New Living Translation
Numbers 5:22
22Now 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.’
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.”
- English Standard Version (ESV)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.'
- 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.”
Context of Numbers 5:22
20But if you have gone astray by being unfaithful to your husband, and have defiled yourself by having sex with another man—’ 21“At this point the priest must put the woman under oath by saying, ‘May the people know that the Lord’s curse is upon you when he makes you infertile, causing your womb to shrivel and your abdomen to swell. 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.’ 23And the priest will write these curses on a piece of leather and wash them off into the bitter water. 24He will make the woman drink the bitter water that brings on the curse. When the water enters her body, it will cause bitter suffering if she is guilty.
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 5:27If she has defiled herself by being unfaithful to her husband, the water that brings on the curse will cause bitter suffering. Her abdomen will swell and her womb will shrink, and her name will become a curse among her people.
- Psalms 109:18Cursing is as natural to him as his clothing, or the water he drinks, or the rich food he eats.
- Proverbs 1:31Therefore, they must eat the bitter fruit of living their own way, choking on their own schemes.
- Ezekiel 3:3“Fill your stomach with this,” he said. And when I ate it, it tasted as sweet as honey in my mouth.
- Deuteronomy 27:15‘Cursed is anyone who carves or casts an idol and secretly sets it up. These idols, the work of craftsmen, are detestable to the Lord.’ And all the people will reply, ‘Amen.’
- Job 31:21“If I raised my hand against an orphan, knowing the judges would take my side,
- Psalms 7:4if I have betrayed a friend or plundered my enemy without cause,
- Psalms 41:13Praise the Lord, the God of Israel, who lives from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and amen!
- Psalms 72:19Praise his glorious name forever! Let the whole earth be filled with his glory. Amen and amen!
- Psalms 89:52Praise the Lord forever! Amen and amen!
- John 3:3Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”
- John 5:24“I tell you the truth, those who listen to my message and believe in God who sent me have eternal life. They will never be condemned for their sins, but they have already passed from death into life.
- John 6:53So Jesus said again, “I tell you the truth, unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink his blood, you cannot have eternal life within 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
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