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Numbers 5:21

in Numbers 5

and 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;

This verse in Numbers 5

Commentary

5 notes on this verse

A commentator

Adam Clarke

1762–1832

Commentary on the Bible · Written before 1832.

The 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

the priest shall have the woman swear

on Numbers 5:21-22

The word “Amen” first appears in Scripture here, doubled, in the mouth of a woman accepting a curse on her own body. The next time a whole nation says it is Deuteronomy 27:15-26, where Israel answers Amen to twelve curses.

The record, by era

The Puritans and the Awakening3 voices

A commentator

John Wesley

1703–1791

Explanatory Notes upon the Old Testament (1765)

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.

A commentator

Matthew Henry

1662–1714

Commentary on the Whole Bible (1710)

proposed

(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 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.

  • 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 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

    Joshua 6:26

    At 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.”

  • Through

    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.

    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.’”

  • 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

    • 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.

  • Through

    Nehemiah 10:29

    hereby 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.

Where this verse is studied

About Numbers

The Brazen Serpent, Anthony van Dyck, 1618 to 1620. Public domain.
The Brazen Serpent, Anthony van Dyck, 1618 to 1620. Public domain.

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.