs 5:11At the end of your life you will groan when your flesh and your body are spent,3 works2 Peter 2:10Such punishment is specially reserved for those who indulge the corrupt desires of the flesh and despise authority. Bold and self-willed, they are unafraid to slander glorious beings.2 worksEcclesiastes 7:26And I find more bitter than death the woman who is a snare, whose heart is a net, and whose hands are chains. The man who pleases God escapes her, but the sinner is ensnared.2 worksHebrews 10:26–30If we deliberately go on sinning after we have received the knowledge of the truth, no further sacrifice for sins remains,2 worksPsalms 83:9–11Do to them as You did to Midian, as to Sisera and Jabin at the River Kishon,2 worksRomans 6:21What fruit did you reap at that time from the things of which you are now ashamed? The outcome of those things is death.2 worksProverbs 5:4–11in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a double-edged sword.2 works2 Corinthians 2:16To the one, we are an odor of death and demise; to the other, a fragrance that brings life. And who is qualified for such a task?2 works

The walk

8 stops

Each 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

    Jeremiah 29:22

    Because 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

    • 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.

      Reached by 2 separate paths from here.

    • Daniel 3:6

      And whoever does not fall down and worship will immediately be thrown into the blazing fiery furnace.”

  • Through

    Zechariah 8:13

    As you have been a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you, and you will be a blessing. Do not be afraid; let your…

    it leads to

    • Zechariah 8:9

      This is what the LORD of Hosts says: “Let your hands be strong, you who now hear these words spoken by the prophets who were present when the foundations were laid to rebuild the…

    • Psalms 72:17

      May his name endure forever; may his name continue as long as the sun shines. In him may all nations be blessed; may they call him blessed.

    • Zephaniah 3:20

      At that time I will bring you in; yes, at that time I will gather you. For I will give you fame and praise among all the peoples of the earth when I restore…

    • Genesis 12:2–3

      I will make you into a great nation, and I will bless you; I will make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.

    • 1 Corinthians 16:13

      Be on the alert. Stand firm in the faith. Be men of courage. Be strong.

  • Through

    Jeremiah 29:18

    I will pursue them with sword and famine and plague. I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth—a curse, a desolation, and an object of scorn and reproach among…

    it leads to

    • 2 Chronicles 29:8

      Therefore, the wrath of the LORD has fallen upon Judah and Jerusalem, and He has made them an object of terror, horror, and mockery, as you can see with your own eyes.

Where this verse is studied

On this page

Studies1

About Numbers

The Bronze Serpent, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
The Bronze Serpent, Gustave Doré, 1866. Public domain.
Numbers: the study guide →Read Numbers 5 →

This page draws on Adam Clarke, Commentary on the Bible; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and Matthew Henry, Commentary on the Whole Bible.

Read on in Numbers 5 →