Christian Standard Bible
Numbers 5:31
31The husband will be free of guilt, but that woman will bear her iniquity.”
Numbers 5:31 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)Then shall the man be guiltless from iniquity, and this woman shall bear her iniquity.
- New International Version (NIV)The husband will be innocent of any wrongdoing, but the woman will bear the consequences of her sin.’ ”
- English Standard Version (ESV)The man shall be free from iniquity, but the woman shall bear her iniquity."
- New King James Version (NKJV)Then the man shall be free from iniquity, but that woman shall bear her guilt.’ ”
Context of Numbers 5:31
29“This is the law regarding jealousy when a wife goes astray and defiles herself while under her husband’s authority, 30or when a feeling of jealousy comes over a husband and he becomes jealous of his wife. He is to have the woman stand before the Lord, and the priest will carry out all these instructions for her. The husband will be free of guilt, but that woman will bear her iniquity.”
Read all of Numbers 5Numbers 5:31 word by word
וְנִקָּ֥ה הָאִ֖ישׁ מֵעָוֹ֑ן וְהָאִשָּׁ֣ה הַהִ֔וא תִּשָּׂ֖א אֶת־עֲוֹנָֽהּ׃ פRead the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Numbers 5:31
- Psalms 37:6making your righteousness shine like the dawn, your justice like the noonday.
- Numbers 9:13“But the man who is ceremonially clean, is not on a journey, and yet fails to observe the Passover is to be cut off from his people, because he did not present the Lord’s offering at its appointed time. That man will bear the consequences of his sin.
- Leviticus 20:10“If a man commits adultery with a married woman — if he commits adultery with his neighbor’s wife — both the adulterer and the adulteress must be put to death.
- Ezekiel 18:4Look, every life belongs to me. The life of the father is like the life of the son — both belong to me. The person who sins is the one who will die.
- Romans 2:8but wrath and anger to those who are self-seeking and disobey the truth while obeying unrighteousness.
Commentaries on Numbers 5:31
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 31This woman shall bear her iniquity - That is, her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot; see Numbers 5:22; (note). But if not guilty after such a trial, she had great honor, and, according to the rabbins, became strong, healthy, and fruitful; for if she was before barren, she now began to bear children; if before she had only daughters, she now began to have sons; if before she had hard travail, she now had easy; in a word, she was blessed in her…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. 29-31The law describes a trial by ordeal (a test in which God was asked to show guilt or innocence). In this case, a husband could bring his wife to the priest if he suspected adultery. The summary of the law makes one point clear. If the husband raised questions about his wife’s guilt or innocence, he was not considered guilty simply for asking. Some readers may notice what seems like a double standard. Ancient laws often focused on the woman’s failure in…Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 11-3112-15. if any man's wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him--This law was given both as a strong discouragement to conjugal infidelity on the part of a wife, and a sufficient protection of her from the consequences of a hasty and groundless suspicion on the part of the husband. His suspicions, however, were sufficient in the absence of witnesses (Le 20:10) to warrant the trial described; and the course of proceeding to be followed was for the…Read the comment
Topics related to Numbers 5:31
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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