Numbers 5:29

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,
• English Standard Version (ESV)"This is the law in cases of jealousy, when a wife, though under her husband's authority, goes astray and defiles herself,
• 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,

Context of Numbers 5:29

27When he has made her drink the water, then it will come about, if she has defiled herself and has been unfaithful to her husband, that the water which brings a curse will go into her and cause bitterness, and her belly will swell up and her thigh will shrivel, and the woman will become a curse among her people. 28But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, she will be immune and conceive children. ‘This is the law of jealousy: when a wife, who is under the authority of her husband, goes astray and defiles herself, 30or when an attitude of jealousy comes over a man and he is jealous of his wife, he shall then have the woman stand before the Lord, and the priest shall apply all of this law to her. 31The man, moreover, will be free of guilt, but that woman shall bear the consequences of her guilt.’”

Numbers 5:29 word by word

זֹ֥את תּוֹרַ֖ת הַקְּנָאֹ֑ת אֲשֶׁ֨ר תִּשְׂטֶ֥ה אִשָּׁ֛ה תַּ֥חַת אִישָׁ֖הּ וְנִטְמָֽאָה׃Read the interlinear

• Thisזֶהzeh · thisH2088
• is the lawתּוֹרָהtôrâh tôrâh · instructionH8451
• of jealousyקִנְאָהqin'âh · jealousyH7068
• whenאֲשֶׁר'ăsher · whichH834
• a wifeאִשָּׁה'ishshâh nâshîym · woman: wifeH802
• underתַּחַתtachath · underneath: underH8478
• her husbandאִישׁ'îysh · man: husbandH376
• goesשָׂטָהώâţâh · to turn asideH7847
• and defilesטָמֵאţâmê' · to defileH2930

Cross-references for Numbers 5:29

• Leviticus 7:11‘Now this is the law of the sacrifice of peace offerings which shall be presented to the Lord.
• Leviticus 11:46This is the law regarding the animal and the bird, and every living thing that moves in the waters and everything that swarms on the earth,
• Leviticus 13:59This is the law for the mark of leprosy in a garment of wool or linen, whether in the warp or in the woof, or in any article of leather, for pronouncing it clean or unclean.
• Leviticus 14:54This is the law for any spot of leprosy--even for a scale,
• Leviticus 15:32This is the law for the one with a discharge, and for the man who has a seminal emission so that he is unclean by it,
• Numbers 5:12“Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, ‘If any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him,
• Isaiah 5:7For the vineyard of the Lord of armies is the house of Israel, And the people of Judah are His delightful plant. So He waited for justice, but behold, there was bloodshed; For righteousness, but behold, a cry for help.

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

• Adultery
• Husband
• Jealousy
• Priest
• Wife
• Women

In the dictionaries

• Adultery
• Close
• Conceive
• Cross
• Curse
• Recompense
• Sinai
• Water of jealousy
• Alexander
• Apocrypha

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