Numbers 5:24

Good News Translation

Before he makes the woman drink the water, which may then cause her bitter pain,

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
He shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that causes the curse; and the water that causes the curse shall enter into her and become bitter.

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.

Lexham English Bible
He will make the woman drink the waters of the bitterness that brings a curse, and the waters of bitterness that bring a curse will go into her.

New Century Version
and make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse. If she is guilty, the water will make her sick.

New English Translation
He will make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and the water that brings a curse will enter her to produce bitterness.

Amplified Bible
and he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings a curse, and the water that brings the curse will go into her and cause bitterness.

New American Standard Bible
'Then he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings a curse, so that the water which brings a curse will go into her and cause bitterness.

Geneva Bible (1587)
And shal cause the woman to drinke ye bitter and cursed water, and the cursed water, turned into bitternesse, shal enter into her.

Legacy Standard Bible
Then he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings curses, so that the water which brings a curse will go into her to cause bitterness.

Contemporary English Version
so that when the woman drinks this water, the curses will enter her body.

Complete Jewish Bible
and make the woman drink the water of embitterment and cursing — the water of cursing will enter her and become bitter.

Darby Translation
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.

Easy-to-Read Version
Then the woman must drink the water that brings trouble. This water will enter her and, if she is guilty, it will cause her much suffering.

English Standard Version
And he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings the curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter into her and cause bitter pain.

George Lamsa Translation
And he shall make the woman drink the bitter water of testing; and the water of testing shall enter into her, to try her.

Christian Standard Bible®
He will require the woman to drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and it will enter her to cause bitter suffering.

Literal Translation
And he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter waters which cause the curse. And the waters which cause the curse shall enter into her for bitter things.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
and shall geue the wife of the bytter cursinge waters to drynke.

American Standard Version
and he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that causeth the curse; and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her and become bitter.

Bible in Basic English
And he will give to the woman the bitter water for drink; and the bitter water causing the curse will go into her.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
And geue the woman those bitter and cursed waters to drinke, yt those cursed and bitter waters may enter into her.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
And he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that causeth the curse; and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her and become bitter.

King James Version (1611)
And he shall cause the woman to drinke the bitter water, that causeth the curse: and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
And he shall cause the woman to drink the water of the conviction that brings the curse; and the water of the conviction that brings the curse shall enter into her.

English Revised Version
and he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that causeth the curse: and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her and become bitter.

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

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
and he schal yyue to hir to drynke. And whanne sche hath drunke tho watris,

Young's Literal Translation
and hath caused the woman to drink the bitter waters which cause the curse, and the waters which cause the curse have entered into her for bitter things.

Update Bible Version
and he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that causes the curse; and the water that causes the curse shall enter into her [and become] bitter.

Webster's Bible Translation
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.

World English Bible
He shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that causes the curse; and the water that causes the curse shall enter into her and become bitter.

New King James Version
And he shall make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter her to become bitter.

New Living Translation
He will make the woman drink the bitter water that brings on the curse. When the water enters her body, it will cause bitter suffering if she is guilty.

New Life Bible
He will make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse. The water that brings a curse will go into her and give her pain.

New Revised Standard
He shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings the curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter her and cause bitter pain.

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
and shall cause the woman to drink the deadly water that causeth a curse, - and the deadly water that causeth a curse shall enter into her.

Douay-Rheims Bible
And he shall give them her to drink. And when she hath drunk them up,

Revised Standard Version
and he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings the curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter into her and cause bitter pain.

New American Standard Bible (1995)
'Then he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings a curse, so that the water which brings a curse will go into her and cause bitterness.

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

Zechariah 5:3, Zechariah 5:4, Malachi 3:5

Reciprocal: Numbers 5:18 - the bitter water

Cross-References

Genesis 5:5
and died at the age of 930.

Genesis 5:6
When Seth was 105, he had a son, Enosh,

Genesis 5:22
After that, Enoch lived in fellowship with God for 300 years and had other children.

Genesis 37:30
He returned to his brothers and said, "The boy is not there! What am I going to do?"

Genesis 42:36
Their father said to them, "Do you want to make me lose all my children? Joseph is gone; Simeon is gone; and now you want to take away Benjamin. I am the one who suffers!"

2 Kings 2:1
The time came for the Lord to take Elijah up to heaven in a whirlwind. Elijah and Elisha set out from Gilgal,

Jeremiah 31:15
The Lord says, "A sound is heard in Ramah, the sound of bitter weeping. Rachel is crying for her children; they are gone, and she refuses to be comforted.

Matthew 2:18
"A sound is heard in Ramah, the sound of bitter weeping. Rachel is crying for her children; she refuses to be comforted, for they are dead."

Luke 23:43
Jesus said to him, "I promise you that today you will be in Paradise with me."

1 John 1:7
But if we live in the light—just as he is in the light—then we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from every sin.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that causeth the curse,..... Having the curse imprecated upon herself, if guilty, scraped into it; and this she was obliged to drink, whether she would or not; so it is said, if the roll is blotted out, and she says I am defiled, the water is poured out, and her offering is scattered in the place of ashes; if the roll is blotted out, and she says I will not drink, then force her, and make her drink whether she will or no z:

and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, [and become] bitter; produce the sad and bitter effects mentioned.

z Misnah, ut supra, (Sotah) c. 3. sect. 3.

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 5:24. The bitter water that causeth the curse — Though the rabbins think that the priest put some bitter substance in the water, yet as nothing of the kind is intimated by Moses, we may consider the word as used here metaphorically for affliction, death, c. These waters were afflicting and deadly to her who drank them, being guilty. In this sense afflictions are said to be bitter, Isaiah 38:17 so also is death, 1 Samuel 15:32: Ecclesiastes 7:26.