Numbers 5:27

When he has made her drink the water, if she has defiled herself and been unfaithful to her husband, then the water that brings a curse will enter her and cause bitter suffering; her belly will swell, her thigh will shrivel, and she will become accursed among her people.

Berean Standard Bible

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Study note

Setting — The passage records a divine instruction delivered through Moses to the Israelite community concerning the priest's administration of a jealousy ritual. The moment occurs immediately after the priest burns a memorial portion of a grain offering on the altar and prepares the woman to drink the water.

The words — The Hebrew verb נִטְמְאָה (nit.me.'Ah) literally means "she has made herself unclean," while מַ֣עַל (Ma.'al) denotes the specific act of "unfaithfulness" or breach of trust. These terms ground the ritual's outcome in the woman's actual conduct rather than mere suspicion.

The thread — The declaration that she will "become accursed among her people" mirrors the covenantal curse language of Jeremiah 29:18 and Jeremiah 42:18, where divine judgment is explicitly framed as a public curse. Zechariah 8:13 later references this same motif by promising that Judah and Israel will be saved and cease being a curse among the nations.

Why it lands — The text demands a clear acknowledgment that covenant actions carry tangible, divinely ordained consequences for both individuals and the community. It requires the reader to recognize that ritual procedure serves as a mechanism for establishing factual guilt or innocence within the corporate body.

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

וְהִשְׁקָ֣הּve./hish.Ka/hand/ he will make drink/ her אֶת־'et-<obj.>הַמַּ֗יִםha./Ma.yimthe/ waters וְהָיְתָ֣הve./ha.ye.Tahand/ she will be אִֽם־'im-if נִטְמְאָה֮nit.me.'Ahshe has made herself unclean וַתִּמְעֹ֣לva./tim.'Oland/ she has acted unfaithfully מַ֣עַלMa.'alunfaithfulness בְּאִישָׁהּ֒be./'i.Sha/hagainst/ husband/ her וּבָ֨אוּu./Va.'uand/ they will goבָ֜הּva/hin <the>/ herהַמַּ֤יִםha./Ma.yimthe/ waters הַמְאָֽרֲרִים֙ha/m.'a.ra.Rimwhich/ bring a curse לְמָרִ֔יםle./ma.Rimto/ bitter [things]וְצָבְתָ֣הve./tza.ve.Tahand/ it will swell בִטְנָ֔הּvit.Na/hbelly/ her וְנָפְלָ֖הve./na.fe.Lahand/ it will fall יְרֵכָ֑הּye.re.Kha/hthigh/ her וְהָיְתָ֧הve./ha.ye.Tahand/ she will become הָאִשָּׁ֛הha./'i.Shahthe/ woman לְאָלָ֖הle./'a.Lah<into>/ a curse בְּקֶ֥רֶבbe./Ke.revin/ [the] midst of עַמָּֽהּ׃'a.Ma/hpeople/ her

King James Version

And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, that, if she be defiled, and have done trespass against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot: and the woman shall be a curse among her people.

Cross-references

Jeremiah 29:18 I will pursue them with sword and famine and plague. I will make them a horror to all the kingdoms of the earth—a curse, a desolation, and an object of scorn and reproach among all the nations to which I banish them.
Jeremiah 42:18 For this is what the LORD of Hosts, the God of Israel, says: ‘Just as My anger and wrath were poured out on the residents of Jerusalem, so will My wrath be poured out on you if you go to Egypt. You will become an object of cursing and horror, of vilification and disgrace, and you will never see this place again.’
Zechariah 8:13 As you have been a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you, and you will be a blessing. Do not be afraid; let your hands be strong.”
Numbers 5:20 But if you have gone astray while under your husband’s authority and have defiled yourself and lain carnally with a man other than your husband’—
Deuteronomy 28:37 You will become an object of horror, scorn, and ridicule among all the nations to which the LORD will drive you.
Isaiah 65:15 You will leave behind your name as a curse for My chosen ones, and the Lord GOD will slay you; but to His servants He will give another name.
Jeremiah 24:9 I will make them a horror and an offense to all the kingdoms of the earth, a disgrace and an object of scorn, ridicule, and cursing wherever I have banished them.
Jeremiah 29:22 Because of them, all the exiles of Judah who are in Babylon will use this curse: ‘May the LORD make you like Zedekiah and Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire!’
Jeremiah 44:12 And I will take away the remnant of Judah who have resolved to go to the land of Egypt to reside there; they will meet their end. They will all fall by the sword or be consumed by famine. From the least to the greatest, they will die by sword or famine; and they will become an object of cursing and horror, of vilification and reproach.
Psalms 83:9 Do to them as You did to Midian, as to Sisera and Jabin at the River Kishon,