Numbers 5:18
in Numbers 5After the priest has the woman stand before the LORD, he is to let down her hair and place in her hands the grain offering of memorial, which is the grain offering for jealousy. The priest is to hold the bitter water that brings a curse.
BSB
The same verse in ASV and KJV ▾
ASV
And the priest shall set the woman before Jehovah, and let the hair of the woman’s head go loose, and put the meal-offering of memorial in her hands, which is the meal-offering of jealousy: and the priest shall have in his hand the water of bitterness that causeth the curse.
KJV
And the priest shall set the woman before the Lord, and uncover the woman’s head, and put the offering of memorial in her hands, which is the jealousy offering: and the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that causeth the curse:
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This verse in Numbers 5
Commentary
5 notes on this verseUncover the woman’s head - To take off a woman’s veil, and expose her to the sight of men, would be considered a very great degradation in the East. To this St. Paul appears to allude, 1Co 11:5, 1Co 11:6,1Co 11:10.
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.
This site's exposition
let down her hair
The grain offering goes into her own hands, and John Wesley reads that as the woman herself calling God to witness. For the loosened hair, Jamieson, Fausset and Brown see the loss of her husband's protection, and Wesley a token of sorrow. The priest holds the water.
The record, by era
The Puritans and the Awakening2 voices
Before the Lord - Before the tabernacle with her face towards the ark. Uncover her head - Partly that she might be made sensible how manifest she and all her ways were to God; partly in token of her sorrow for her sin, or at least for any cause of suspicion which she had given.
And the priest shall set the woman before the Lord,....
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.
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
25 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 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| וְהֶעֱמִ֨יד | veheemid | and he will make stand | H5975 → | 521 times |
| הַכֹּהֵ֥ן | hakohen | the priest | H3548 → | 750 times |
| אֶֽת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| הָאִשָּׁה֮ | haishah | the woman | H802 → | 781 times |
| לִפְנֵ֣י | lifnei | <to> before | H6440 → | 2123 times |
| יְהוָה֒ | yahweh | Yahweh | H3068 → | 6520 times |
| וּפָרַע֙ | ufara' | and he will let loose | H6544 → | |
| אֶת־ | ʾet- | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| רֹ֣אשׁ | rosh | [the] head of | H7218 → | 599 times |
| הָֽאִשָּׁ֔ה | haishah | the woman | H802 → | 781 times |
| וְנָתַ֣ן | venatan | and he will put | H5414 → | 2011 times |
| עַל־ | ʾal- | on | H5921 → | 5755 times |
| כַּפֶּ֗יהָ | kapeiha | hands her | H3709 → | 192 times |
| אֵ֚ת | ʾet | <obj.> | H853 → | 10935 times |
| מִנְחַ֣ת | minchat | [the] grain offering of | H4503 → | 211 times |
| הַזִּכָּר֔וֹן | hazikaron | <the> remembrance | H2146 → | 24 times |
| מִנְחַ֥ת | minchat | [is] a grain offering of | H4503 → | 211 times |
| קְנָאֹ֖ת | kenaot | jealousi<es> | H7068 → | 43 times |
| הִ֑וא | hi' | it | H1931 → | 1879 times |
| וּבְיַ֤ד | uveyad | and in [the] hand of | H3027 → | 1618 times |
| הַכֹּהֵן֙ | hakohen | the priest | H3548 → | 750 times |
| יִהְי֔וּ | yihyu | they will be | H1961 → | 3559 times |
| מֵ֥י | mei | [the] waters of | H4325 → | 581 times |
| הַמָּרִ֖ים | hamarim | <the> bitter [things] | H4751 → | 37 times |
| הַמְאָֽרֲרִֽים׃ | hamararim | which bring a curse | H779 → | 63 times |
וְהֶעֱמִ֨ידand he will make stand
veheemidH5975 →521 times
הַכֹּהֵ֥ןthe priest
hakohenH3548 →750 times
אֶֽת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
הָאִשָּׁה֮the woman
haishahH802 →781 times
לִפְנֵ֣י<to> before
lifneiH6440 →2123 times
יְהוָה֒Yahweh
yahwehH3068 →6520 times
וּפָרַע֙and he will let loose
ufara'H6544 →
אֶת־<obj.>
ʾet-H853 →10935 times
רֹ֣אשׁ[the] head of
roshH7218 →599 times
הָֽאִשָּׁ֔הthe woman
haishahH802 →781 times
וְנָתַ֣ןand he will put
venatanH5414 →2011 times
עַל־on
ʾal-H5921 →5755 times
כַּפֶּ֗יהָhands her
kapeihaH3709 →192 times
אֵ֚ת<obj.>
ʾetH853 →10935 times
מִנְחַ֣ת[the] grain offering of
minchatH4503 →211 times
הַזִּכָּר֔וֹן<the> remembrance
hazikaronH2146 →24 times
מִנְחַ֥ת[is] a grain offering of
minchatH4503 →211 times
קְנָאֹ֖תjealousi<es>
kenaotH7068 →43 times
הִ֑ואit
hi'H1931 →1879 times
וּבְיַ֤דand in [the] hand of
uveyadH3027 →1618 times
הַכֹּהֵן֙the priest
hakohenH3548 →750 times
יִהְי֔וּthey will be
yihyuH1961 →3559 times
מֵ֥י[the] waters of
meiH4325 →581 times
הַמָּרִ֖ים<the> bitter [things]
hamarimH4751 →37 times
הַמְאָֽרֲרִֽים׃which bring a curse
hamararimH779 →63 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.
- Proverbs 5:15–23
Drink water from your own cistern, and running water from your own well.
- 1 Corinthians 7:2–16
But because there is so much sexual immorality, each man should have his own wife, and each woman her own husband.
- Galatians 5:19
The acts of the flesh are obvious: sexual immorality, impurity, and debauchery;
- Genesis 1:27–28
So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them.
- Genesis 2:24
Through
Deuteronomy 29:18Make sure there is no man or woman, clan or tribe among you today whose heart turns away from the LORD our God to go and worship the gods of those nations. Make sure…
it leads to
- Hebrews 12:15
See to it that no one falls short of the grace of God, and that no root of bitterness springs up to cause trouble and defile many.
- Deuteronomy 11:16–17
But be careful that you are not enticed to turn aside to worship and bow down to other gods,
- Hebrews 12:15
Through
Proverbs 5:4in the end she is bitter as wormwood, sharp as a double-edged sword.
it leads to
- Ecclesiastes 7:26
And 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…
- Ecclesiastes 7:26
Where this verse is studied
On this page
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; John Gill, Exposition of the Old Testament (1748-1763) and John Wesley, Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament.