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Numbers 5:16-22 meaning

Verses 16-22 describe the ritual performed by the priest in order to determine the guilt or innocence of the woman suspected of adultery. It included the drinking of the “water of bitterness” which, depending on her guilt or innocence, would affect her physically. The ritual included the pronouncement of a curse that would go into effect if she was guilty of adultery. The accused woman would then agree to the terms of the curse.

In the first part of the ritual, the priest shall bring her near and have her stand before the Lord (v. 16). This probably means that she was brought to the entrance to the tabernacle. The priest also was to take holy water in an earthenware vessel (v. 17). The holy water was water that had been in the LORD’s presence in the tabernacle. It was possibly water from the laver and thus was blessed. The water was put into an earthenware vessel which had little value.

Then, the priest was instructed to take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water (v. 17). Even dust in the tabernacle was holy because it was in the LORD’s presence. The dust could represent the mortality of humans (Psalm 103:14) or the curse of death because of sin (Genesis 3:19; Ecclesiastes 3:20, 12:7).

Then, in verses 18-22, the priest (v. 18) had several duties to perform:

First, he had the woman stand before the Lord. This restates what was said in verse 16. It emphasized the fact that this was a sin against the LORD as well as an act of unfaithfulness to the husband.
Second, he let the hair of the woman’s head go loose. The significance of loosening the woman’s hair is not known precisely. In Leviticus 10:5 and Leviticus 21:10, loosened hair was a sign of mourning. In Leviticus 13:45, a person with a skin disease was to wear loosened hair as a sign of uncleanness or mourning. It is possible that both ideas were involved here.
Third, he was to place the grain offering of memorial in her hands, which is the grain offering of jealousy, and in the hand of the priest is to be the water of bitterness that brings a curse. The precise meaning of the phrase water of bitterness hinges on the meaning of the Hebrew word for bitterness (“marah”), and its meaning has been widely debated. Some have taken it to mean “proof,” “testing,” “rebellion,” and even “flow.” It seems best to retain the meaning as “bitter,” and this could refer to both its taste when drunk as well as the consequences of drinking it if guilty.

The next part of the ritual involved the priest presenting the two possible outcomes. At the outset, the priest shall have her take an oath (v. 19) and then say to the woman what were the two possible outcomes.

First, the priest was to state the first possibility—that if no man has lain with you and if you have not gone astray into uncleanness, being under the authority of your husband. If this was true, then the priest proclaimed that she be immune to this water of bitterness that brings a curse. The water of bitterness was the water mixed with the dust of the tabernacle. In other words, if the woman was truly innocent of adultery and she drinks the bitter water, she would not experience any bad results.

Verse 20 contains the other possibility—that she had indeed been unfaithful to her husband. If the woman had gone astray, being under the authority of your husband, and if you have defiled yourself and a man other than your husband has had intercourse with you (v. 20), then there were grave consequences. The priest was instructed to

Have the woman swear with the oath of the curse (v. 21).
Say to the woman, “the Lord make you a curse and an oath among your people by the Lord’s making your thigh waste away and your abdomen swell.” This probably means that the woman no longer had the ability to have children. Often, the “thigh” represented the sexual organs, and if so here, this could mean that, along with the abdomen swelling, the woman’s reproductive organs would be damaged and she would become incapable of bearing children. This is confirmed in verse 28 that states the woman shall be free to conceive children if she is not guilty.

So, the idea was that this water that brings a curse shall go into your stomach, and make your abdomen swell and your thigh waste away (v. 22).

In response to the priest’s statement, the woman was to say, “Amen. Amen.” The Hebrew word “Amen” has as its root meaning the idea of certainty. By saying this, the woman accepted the words of the priest.

In conducting this ceremony, the woman is putting herself at great peril if she is guilty. But if she is not guilty, the husband should be placed in a position to release his suspicion, and restore the relationship with his wife.

This ceremony then would provide a protection for women, to give them a means to clear their name of suspicion. In ancient societies, male muscle-power was essential to survival. It was essential for protection as well as for provision. For a woman to lose the protection of a husband put her in severe jeopardy. This sentiment is expressed by the widow Naomi when encouraging her daughter-in-law Ruth to return to Moab and find a husband to marry there (Ruth 1:8-13).

Biblical Text

¹⁶‘Then the priest shall bring her near and have her stand before the Lord, ¹⁷and the priest shall take holy water in an earthenware vessel; and he shall take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water. ¹⁸The priest shall then have the woman stand before the Lord and let the hair of the woman’s head go loose, and place the grain offering of memorial in her hands, which is the grain offering of jealousy, and in the hand of the priest is to be the water of bitterness that brings a curse. ¹⁹The priest shall have her take an oath and shall say to the woman, “If no man has lain with you and if you have not gone astray into uncleanness, being under the authority of your husband, be immune to this water of bitterness that brings a curse; ²⁰if you, however, have gone astray, being under the authority of your husband, and if you have defiled yourself and a man other than your husband has had intercourse with you” ²¹(then the priest shall have the woman swear with the oath of the curse, and the priest shall say to the woman), “the Lord make you a curse and an oath among your people by the Lord’s making your thigh waste away and your abdomen swell; ²²and this water that brings a curse shall go into your stomach, and make your abdomen swell and your thigh waste away.” And the woman shall say, “Amen. Amen.”

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Additional Resources

Book Theme

The book of Numbers is the fourth of the five books of Moses that comprise the Torah, which means “Law.” It gets its English name from the Greek Old Testament called the Septuagint (or LXX). The LXX named this book, “Arithmoi,” meaning “Numbers.” Its Hebrew name means “in the desert” or “in the wilderness.” Both names are appropriate. The Hebrew name is appropriate because Numbers covers the Israelites’ wanderings in the wilderness (or “desert”) from Sinai to the plains of Moab. The Greek name is also appropriate because of the many lists, and the numbers within those lists.

At the beginning of the book, the Israelites had been camped at Mount Sinai for about a year. The book of Exodus covered their escape from Egypt and their journey to Sinai. The LORD commanded Moses to organize the people in preparation to leave Sinai and go to the Promised Land. The book covers around 38 years of the Israelites’ journey from Egypt to the Promised Land, and describes many of Israel’s failures, including mutinies against Moses and outright disobedience to the word of the LORD. In Numbers, the LORD declares that the generation that left Egypt would die in the wilderness due to their disobedience. Only two, Joshua and Caleb, were allowed to enter the Promised Land, due to their faithfulness. Even Moses died without entering the Land due to disobedience.

The book of Numbers can be outlined in many ways. The most general outline involves the generation that leaves Egypt and the one after it, as seen below:
• Events Involving the Exodus Generation (Num. 1 – 25)
• Events Involving the Second Generation (Num. 26 – 36)

Another outline sees the book having three major divisions based on the major encampments of the Israelites:
• Israel at Sinai (Num. 1:1 – 10:10)
• Israel at Kadesh Barnea (Num. 10:11 – 19:22)
• Israel on the Plains of Moab (Num. 20:1 – 36:13)

Still another outline (the one followed here) is as follows:
• The Exodus Generation in the Wilderness (chaps. 1 – 25)
◦ The Israelites Prepare to Leave Mount Sinai (1:1 – 10:10)
◦ The Israelites Depart to Kadesh Barnea (10:11 – 14:45)
◦ The Israelites Journey to the Plains of Moab (15:1 – 22:1)
◦ The Israelites Are Confronted by Balaam the Prophet (22:2 – 25:18)
• The Second Generation Prepares to Enter the Promised Land (26:1 – 36:13)
◦ The Rules Concerning Inheritance (Num. 26:1 – 27:11)
◦ The Provision for Moses’ Successor (Num. 27:12 – 23)
◦ The Laws Concerning Offerings (Num. 28:1 – 29:40)
◦ The Laws Concerning Vows (Num. 30:1 –16)
◦ The LORD’s Judgment Against the Midianites (Num. 31:1 – 54)
◦ The Inheritance of the Eastern Tribes (Num. 32:1 – 42)
◦ The Review of the Journey to Canaan (Num. 33:1 – 56)
◦ The LORD’s Instructions Before Conquering Canaan (Num. 33:50 – 36:13)

There are two themes that flow from the book of Numbers. The first concerns the LORD’s infinite grace in light of the people’s many failures and transgressions. There is hardly a book in the Bible where the LORD had to exercise His grace to His people more often than this one. The book of Numbers contains a record of Israel’s failure after failure and the LORD’s gracious forgiveness after forgiveness. Even when He judged them, there was grace.

Second, and related to the first, the book stresses the importance of obedience. God chose the Israelites unconditionally; they were the LORD’s chosen people regardless of their behavior. However, He demanded obedience to show His people that their obedience results in blessing. God set forth a way of life for His people in the covenant He and the people entered into at Sinai (Exodus 19:5-8). The Ten Commandments made it clear that God would make the law, and that the pinnacle requirement of His law was for the people to respect and serve one another. The strong were to serve the weak. This was in stark contrast to the surrounding cultures, which centered around the strong exploiting the weak (Leviticus 18). God’s judgment brought discipline upon Israel in order to shepherd them toward living in harmony and service to one another.

Chapter Context

The first four chapters of the book of Numbers focused on organizing the tribes around the tabernacle, providing for a military force to defend the people, and dealing with the needs of transporting the tabernacle.

Numbers 5 begins a new extended section of the book that continues through chapter 9. This section contains commands from the LORD as well as rituals to be observed as the Israelites prepare to leave Mount Sinai and enter the Promised Land.

Chapters 5-6 concentrate on the need for holiness among the people. This included personal, physical holiness as well as holiness in interpersonal relationships. Holiness means to be separated from the world’s ways by following the commands of God. The surrounding cultures were full of exploitation (Leviticus 18). God’s people were to love others as they loved themselves (Leviticus 19:18). Being holy to the Lord meant serving and helping others, such that the community could thrive and prosper, both materially as well as spiritually.

Numbers 5 can be outlined as follows:

Dealing with the Ceremonially Unclean (Numbers 5:1-4)
Dealing with Paying for Personal Wrongdoing (Numbers 5:5-10)
Dealing with Adultery (Numbers 5:11-31)
- The Suspicion of Adultery (Numbers 5:11-15)
- The Water of Bitterness (Numbers 5:16-22)
- The Ritual of the Law of Jealousy (Numbers 5:23-28)
- The Summary of the Law of Jealousy (Numbers 5:29-31)

The “law of jealousy” provided a means to provide relief for an innocent woman suspected of adultery. This would protect women from the abuse of suspicion, and properly turn over judgement of sin to the hand of God. The building block of a self-governing society is the family, which begins with marriages. This ceremony allows for truth and justice to create relational harmony.

Numbers 5:16-22 meaning

Check out our other commentaries:

Galatians 2:6-10 meaning

Exodus 4:1-9 meaning

Matthew 4:17 meaning

Deuteronomy 12:15-16 meaning

Deuteronomy 19:11-13 meaning

Additional Resources

Book Theme

Chapter Context

Maps and Charts

Videos

The Bible Project - Numbers Summary

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