Numbers 5:27

Numbers 5:27 in other versions

• King James Version (KJV)And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, that, if she be defiled, and have done trespass against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot: and the woman shall be a curse among her people.
• New International Version (NIV)If she has made herself impure and been unfaithful to her husband, this will be the result: When she is made to drink the water that brings a curse and causes bitter suffering, it will enter her, her abdomen will swell and her womb will miscarry, and she will become a curse.
• English Standard Version (ESV)And when he has made her drink the water, then, if she has defiled herself and has broken faith with her husband, the water that brings the curse shall enter into her and cause bitter pain, and her womb shall swell, and her thigh shall fall away, and the woman shall become a curse among her people.
• New King James Version (NKJV)When he has made her drink the water, then it shall be, if she has defiled herself and behaved unfaithfully toward her husband, that the water that brings a curse will enter her and become bitter, and her belly will swell, her thigh will rot, and the woman will become a curse among her people.

Context of Numbers 5:27

25But first, the priest must take the grain offering from her hands. That is the offering because the man does not trust his wife. The priest must lift it up in front of the Lord. Then he must bring it to the altar. 26He must burn a small part of it as a sacrifice. After that, the woman must drink the bitter water. If the woman has had sex with another man, the water will cause her to have very bad pain. Her female parts will become smaller. Her stomach will become very big. And people will curse her. 28But, if she did not do those wrong things, the water will not hurt her. She will be able to have babies. 29Perhaps a man is jealous because his wife has had sex with another man. Or he may only think that his wife has had sex with another man. This is what the law says that the priest must do: The man must bring her in front of the Lord.

Numbers 5:27 word by word

וְהִשְׁקָ֣הּ אֶת־הַמַּ֗יִם וְהָיְתָ֣ה אִֽם־נִטְמְאָה֮ וַתִּמְעֹ֣ל מַ֣עַל בְּאִישָׁהּ֒ וּבָ֨אוּ בָ֜הּ הַמַּ֤יִם הַמְאָֽרֲרִים֙ לְמָרִ֔ים וְצָבְתָ֣ה בִטְנָ֔הּ וְנָפְלָ֖ה יְרֵכָ֑הּ וְהָיְתָ֧ה הָאִשָּׁ֛ה לְאָלָ֖ה בְּקֶ֥רֶב עַמָּֽהּ׃Read the interlinear

Words taken from the KJV.

• And when he hath made her to drinkשָׁקָהshâqâh · to water: drinkH8248
• the waterמַיmayim · waterH4325
• if she be defiledטָמֵאţâmê' · to defileH2930
• and have doneמָעַלmâ‛al · be unfaithfulH4603
• trespassמַ֫עַלma‛al · unfaithfulnessH4604
• against her husbandאִישׁ'îysh · man: husbandH376
• that causeth the curseאָרַר'ârar · to curseH779
• shall enterבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): comeH935
• bitterמַרmar mârâh · bitterH4751
• and her bellyבֶּ֫טֶןbeţen · belly: wombH990
• shall swellצָבָהtsâbâh · to swellH6638
• and her thighיָרֵךְyârêk · thighH3409
• shall rotנָפַלnâphal · to fall: fallH5307
• and the womanאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · womanH802
• shall be a curseאָלָה'âlâh · oathH423
• amongקֶ֫רֶבqereb · entrails: amongH7130
• her peopleעַם‛am · peopleH5971

Cross-references for Numbers 5:27

• Numbers 5:20But if another man has had sex with you,
• Proverbs 5:4But in the end, she gives you bitter food, like poison. She gives you pain like a sharp sword.
• Ecclesiastes 7:26I learned this: Some women are like a trap that catches animals. Women like that are more dangerous than death. They may pretend to love you. They may hold you in their arms. But really their arms are like chains. They want to catch you, as hunters catch animals. Women like that will easily catch a man who has turned away from God. But a man who pleases God will escape from them.
• Romans 6:21You did things that you are ashamed about now. Nothing good came from them. In the end, the result of those things is death.
• 2 Corinthians 2:16For the people who are dying, we are like a bad smell that brings a message of death. But for the people that God is saving, we are like a lovely smell that brings a message of new life. Nobody is really good enough to tell such an important message!
• Hebrews 10:26Now that we have learned what is true, we must continue to believe in Jesus. If we know God's true message, but we still choose to do wrong things, God will not forgive us. There is no other sacrifice that will take away our sins.
• 2 Peter 2:10God will certainly punish those people who want bad things for themselves. They do the wrong things that their bodies want to do. They do not want to obey anyone's authority. These false teachers are not afraid of what other people think about them. They think that they themselves are very important. They are not afraid to say many bad things against the great angels in heaven.
• Deuteronomy 28:37The Lord will send you away to live among foreign people. When they see what has happened to you, they will all see that it is terrible. They will tell stories about you and they will laugh at you.
• Psalms 83:9God, punish them as you punished Midian. Do what you did to Sisera and Jabin at the River Kishon.
• Isaiah 65:15My own people will use your names when they curse others. The Almighty Lord will kill you, but he will give to his servants another name.
• Jeremiah 24:9I will send great trouble to punish them. It will make everyone afraid. The people of all the kingdoms on the earth will think that they are disgusting. People will insult them. They will use them as an example in proverbs. They will use their name as a curse. That will happen in all the places where I send my people.
• Jeremiah 29:18I will use war, famine and disease to chase them away from their homes. I will send them to live among other nations. The people of all the nations in the world will see how disgusting they are. People will use their names as a curse. They will see how foolish they are and they will laugh at them.
• Jeremiah 42:18The Lord Almighty, Israel's God, says, “If you go to Egypt, I will be very angry with you. I punished the people of Jerusalem because I was very angry with them. I will be as angry as that with you, if you go to Egypt. Other people will think that you are disgusting. They will insult you. They will use your name as a curse, because God has cursed you. You will never see this land of Judah again.”
• Zechariah 8:13In past years, people from other countries have said bad things against you, Judah and Israel. But now I will help you. You will bless many people. Do not be afraid. Be strong.’

Commentaries on Numbers 5:27

• 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. 11-31This detailed test for adultery, a "trial by ordeal," is the only one in the Old Testament. Yet, trial by ordeal was common in the ancient Near East. God had a special interest in protecting marriage. It was the foundation of Hebrew society. The ordeal was intended to promote marital faithfulness. We do not know how often such ordeals actually happened. This procedure relied on God to intervene so that justice occurred when evidence was lacking (see 1…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 5:27

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

In the dictionaries

• Adultery
• Close
• Conceive
• Cross
• Curse
• Jealousy, Waters of
• 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