Numbers 5:31
in Numbers 5The husband will be free from guilt, but the woman shall bear her iniquity.”
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the man shall be free from iniquity, and that woman shall bear her iniquity.
KJV
Then shall the man be guiltless from iniquity, and this woman shall bear her iniquity.
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This verse in Numbers 5
Commentary
4 notes on this verseWhereas now, whatsoever the consequence is, the husband shall not be censured for bringing such curses upon her, or for defaming her, if she appear to be innocent. Her iniquity - That is, the punishment of her iniquity, whether she was false to her husband, or by any light carriage gave him occasion to suspect her.
This site's exposition
This is the law of jealousies
on Numbers 5:29-31
Adam Clarke calls this the most singular law in the Pentateuch and notes that trials of the same shape were used among many nations, where an accused person was put to fire, poison or water and the god was expected to decide. What Israel's version leaves out is the hazard, since the woman swallows water, dust and ink, and no trial of this kind is prescribed anywhere else in the law. Verse 31 clears the husband of guilt for bringing the case, while Deuteronomy 22:13-19 fines a husband a hundred shekels and bars him from ever divorcing the wife he slandered, so the two laws stand side by side in the canon and neither cancels the other.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening1 voice
Then shall the man be guiltless from iniquity,....
The Nineteenth Century1 voice
This woman shall bear her iniquity - That is, her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot; see Num 5:22 (note).
The words behind it
8 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְנִקָּ֥ה | venikah | and he will be free | H5352 → | 44 times |
| הָאִ֖ישׁ | haish | the man | H376 → | 1663 times |
| מֵעָוֹ֑ן | meavon | from iniquity | H5771 → | 233 times |
| וְהָאִשָּׁ֣ה | vehaishah | and the woman | H802 → | 781 times |
| הַהִ֔וא | hahiv' | <the> that | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| תִּשָּׂ֖א | tisa' | she will bear | H5375 → | 656 times |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| עֲוֹנָֽהּ׃ פ | ʾavonah | iniquity her | H5771 → | 233 times |
וְנִקָּ֥הand he will be free
venikahH5352 →44 times
הָאִ֖ישׁthe man
haishH376 →1663 times
מֵעָוֹ֑ןfrom iniquity
meavonH5771 →233 times
וְהָאִשָּׁ֣הand the woman
vehaishahH802 →781 times
הַהִ֔וא<the> that
hahiv'H1931 →1879 times
תִּשָּׂ֖אshe will bear
tisa'H5375 →656 times
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
עֲוֹנָֽהּ׃ פiniquity her
ʾavonahH5771 →233 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
Ezekiel 18:4Behold, every soul belongs to Me; both father and son are Mine. The soul who sins is the one who will die.
it leads to
- Ezekiel 18:20
The soul who sins is the one who will die. A son will not bear the iniquity of his father, and a father will not bear the iniquity of his son. The righteousness of…
- Romans 6:23
For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.
- Numbers 16:22
But Moses and Aaron fell facedown and said, “O God, the God of the spirits of all flesh, when one man sins, will You be angry with the whole congregation?”
- Hebrews 12:9
Furthermore, we have all had earthly fathers who disciplined us, and we respected them. Should we not much more submit to the Father of our spirits and live?
- Galatians 3:10–13
All who rely on works of the law are under a curse. For it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.”
- Ezekiel 18:20
Through
Leviticus 20:10If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must surely be put to death.
it leads to
- John 8:4–5
and said, “Teacher, this woman was caught in the act of adultery.
- Deuteronomy 22:22–24
If a man is found lying with another man’s wife, both the man who slept with her and the woman must die. You must purge the evil from Israel.
- John 8:4–5
Through
Numbers 9:13But if a man who is ceremonially clean and is not on a journey still fails to observe the Passover, he must be cut off from his people, because he did not present the…
it leads to
- Exodus 12:15
For seven days you must eat unleavened bread. On the first day you are to remove the leaven from your houses. Whoever eats anything leavened from the first day through the seventh must be…
- Exodus 12:15
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) and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.
