New Living Translation
Numbers 5:29
29“This is the ritual law for dealing with suspicion. If a woman goes astray and defiles herself while under her husband’s authority,
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
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. 28But if she has not defiled herself and is pure, then she will be unharmed and will still be able to have children. “This is the ritual law for dealing with suspicion. If a woman goes astray and defiles herself while under her husband’s authority, 30or if a man becomes jealous and is suspicious that his wife has been unfaithful, the husband must present his wife before the Lord, and the priest will apply this entire ritual law to her. 31The husband will be innocent of any guilt in this matter, but his wife will be held accountable for her sin.”
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“These are the instructions regarding the different kinds of peace offerings that may be presented to the Lord.
- Leviticus 11:46“These are the instructions regarding land animals, birds, marine creatures, and animals that scurry along the ground.
- Leviticus 13:59“These are the instructions for dealing with mildew that contaminates woolen or linen clothing or fabric or anything made of leather. This is how the priest will determine whether these items are ceremonially clean or unclean.”
- Leviticus 14:54“These are the instructions for dealing with serious skin diseases, including scabby sores;
- Leviticus 15:32These are the instructions for dealing with anyone who has a bodily discharge—a man who is unclean because of an emission of semen
- Numbers 5:12“Give the following instructions to the people of Israel. “Suppose a man’s wife goes astray, and she is unfaithful to her husband
- Isaiah 5:7The nation of Israel is the vineyard of the Lord of Heaven’s Armies. The people of Judah are his pleasant garden. He expected a crop of justice, but instead he found oppression. He expected to find righteousness, but instead he heard cries of violence.
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
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