Numbers 5:17

Good News Translation

He shall pour some holy water into a clay bowl and take some of the earth that is on the floor of the Tent of the Lord 's presence and put it in the water to make it bitter.

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
and the Kohen shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle the Kohen shall take, and put it into the water.

King James Version
And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water:

Lexham English Bible
the priest will take holy waters in a clay vessel, and from the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle, and the priest will put it into the waters.

New Century Version
He will take some holy water in a clay jar, and he will put some dirt from the floor of the Holy Tent into the water.

New English Translation
The priest will then take holy water in a pottery jar, and take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle, and put it into the water.

Amplified Bible
and the priest shall take holy water [from the sacred basin] in an earthenware vessel; and he shall take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it in the water.

New American Standard Bible
and the priest shall take holy water in an earthenware container; and he shall take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it in the water.

Geneva Bible (1587)
Then the Priest shal take the holy water in an earthen vessel, and of the dust that is in the floore of the Tabernacle, euen the Priest shal take it and put it into the water.

Legacy Standard Bible
and the priest shall take holy water in an earthenware vessel; and the priest shall take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water.

Contemporary English Version
where he will pour sacred water into a clay jar and stir in some dust from the floor of the sacred tent.

Complete Jewish Bible
The cohen will put holy water in a clay pot, and then the cohen will take some of the dust on the floor of the tabernacle and put it in the water.

Darby Translation
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.

Easy-to-Read Version
Then he will take some special water and put it in a clay jar. He will put some dirt from the floor of the Holy Tent into the water.

English Standard Version
And the priest shall take holy water in an earthenware vessel and take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water.

George Lamsa Translation
And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and some of the dust that is in the base of the altar of the tabernacle the priest shall take and put it into the water;

Christian Standard Bible®
Then the priest is to take holy water in a clay bowl, take some of the dust from the tabernacle floor, and put it in the water.

Literal Translation
And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel. And the priest shall take of the dust which is on the tabernacle floor, and shall put it into the water.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
and take of the holy water in an earthen vessell, and put of ye dust that is on the floore of the habitacion, in to the water.

American Standard Version
and the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water.

Bible in Basic English
And the priest will take holy water in a pot and put in it dust from the floor of the House;

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and of the dust that is in the floore of the tabernacle, the priest shal take it, and put it into ye water.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water.

King James Version (1611)
And the Priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessell, and of the dust that is in the floore of the Tabernacle the Priest shall take, and put it into the water:

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And the priest shall take pure running water in an earthen vessel, and he shall take of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle of witness, and the priest having taken it shall cast it into the water.

English Revised Version
and the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water:

Berean Standard Bible
Then he is to take some holy water in a clay jar and put some of the dust from the tabernacle floor into the water.

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and he schal take holi watir in `a vessel of erthe, and he schal putte in to it a litil of the erthe of the pawment of the tabernacle.

Young's Literal Translation
and the priest hath taken holy water in an earthen vessel, and of the dust which is on the floor of the tabernacle doth the priest take, and hath put [it] into the water,

Update Bible Version
and the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water.

Webster's Bible Translation
And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put [it] into the water:

World English Bible
and the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water.

New King James Version
The priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water.

New Living Translation
He must take some holy water in a clay jar and pour into it dust he has taken from the Tabernacle floor.

New Life Bible
The religious leader will take holy water in a clay pot. He will take some of the dust on the floor of the meeting tent and put it into the water.

New Revised Standard
the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
and the priest shall take hallowed water in an earthen vessel, - and of the dust which shall be upon the floor of the habitation, shall the priest take, and put into the water;

Douay-Rheims Bible
And he shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and he shall cast a little earth of the pavement of the tabernacle into it.

Revised Standard Version
and the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
and 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.

Contextual Overview

¹¹ The Lord commanded Moses ¹²to give the Israelites the following instructions. It may happen that a man becomes suspicious that his wife is unfaithful to him and has defiled herself by having intercourse with another man. But the husband may not be certain, for his wife may have kept it secret—there was no witness, and she was not caught in the act. Or it may happen that a husband becomes suspicious of his wife, even though she has not been unfaithful. ¹⁵ In either case the man shall take his wife to the priest. He shall also take the required offering of two pounds of barley flour, but he shall not pour any olive oil on it or put any incense on it, because it is an offering from a suspicious husband, made to bring the truth to light. ¹⁶ The priest shall bring the woman forward and have her stand in front of the altar. ¹⁷ He shall pour some holy water into a clay bowl and take some of the earth that is on the floor of the Tent of the Lord 's presence and put it in the water to make it bitter. ¹⁸ Then he shall loosen the woman's hair and put the offering of flour in her hands. In his hands the priest shall hold the bowl containing the bitter water that brings a curse. ¹⁹ Then the priest shall make the woman agree to this oath spoken by the priest: "If you have not committed adultery, you will not be harmed by the curse that this water brings. ²⁰ But if you have committed adultery, ²¹ may the Lord make your name a curse among your people. May he cause your genital organs to shrink and your stomach to swell up. ²² May this water enter your stomach and cause it to swell up and your genital organs to shrink." The woman shall respond, "I agree; may the Lord do so."

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

holy water: That is, water from the laver; called holy, because separated from common to sacred uses. This is the most ancient account of the trial by ordeal, which obtained so generally among various nations; and it was calculated to fortify the minds of the Israelitish women in the hour of temptation, and to render them watchful against all occasions of exciting suspicion in the breasts of their husbands. Numbers 19:2-9, Exodus 30:18

of the dust: Job 2:12, Jeremiah 17:13, Lamentations 3:29, John 8:6, John 8:8

Reciprocal: Leviticus 14:5 - earthen vessel Numbers 5:18 - the bitter water

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the priest shall take holy water,.... Out of the laver, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan, and so Jarchi and Aben Ezra:

in an earthen vessel; which held half a log, and that was but a quarter of a pint, or three egg shells; for no more was assigned, to a suspected woman, according to the Misnah r. Some say only a fourth part: an earthen vessel was made use of, as everything vile and mean was in this affair:

and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put [it] into the water; first the water was put in, and then the dust, as Ben Gersom observes: there was a place a cubit square, where was a marble table, and a ring fixed in it, and when he lifted it up he took dust from under it, and put it so as it might be upon the top of the water s; which was used, either, as the Targum of Jonathan suggests, because the end of all flesh is to come to dust, and so to put her in mind of her original and her end; and in like manner the earthen vessel might signify, that she would be broke to pieces as that vessel; as also it might direct her thoughts to the tempter, by the influence of whose temptation she had been drawn into this sin, dust being the serpent's food; and this being taken off the floor of the tabernacle, might add to the veneration of it, and make it more solemn and awful to drink of it.

r Sotah, c. 2. sect. 2. Menachot, c. 9. sect. 3. s Sotah, c. 2. sect. 2.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

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 trial, like several other ordinances, was adopted by Moses from existing and probably very ancient and widely spread institutions.

Numbers 5:15

The offering was to be of the cheapest and coarsest kind, barley (compare 2 Kings 7:1, 2 Kings 7:16, 2 Kings 7:18), representing the abused condition of the suspected woman. It was, like the sin-offering Leviticus 5:11, to be made without oil and frankincense, the symbols of grace and acceptableness. The woman herself stood with head uncovered Numbers 5:18, in token of her shame.

Numbers 5:17

The dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle - To set forth the fact that the water was endued with extraordinary power by Him who dwelt in the tabernacle. Dust is an emblem of a state of condemnation Genesis 3:14; Micah 7:17.

Numbers 5:19

Gone aside ... - literally, “gone astray from” thy husband by uncleanness; compare Hosea 4:12.

Numbers 5:23

Blot them out with the bitter water - In order to transfer the curses to the water. The action was symbolic. Travelers speak of the natives of Africa as still habitually seeking to obtain the full force of a written charm by drinking the water into which they have washed it.

Numbers 5:24

Shall cause the woman to drink - Thus was symbolised both her full acceptance of the hypothetical curse (compare Ezekiel 3:1-3; Jeremiah 15:16; Revelation 10:9), and its actual operation upon her if she should be guilty (compare Psalms 109:18).

Numbers 5:26

The memorial thereof - See the marginal reference. “Memorial” here is not the same as “memorial” in Numbers 5:15.

Numbers 5:27

Of itself, the drink was not noxious; and could only produce the effects here described by a special interposition of God. We do not read of any instance in which this ordeal was resorted to: a fact which may be explained either (with the Jews) as a proof of its efficacy, since the guilty could not be brought to face its terrors at all, and avoided them by confession; or more probably by the license of divorce tolerated by the law of Moses. Since a husband could put away his wife at pleasure, a jealous man would naturally prefer to take this course with a suspected wife rather than to call public attention to his own shame by having recourse to the trial of jealousy. The trial by red water, which bears a general resemblance to that here prescribed by Moses, is still in use among the tribes of Western Africa.

Clarke's Notes on the Bible

Verse Numbers 5:17. Holy water — Water out of the laver, called holy because consecrated to sacred uses. This is the most ancient case of the trial by ordeal. Numbers 5:31; Numbers 5:31.

In an earthen vessel — Supposed by the Jews to be such as had never been previously used.

Dust that is in the floor — Probably intended to point out the baseness of the crime of which she was accused.