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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…
Matthew Henry on Numbers 5:11-31
This law would make the women of Israel watch against giving cause for suspicion. On the other hand, it would hinder the cruel treatment such suspicions might occasion. It would also hinder the guilty from escaping, and…
The Bitter Water of Jealousy. (b. c. 1490.)
THE BITTER WATER OF JEALOUSY. (B. C. 1490.) We have here the law concerning the solemn trial of a wife whose husband was jealous of her. Observe, I. What was the case supposed: That a man had some reason to suspect his…
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…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:24
He shall cause the woman to drink. This is said by anticipation, because she did not really drink it until after the offering (Numbers 5:26).
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:25
Offer it upon the altar. According to tile law of the minchah (Leviticus 2:1-16), only an handful was burnt as a "memorial" (Hebrew, azkarah), the rest being "presented,'' and then laid at the side of the altar to be su…
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:27
Shall enter into her, and become bitter. Rather, "as bitter," or "as bitterness," i.e. as producing bitter sufferings. Shall be a curse, i.e; shall be used as an example in the imprecations of the people.
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:28
And shall conceive seed. As a sign of the Divine favour; to a Jewish woman the surest and most regarded (1 Samuel 2:5; Psalms 127:3; Luke 1:58).
The Pulpit Commentary on Numbers 5:29
This is the law of jealousies. A law prescribed by God, and yet in substance borrowed from half civilized heathens; a practice closely akin to yet prevalent superstitious, and yet receiving not only the toleration of Mo…