Bible Strands

Numbers 5:24

He is to have the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and it will enter her and may cause her bitter suffering.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The priest administers a ritual to a suspected adulteress during a jealousy offering procedure, immediately following the preparation of the cursed water in Numbers 5:23. The words — The Hebrew verb וְהִשְׁקָה (ve-hishqah) means "he will make drink," directing the priest to force the woman to consume מֵי הַמָּרִים הַמְאֹרָרִים (mei ha-marim ha-me'orrim), "the bitter waters that bring a curse." The thread — This administered curse parallels the judicial curse extending over the land in Zechariah 5:3 and the divine judgment against adulterers and perjurers in Malachi 3:5. Why it lands — The text explicitly states the water will enter her and may cause bitter suffering, requiring the reader to recognize that covenant violation triggers a tangible, divinely sanctioned consequence rather than a symbolic gesture.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וְהִשְׁקָה֙ve./hish.Kahand/ he will make drinkאֶת־'et-<obj.>הָ֣אִשָּׁ֔הha./'i.Shahthe/ womanאֶת־'et-<obj.>מֵ֥יmei[the] waters ofהַמָּרִ֖יםha./ma.Rim<the>/ bitter [things]הַמְאָֽרֲרִ֑יםha/m.'a.ra.Rimwhich/ bring a curseוּבָ֥אוּu./Va.'uand/ they will goבָ֛הּva/hin <the>/ herהַמַּ֥יִםha./Ma.yimthe/ watersהַֽמְאָרֲרִ֖יםha/m.'a.ra.Rimwhich/ bring a curseלְמָרִֽים׃le./ma.Rimto/ bitter [things]

King James Version

And he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that causeth the curse: and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter.

Cross-references