English Standard Version
Numbers 5:22
22May this water that brings the curse pass into your bowels and make your womb swell and your thigh fall away.' And the woman shall say, 'Amen, Amen.'
Numbers 5:22 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, to make thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot: And the woman shall say, Amen, amen.
- New International Version (NIV)May this water that brings a curse enter your body so that your abdomen swells or your womb miscarries.” “ ‘Then the woman is to say, “Amen. So be it.”
- New King James Version (NKJV)and may this water that causes the curse go into your stomach, and make your belly swell and your thigh rot.” ‘Then the woman shall say, “Amen, so be it.”
- New Living Translation (NLT)Now may this water that brings the curse enter your body and cause your abdomen to swell and your womb to shrivel.’ And the woman will be required to say, ‘Yes, let it be so.’
Context of Numbers 5:22
20But if you have gone astray, though you are under your husband's authority, and if you have defiled yourself, and some man other than your husband has lain with you, 21then' (let the priest make the woman take the oath of the curse, and say to the woman) 'the Lord make you a curse and an oath among your people, when the Lord makes your thigh fall away and your body swell. May this water that brings the curse pass into your bowels and make your womb swell and your thigh fall away.' And the woman shall say, 'Amen, Amen.' 23"Then the priest shall write these curses in a book and wash them off into the water of bitterness. 24And he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings the curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter into her and cause bitter pain.
Read all of Numbers 5Numbers 5:22 word by word
וּ֠בָאוּ הַמַּ֨יִם הַמְאָרְרִ֤ים הָאֵ֙לֶּה֙ בְּֽמֵעַ֔יִךְ לַצְבּ֥וֹת בֶּ֖טֶן וְלַנְפִּ֣ל יָרֵ֑ךְ וְאָמְרָ֥ה הָאִשָּׁ֖ה אָמֵ֥ן׀ אָמֵֽן׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
- And this waterמַיmayim · waterH4325
- that causeth the curseאָרַר'ârar · to curseH779
- shall goבּוֹאbô' · to come (in): comeH935
- into thy bowelsמֵעֶהmê‛eh · bellyH4578
- bellyבֶּ֫טֶןbeţen · belly: wombH990
- to swellצָבָהtsâbâh · to swellH6638
- thighיָרֵךְyârêk · thighH3409
- to rotנָפַלnâphal · to fall: fallH5307
- And the womanאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · womanH802
- shall sayאָמַר'âmar · to sayH559
- Amenאָמֵן'âmên · amenH543
Cross-references for Numbers 5:22
- Numbers 5:27And 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.
- Psalms 109:18He clothed himself with cursing as his coat; may it soak into his body like water, like oil into his bones!
- Proverbs 1:31therefore they shall eat the fruit of their way, and have their fill of their own devices.
- Ezekiel 3:3And he said to me, "Son of man, feed your belly with this scroll that I give you and fill your stomach with it." Then I ate it, and it was in my mouth as sweet as honey.
- Deuteronomy 27:15"'Cursed be the man who makes a carved or cast metal image, an abomination to the Lord, a thing made by the hands of a craftsman, and sets it up in secret.' And all the people shall answer and say, 'Amen.'
- Job 31:21if I have raised my hand against the fatherless, because I saw my help in the gate,
- Psalms 7:4if I have repaid my friend with evil or plundered my enemy without cause,
- Psalms 41:13Blessed be the Lord, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting! Amen and Amen.
- Psalms 72:19Blessed be his glorious name forever; may the whole earth be filled with his glory! Amen and Amen!
- Psalms 89:52Blessed be the Lord forever! Amen and Amen.
- John 3:3Jesus answered him, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again he cannot see the kingdom of God."
- John 5:24Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life. He does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life.
- John 6:53So Jesus said to them, "Truly, truly, I say to you, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you have no life in you.
Commentaries on Numbers 5:22
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 22Thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot - What is meant by these expressions cannot be easily ascertained. ירך לנפל lanpel yarech signifies literally thy thigh to fall. As the thigh, feet, etc., were used among the Hebrews delicately to express the parts which nature conceals, (see Genesis 46:26;), the expression here is probably to be understood in this sense; and the falling down of the thigh here must mean something similar to the prolapsus uteri, or…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. 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. 2222. the woman shall say, Amen, Amen--The Israelites were accustomed, instead of formally repeating the words of an oath merely to say, "Amen," a "so be it" to the imprecations it contained. The reduplication of the word was designed as an evidence of the woman's innocence, and a willingness that God would do to her according to her desert.Read the comment
Topics related to Numbers 5:22
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
English Standard Version — © 2001 Crossway Bibles
Commentaries