Christian Standard Bible
Numbers 5:23
23“Then the priest is to write these curses on a scroll and wash them off into the bitter water.
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
21at this point the priest will make the woman take the oath with the sworn curse, and he is to say to her — ‘May the Lord make you into an object of your people’s cursing and swearing when he makes your womb shrivel and your belly swell. 22May this water that brings a curse enter your stomach, causing your belly to swell and your womb to shrivel.’ “And the woman will reply, ‘Amen, Amen.’ “Then the priest is to write these curses on a scroll and wash them off into the bitter water. 24He will require the woman to drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and it will enter her to cause bitter suffering. 25The priest is to take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman, present the offering before the Lord, and bring it to the altar.
Read all of Numbers 5Numbers 5:23 word by word
וְ֠כָתַב אֶת־הָאָלֹ֥ת הָאֵ֛לֶּה הַכֹּהֵ֖ן בַּסֵּ֑פֶר וּמָחָ֖ה אֶל־מֵ֥י הַמָּרִֽים׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Numbers 5:23
- Exodus 17:14The Lord then said to Moses, “Write this down on a scroll as a reminder and recite it to Joshua: I will completely blot out the memory of Amalek under heaven.”
- Deuteronomy 31:19Therefore write down this song for yourselves and teach it to the Israelites; have them sing it, so that this song may be a witness for me against the Israelites.
- 2 Chronicles 34:24‘This is what the Lord says: I am about to bring disaster on this place and on its inhabitants, fulfilling all the curses written in the book that they read in the presence of the king of Judah,
- Job 31:35If only I had someone to hear my case! Here is my signature; let the Almighty answer me. Let my Opponent compose his indictment.
- Jeremiah 51:60Jeremiah wrote on one scroll about all the disaster that would come to Babylon; all these words were written against Babylon.
- 1 Corinthians 16:21This greeting is in my own hand — Paul.
- Revelation 20:12I also saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and books were opened. Another book was opened, which is the book of life, and the dead were judged according to their works by what was written in the books.
- Psalms 51:1Be gracious to me, God, according to your faithful love; according to your abundant compassion, blot out my rebellion.
- Isaiah 43:25“I am the one, I sweep away your transgressions for my own sake and remember your sins no more.
- Isaiah 44:22I have swept away your transgressions like a cloud, and your sins like a mist. Return to me, for I have redeemed you.
- Acts 3:19Therefore repent and turn back, so that your sins may be wiped out,
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
In the dictionaries
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
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