New King James Version
Numbers 5:23
23‘Then the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall scrape them off into the bitter water.
Numbers 5:23 in other versions
- King James Version (KJV)And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out with the bitter water:
- New International Version (NIV)“ ‘The priest is to write these curses on a scroll and then wash them off into the bitter water.
- English Standard Version (ESV)"Then the priest shall write these curses in a book and wash them off into the water of bitterness.
- New Living Translation (NLT)And the priest will write these curses on a piece of leather and wash them off into the bitter water.
Context of Numbers 5:23
21then the priest shall put the woman under the oath of the curse, and he shall say to the woman—“the Lord make you a curse and an oath among your people, when the Lord makes your thigh rot and your belly swell; 22and 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.” ‘Then the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall scrape them off into the bitter water. 24And he shall make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter her to become bitter. 25Then the priest shall take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman’s hand, shall wave the offering before the Lord, and bring it to the altar;
Read all of Numbers 5Numbers 5:23 word by word
וְ֠כָתַב אֶת־הָאָלֹ֥ת הָאֵ֛לֶּה הַכֹּהֵ֖ן בַּסֵּ֑פֶר וּמָחָ֖ה אֶל־מֵ֥י הַמָּרִֽים׃Read the interlinear
Words taken from the KJV.
Cross-references for Numbers 5:23
- Exodus 17:14Then the Lord said to Moses, “Write this for a memorial in the book and recount it in the hearing of Joshua, that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.”
- Deuteronomy 31:19“Now therefore, write down this song for yourselves, and teach it to the children of Israel; put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for Me against the children of Israel.
- 2 Chronicles 34:24“Thus says the Lord: ‘Behold, I will bring calamity on this place and on its inhabitants, all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah,
- Job 31:35Oh, that I had one to hear me! Here is my mark. Oh, that the Almighty would answer me, That my Prosecutor had written a book!
- Jeremiah 51:60So Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that would come upon Babylon, all these words that are written against Babylon.
- 1 Corinthians 16:21The salutation with my own hand—Paul’s.
- Revelation 20:12And I saw the dead, small and great, standing before God, and books were opened. And another book was opened, which is the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to their works, by the things which were written in the books.
- Psalms 51:1Have mercy upon me, O God, According to Your lovingkindness; According to the multitude of Your tender mercies, Blot out my transgressions.
- Isaiah 43:25“I, even I, am He who blots out your transgressions for My own sake; And I will not remember your sins.
- Isaiah 44:22I have blotted out, like a thick cloud, your transgressions, And like a cloud, your sins. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.”
- Acts 3:19Repent therefore and be converted, that your sins may be blotted out, so that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord,
Commentaries on Numbers 5:23
- Adam Clarke Bible Commentary · v. 23The priest shall write these curses - and he shall blot them out - It appears that the curses which were written down with a kind of ink prepared for the purpose, as some of the rabbins think, without any calx of iron or other material that could make a permanent dye, were washed off the parchment into the water which the woman was obliged to drink, so that she drank the very words of the execration. The ink used in the East is almost all of this kind - a…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. 23-24The image of drinking curses appears again in Ezekiel 2:8–3:3 and Revelation 10:8–11.Read the comment
- Jamieson–Fausset–Brown Commentary · v. 23-2423-24. write these curses in a book--The imprecations, along with her name, were inscribed in some kind of record--on parchment, or more probably on a wooden tablet. blot them out with the bitter water--If she were innocent, they could be easily erased, and were perfectly harmless; but if guilty, she would experience the fatal effects of the water she had drunk.Read the comment
Topics related to Numbers 5:23
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
New King James Version — © 1982 Thomas Nelson, Inc
Commentaries