Bible Commentaries
Go deeper in Scripture
Browse trusted public-domain commentary alongside DiscipleDeck Bible study. References inside each commentary open Bible previews in place.
27,299 commentary entries
The Pulpit Commentary
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:3
That they defile not their camps, in the midst whereof I dwell. Cleanliness, decency, and the anxious removal even of unwitting pollutions were things due to God himself, and part of the awful reverence to be paid to hi…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:4
So did the children of Israel. It is difficult to form any estimate of the numbers thus separated; if we may judge at all from the prevalence of such defilements (especially those under the second head) now, it must hav…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:5-8
CONFESSION AND RESTITUTION These trespasses are explained and illustrated in Le Numbers 6:1-7. In both passages provision is made for confession, restitution, interest, and atonement—in Leviticus the atonement being spo…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:5-10
NO FRAUD PERMITTED BY GOD We have here, as part of the moral law of God which changeth not, the duty of making confession of, and satisfaction for, any wrong done to another, and the duty of not withholding what is righ…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:5-10
CONSCIENCE MONEY This precept is a continuation of the one laid down in the preceding verses, and, like it, admonishes the people regarding the purity which ought to prevail in a camp honoured with the presence of the H…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:6
Shall commit any sin that men commit. Literally, "[one] of all the transgressions of men," i.e; the wrongs current amongst men. To do a trespass against the Lord. This qualifies the former expression, and restricts its…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:8-10
EXPOSITION RESTITUTION TO BE MADE FOR TRESPASSES (Numbers 5:5-10).
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:8
If the man have no kinsman. No goel, or personal representative. This supposes that the wronged man himself is dead, and it is an addition to the law of restitution as given in Leviticus 6:1-30, an addition clearly nece…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:9
Every offering. Hebrew, terumah, heave offering (Exodus 29:28). Septuagint, ἀπαρχὴ. Those offerings, or portions of offerings, which were not consumed on the altar, but "presented" at the altar. Having been offered, t…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:10
Every man's hallowed things. Dedicatory offerings, such as first-fruits, not exactly of the nature of sacrifices. His, i.e; the priest's. Whatsoever any man giveth the priest, it shall be his. A general principle, inclu…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:11-31
THE TRIAL OF JEALOUSY Just previously, regulations are laid down with respect to offences in general. Here is an offence which needed to be dealt with m a special way, as being one where restitution was impossible. The…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:11-31
THE SIN OF ADULTERY We have here, in the letter, a piece of legislation altogether obsolete, because adapted to an age and to ideas utterly foreign to our own; yet, in the spirit, we have, as part of the moral law of Go…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:12-27
EXPOSITION THE TRIAL OF JEALOUSY (Numbers 5:11-31).
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:12
If any man's wife … commit a trespass against him. The adultery of the wife is here regarded only from a social point of view; the injury to the husband, the destruction of his peace of mind, even by the bare suspicion,…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:13
If it be laid. Or, "if he be hid." This verse is explanatory of the former. Taken with the manner. The latter words are not in the Hebrew. It means no doubt "taken in the act" (cf. John 8:4). αὐτὴ μὴ ᾗ συνειλημμέ…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:14
And she be not defiled. As far as the mischief here dealt with was concerned, it was almost equally great whether the woman was guilty or not.
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:15
He shall bring her offering for her. קָדְבָּנָהּ, "her offering;" עָלֶיהָ, "on her account." It was to be a meat offering—not connected on this occasion with any other sacrifice—of the fruits of the earth, symbolizing t…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:16
Before the Lord. Either at the brazen altar or at the door of the tabernacle.
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:17
Holy water. Probably from the laver which stood near the altar (Exodus 30:18). The expression is nowhere else used. The Septuagint has ὕδωρ καθαρὸν ζῶν, pure running water. In an earthen vessel. Cheap and coarse, li…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:18
Uncover the woman's head. In token that she had forfeited her glory by breaking, or seeming to have broken, her allegiance to her husband (1 Corinthians 11:5-10); perhaps also with some reference to the truth that "all…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:19
If no man. The oath presupposed her innocence. With another instead of thy husband. Hebrew, "under thy husband, i.e; as a wife subject to a husband (Ezekiel 23:5; Hosea 4:12). " υπανδρος οὗσα, Septuagint. It was only…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:21
Then the priest shall say unto the woman. These words are parenthetical, just as in Matthew 9:6. The latter part of the oath is called "an oath of cursing," because it contained the imprecations on the guilty. To rot. H…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:22
Into thy bowels. Cf. Psalms 109:18. εἰς τὴν κοιλίαν σου, Septuagint. It has been thought that these symptoms belonged to some known disease, such as dropsy (Josephus, ‘Ant.,' 3.11, 6), or ovarian dropsy. But it is cl…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:23
In a book. On a roll. Blot them out with the bitter water. Rather, "wash them off into the bitter water," in order to transfer the venom of the curses to the water. ἐξαλείψει … εἰς τὸ ὔδωρ, Septuagint. The writing…