Numbers 5:23

Numbers 5:23 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out with the bitter water:
• New International Version (NIV)“ ‘The priest is to write these curses on a scroll and then wash them off into the bitter water.
• English Standard Version (ESV)"Then the priest shall write these curses in a book and wash them off into the water of bitterness.
• New King James Version (NKJV)‘Then the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall scrape them off into the bitter water.

Context of Numbers 5:23

21and 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. 22May this water that brings a curse enter your stomach and cause your belly to swell and your thigh to shrivel.’ Then the woman is to say, ‘Amen, Amen.’ And the priest shall write these curses on a scroll and wash them off into the bitter water. 24He is to have the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and it will enter her and may cause her bitter suffering. 25The priest shall take from her hand the grain offering for jealousy, wave it before the LORD, and bring it to the altar.

Numbers 5:23 word by word

וְ֠כָתַב אֶת־הָאָלֹ֥ת הָאֵ֛לֶּה הַכֹּהֵ֖ן בַּסֵּ֑פֶר וּמָחָ֖ה אֶל־מֵ֥י הַמָּרִֽים׃Read the interlinear

• And the priestכֹּהֵןkôhên · priestH3548
• shall writeכָּתַבkâthab · to writeH3789
• ·אֵת'êth · [Obj.]H853
• theseאֵ֫לֶּה'êlleh · theseH428
• cursesאָלָה'âlâh · oathH423
• on a scrollסֵ֫פֶרsêpher siphrâh · scroll: bookH5612
• and wash them offמָחָהmâchâh · to wipeH4229
• intoאֶל'êl 'el · to(wards)H413
• the bitterמַרmar mârâh · bitterH4751
• waterמַיmayim · waterH4325

Cross-references for Numbers 5:23

• Exodus 17:14Then the LORD said to Moses, “Write this on a scroll as a reminder and recite it to Joshua, because I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under heaven.”
• Deuteronomy 31:19Now therefore, write down for yourselves this song and teach it to the Israelites; have them recite it, so that it may be a witness for Me against them.
• 2 Chronicles 34:24that this is what the LORD says: I am about to bring calamity on this place and on its people, according to all the curses written in the book that has been read in the presence of the king of Judah,
• Job 31:35(Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my signature. Let the Almighty answer me; let my accuser compose an indictment.
• Jeremiah 51:60Jeremiah had written on a single scroll about all the disaster that would come upon Babylon—all these words that had been written concerning Babylon.
• 1 Corinthians 16:21This greeting is in my own hand—Paul.
• Revelation 20:12And I saw the dead, great and small, standing before the throne. And books were opened, and one of them was the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their deeds, as recorded in the books.
• Psalms 51:1Have mercy on me, O God, according to Your loving devotion; according to Your great compassion, blot out my transgressions.
• Isaiah 43:25I, yes I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake and remembers your sins no more.
• Isaiah 44:22I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.
• Acts 3:19Repent, then, and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped away,

Commentaries on Numbers 5:23

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 23The priest shall write these curses - and he shall blot them out - It appears that the curses which were written down with a kind of ink prepared for the purpose, as some of the rabbins think, without any calx of iron or other material that could make a permanent dye, were washed off the parchment into the water which the woman was obliged to drink, so that she drank the very words of the execration. The ink used in the East is almost all of this kind - a…Read the comment
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible · v. 11-31Verses 11-31 The trial of jealousy. Since the crime of adultery is especially defiling and destructive of the very foundations of social order, the whole subject is dealt with at a length proportionate to its importance. The process prescribed has lately been strikingly illustrated from an Egyptian “romance,” which refers to the time of Rameses the Great, and may therefore well serve to illustrate the manners and customs of the Mosaic times. This mode of…Read the comment
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary · v. 11-31Verses 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 innocent from coming under just suspicion. When no proof could be brought, the wife was called on to make this solemn appeal to a heart-searching God. No woman, if she were guilty, could say "Amen" to the adjuration, and…Read the comment
• Tyndale Open Study Notes · v. 23-24The image of drinking curses appears again in Ezekiel 2:8–3:3 and Revelation 10:8–11.Read the comment
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 23-2423-24. write these curses in a book--The imprecations, along with her name, were inscribed in some kind of record--on parchment, or more probably on a wooden tablet. blot them out with the bitter water--If she were innocent, they could be easily erased, and were perfectly harmless; but if guilty, she would experience the fatal effects of the water she had drunk.Read the comment

Topics related to Numbers 5:23

• Adultery
• Bitter Water
• Husband
• Jealousy
• Oath
• Priest
• Self-Incrimination
• Wife
• Women

In the dictionaries

• Bitter Water
• Adultery
• Close
• Conceive
• Cross
• Curse
• Recompense
• Sinai
• Water of jealousy
• Alexander

Commentaries on Numbers 5

• Adam Clarke Bible Commentary
• Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
• Matthew Henry Concise Commentary
• Tyndale Open Study Notes
• Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary
• Rashi on Tanakh
• Calvin’s Commentaries
• Keil & Delitzsch Commentary
• John Wesley’s Notes
• Darby Translation Notes
• Geneva Bible Translation Notes
• Kingcomments
• Matthew Henry’s Complete Commentary
• Matthew Henry’s Modern English Commentary
• Original Douay–Rheims Annotations
• Seventh-day Adventist Bible Commentary