Tree of Life Version
Numbers 5:23
23“Then the kohen is to write these curses on a scroll and wash them into the waters of bitterness.
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 King James Version (NKJV)‘Then the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall scrape them off into the bitter water.
Context of Numbers 5:23
21Then the kohen is to have the woman swear under this oath of a curse, and say to the woman—‘then let Adonai cause you to be cursed and denounced among your people when Adonai causes your thigh to rot and your belly to swell. 22“May this water which brings a curse enter your body and cause your belly to swell and your thigh to rot.’ “The woman is to say, ‘Amen, amen!’ “Then the kohen is to write these curses on a scroll and wash them into the waters of bitterness. 24The kohen will then have the woman drink the bitter water bearing curses, so that the water of the curses of bitterness enters her. 25The kohen is to take the jealousy offering from the woman’s hand, wave the offering before Adonai 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 17:14Adonai said to Moses, “Write this for a memorial in the book, and rehearse it in the hearing of Joshua, for I will utterly blot out the memory of the Amalekites from under heaven.”
- Deuteronomy 31:19“Now, write this song for yourselves, and teach it to Bnei-Yisrael—put it in their mouth, so that this song may be a witness for Me against Bnei-Yisrael.
- 2 Chronicles 34:24“Thus says Adonai, ‘Behold, I am bringing disaster on this place and on its inhabitants—all the curses that are written in the book that they have read before the king of Judah.
- Job 31:35O, that I had someone to hear me! Look, here is my signature, let Shaddai answer me, let the accuser write the indictment!
- Jeremiah 51:60And Jeremiah wrote in a single scroll all the evil that would come upon Babylon, including all these words that were written about Babylon.
- 1 Corinthians 16:21This greeting is in my own hand—Paul’s.
- Revelation 20:12And I saw the dead—the great and the small—standing before the throne. The books were opened, and another book was opened—the Book of Life. And the dead were judged according to what was written in the books, according to their deeds.
- Psalms 51:1For the music director: a psalm of David,
- Isaiah 43:25I, I am the One who blots out your transgressions for My own sake, and will not remember your sins.
- Isaiah 44:22I have blotted out your transgressions like a thick cloud and your sins like a mist. Return to Me, for I have redeemed you.”
- Acts 3:19Repent, therefore, and return—so your sins might be blotted out,
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
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