11 And Jehovah spoke to Moses, saying, 12 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man's wife go astray, and commit unfaithfulness against him, 13 and a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and she be defiled in secret, and there be no witness against her, and she have not been caught; 14 and the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she have been defiled,—or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she have not been defiled, 15 —then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest, and he shall bring her offering for her, a tenth part of an ephah of barley-meal; he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense thereon; for it is an oblation of jealousy, a memorial oblation, bringing iniquity to remembrance. 16 And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before Jehovah. 17 And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and the priest shall take of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle, and put it into the water. 18 And the priest shall set the woman before Jehovah, and uncover the woman's head, and put the memorial oblation in her hands, which is the jealousy offering; and in the hand of the priest shall be the bitter water that bringeth the curse. 19 And the priest shall adjure her, and say unto the woman, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone astray in uncleanness, in being with another instead of thy husband, be free from this bitter water that bringeth the curse. 20 But if thou hast gone astray to another instead of thy husband, and hast been defiled, and a man other than thy husband have lain with thee, 21 —then the priest shall adjure the woman with the oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman: Jehovah make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when Jehovah doth make thy thigh to shrink, and thy belly to swell; 22 and this water that bringeth the curse shall enter into thy bowels, to make the belly to swell, and the thigh to shrink. And the woman shall say, Amen, amen. 23 And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and shall blot them out with the bitter water, 24 and he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that bringeth the curse, that the water that bringeth the curse may enter into her for bitterness. 25 And the priest shall take out of the woman's hand the oblation of jealousy, and shall wave the oblation before Jehovah, and shall present it at the altar. 26 And the priest shall take a handful of the oblation as a memorial thereof, and burn it upon the altar; and afterwards he shall make the woman drink the water. 27 And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, if she have been defiled, and have committed unfaithfulness against her husband, that the water that bringeth the curse shall enter into her, for bitterness, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall shrink; and the woman shall become a curse among her people. 28 But if the woman have not been defiled, and be clean, then she shall be clear, and shall conceive seed. 29 This is the law of jealousies, when a wife goeth astray to another instead of her husband and is defiled, 30 or when the spirit of jealousy cometh upon a man, and he is jealous as regards his wife; then shall he set the woman before Jehovah, and the priest shall do to her according to all this law. 31 Then shall the man be free from iniquity, but that woman shall bear her iniquity.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on Numbers 5:11-31
Commentary on Numbers 5:11-31
(Read Numbers 5:11-31)
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 drink the water after it, unless she disbelieved the truth of God, or defied his justice. The water is called the bitter water, because it caused the curse. Thus sin is called an evil and a bitter thing. Let all that meddle with forbidden pleasures, know that they will be bitterness in the latter end. From the whole learn, 1. Secret sins are known to God, and sometimes are strangely brought to light in this life; and that there is a day coming when God will, by Christ, judge the secrets of men according to the gospel, Romans 2:16. 2 In particular, Whoremongers and adulterers God will surely judge. Though we have not now the waters of jealousy, yet we have God's word, which ought to be as great a terror. Sensual lusts will end in bitterness. 3. God will manifest the innocency of the innocent. The same providence is for good to some, and for hurt to others. And it will answer the purposes which God intends.