English Standard Version
Numbers 5:29
29"This is the law in cases of jealousy, when a wife, though under her husband's authority, goes astray and defiles herself,
Numbers 5:29 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)This is the law of jealousies, when a wife goeth aside to another instead of her husband, and is defiled;
- New International Version (NIV)“ ‘This, then, is the law of jealousy when a woman goes astray and makes herself impure while married to her husband,
- New King James Version (NKJV)‘This is the law of jealousy, when a wife, while under her husband’s authority, goes astray and defiles herself,
- New Living Translation (NLT)“This is the ritual law for dealing with suspicion. If a woman goes astray and defiles herself while under her husband’s authority,
Context of Numbers 5:29
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. 28But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, then she shall be free and shall conceive children. "This is the law in cases of jealousy, when a wife, though under her husband's authority, goes astray and defiles herself, 30or when the spirit of jealousy comes over a man and he is jealous of his wife. Then he shall set the woman before the Lord, and the priest shall carry out for her all this law. 31The man shall be free from iniquity, but the woman shall bear her iniquity."
Read all of Numbers 5Numbers 5:29 word by word
זֹ֥את תּוֹרַ֖ת הַקְּנָאֹ֑ת אֲשֶׁ֨ר תִּשְׂטֶ֥ה אִשָּׁ֛ה תַּ֥חַת אִישָׁ֖הּ וְנִטְמָֽאָה׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Numbers 5:29
- Leviticus 7:11"And this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings that one may offer to the Lord.
- Leviticus 11:46This is the law about beast and bird and every living creature that moves through the waters and every creature that swarms on the ground,
- Leviticus 13:59This is the law for a case of leprous disease in a garment of wool or linen, either in the warp or the woof, or in any article made of skin, to determine whether it is clean or unclean.
- Leviticus 14:54This is the law for any case of leprous disease: for an itch,
- Leviticus 15:32This is the law for him who has a discharge and for him who has an emission of semen, becoming unclean thereby;
- Numbers 5:12"Speak to the people of Israel, If any man's wife goes astray and breaks faith with him,
- Isaiah 5:7For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, and the men of Judah are his pleasant planting; and he looked for justice, but behold, bloodshed; for righteousness, but behold, an outcry!
Commentaries on Numbers 5:29
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 29This is the law of jealousies - And this is the most singular law in the whole Pentateuch: a law that seems to have been copied by almost all the nations of the earth, whether civilized or barbarian, as we find that similar modes of trial for suspected offenses were used when complete evidence was wanting to convict; and where it was expected that the object of their worship would interfere for the sake of justice, in order that the guilty should be…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. 2929. This is the law of jealousies--Adultery discovered and proved was punished with death. But strongly suspected cases would occur, and this law made provision for the conviction of the guilty person. It was, however, not a trial conducted according to the forms of judicial process, but an ordeal through which a suspected adulteress was made to go--the ceremony being of that terrifying nature, that, on the known principles of human nature, guilt or…Read the comment
Topics related to Numbers 5:29
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