Numbers 5:22

New American Standard Bible

and this water that brings a curse shall go into your stomach, to make your belly swell up and your thigh shrivel." And the woman shall say, "Amen, Amen."

Parallel Translations

Hebrew Names Version
and this water that brings a curse will go into your bowels, and make your body swell, and your thigh fall away.' The woman shall say, 'Amein, Amein.'

King James Version
And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, to make thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot: And the woman shall say, Amen, amen.

Lexham English Bible
and these waters that bring a curse will go into your intestines to cause your womb to swell and to make your hip fall away." And the women will say, "Amen. Amen."

New Century Version
This water that brings a curse will go inside you and make your body unable to give birth to another baby." "‘The woman must say, "I agree."

New English Translation
and this water that causes the curse will go into your stomach, and make your abdomen swell and your thigh rot." Then the woman must say, "Amen, amen."

Amplified Bible
and 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 (so let it be)."

Geneva Bible (1587)
And that this cursed water may goe into thy bowels, to cause thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot. Then the woman shall answere, Amen, Amen.

Legacy Standard Bible
and this water that brings curses shall go into your stomach and make your abdomen swell and your thigh fall away." And the woman shall say, "Amen. Amen."

Complete Jewish Bible
May this water that causes the curse go into your inner parts and make your abdomen swell and your private parts shrivel up!" — and the woman is to respond, "Amen! Amen!"

Darby Translation
and this water that bringeth the curse shall enter into thy bowels, to make the belly to swell, and the thigh to shrink. And the woman shall say, Amen, amen.

Easy-to-Read Version
The priest must say, ‘You must drink this water that causes trouble. If you have sinned, you will not be able to have children. Any baby you have will die before it is born.' And the woman should say, ‘I agree to do as you say.'

English Standard Version
May this water that brings the curse pass into your bowels and make your womb swell and your thigh fall away.' And the woman shall say, ‘Amen, Amen.'

George Lamsa Translation
And this water of testing shall go into your belly and make your belly to swell and your thighs to rot; and the woman shall say, Amen, amen.

Good News Translation
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."

Christian Standard Bible®
May this water that brings a curse enter your stomach, causing your belly to swell and your womb to shrivel.’

Literal Translation
And these waters which cause the curse shall go into your bowels to cause the belly to swell, and the thigh to fall. And the woman shall say, Amen, amen.

Miles Coverdale Bible (1535)
So go this cursed water in to thy body, that yi wombe berst, and thy thye rotte. And the wife shal saye: Amen Amen.

American Standard Version
and this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, and make thy body to swell, and thy thigh to fall away. And the woman shall say, Amen, Amen.

Bible in Basic English
And this water of the curse will go into your body, causing disease of your stomach and wasting of your legs: and the woman will say, So be it.

Bishop's Bible (1568)
These cursed waters go into the bowels of thee, that they may make thy belly swell, and thy thigh to rotte. And let the woman say, Amen amen.

JPS Old Testament (1917)
and this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, and make thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to fall away'; and the woman shall say: 'Amen, Amen.'

King James Version (1611)
And this water that causeth the curse, shall go into thy bowels, to make thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot: and the woman shall say, Amen, Amen.

Brenton's Septuagint (LXX)
and this water bringing the curse shall enter into thy womb to cause thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot. And the woman shall say, So be it, So be it.

English Revised Version
and this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, and make thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to fall away: and the woman shall say, Amen, Amen.

Berean Standard Bible
May this water that brings a curse enter your stomach and cause your belly to swell and your thigh to shrivel.' Then the woman is to say, 'Amen, Amen.'

Wycliffe Bible (1395)
cursid watris entre in to thi wombe, and while the wombe swellith, thin hipe wexe rotun. And the womman schal answere, Amen! amen!

Young's Literal Translation
and these waters which cause the curse have gone into thy bowels, to cause the belly to swell, and the thigh to fall; and the woman hath said, Amen, Amen.

Update Bible Version
and this water that causes the curse shall go into your insides, and make your body to swell, and your thigh to fall away. And the woman shall say, Amen, Amen.

Webster's Bible Translation
And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, to make [thy] belly to swell, and [thy] thigh to perish. And the woman shall say, Amen, amen.

World English Bible
and this water that brings a curse will go into your bowels, and make your body swell, and your thigh fall away.' The woman shall say, 'Amen, Amen.'

New King James Version
and may this water that causes the curse go into your stomach, and make your belly swell and your thigh rot." "Then the woman shall say, "Amen, so be it."

New Living Translation
Now may this water that brings the curse enter your body and cause your abdomen to swell and your womb to shrivel.' And the woman will be required to say, ‘Yes, let it be so.'

New Life Bible
This water that brings a curse will go into your stomach and make it grow bigger and your leg to waste away." And the woman will say, "Let it be so. Let it be so."

New Revised Standard
now may this water that brings the curse enter your bowels and make your womb discharge, your uterus drop!" And the woman shall say, "Amen. Amen."

J.B. Rotherham Emphasized Bible
so shall this water that causeth a curse enter into thy body, causing womb to swell and thigh to fall away. And the woman shall say, Amen, Amen.

Douay-Rheims Bible
Let the cursed waters enter into thy belly, and may thy womb swell and thy thigh rot. And the woman shall answer, Amen, amen.

Revised Standard Version
may this water that brings the curse pass into your bowels and make your body swell and your thigh fall away.' And the woman shall say, 'Amen, Amen.'

New American Standard Bible (1995)
and 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."

Contextual Overview

¹¹ Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying, ¹² "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'If any man's wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him, ¹³ and a man has sexual relations with her and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband and she remains undiscovered, although she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her and she has not been caught in the act, ¹⁴ if an attitude of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife when she has defiled herself, or if an attitude of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife when she has not defiled herself, ¹⁵ the man shall then bring his wife to the priest, and shall bring as an offering for her a tenth of an ephah of barley meal; he shall not pour oil on it nor put frankincense on it, because it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of reminder, a reminder of wrongdoing. ¹⁶ 'Then the priest shall bring her forward and have her stand before the LORD, ¹⁷ 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. ¹⁸ 'The priest shall then have the woman stand before the LORD and let down the hair of the woman's head, and place the grain offering of reminder in her hands, that is, the grain offering of jealousy; and in the hand of the priest is to be the water of bitterness that brings a curse. ¹⁹ 'And the priest shall have her take an oath and shall say to the woman, "If no man has had sexual relations with you and if you have not gone astray into uncleanness, as you are under the authority of your husband, be immune to this water of bitterness that brings a curse; ²⁰ if, however, you have gone astray, though under the authority of your husband, and if you have defiled yourself and a man other than your husband has had sexual intercourse with you"

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

go into: Numbers 5:27, Psalms 109:18, Proverbs 1:31, Ezekiel 3:3

the woman: Deuteronomy 27:15-26, Job 31:21, Job 31:22, Job 31:39, Job 31:40, Psalms 7:4, Psalms 7:5

Amen: Psalms 41:13, Psalms 72:19, Psalms 89:52, John 3:3, John 3:11, John 5:24, John 5:25, John 6:53,*Gr.

Reciprocal: Numbers 5:18 - the bitter water Deuteronomy 22:22 - General Nehemiah 5:13 - Amen Jeremiah 28:6 - Amen Matthew 6:13 - Amen 1 Corinthians 14:16 - Amen

Cross-References

Genesis 5:5
So all the days that Adam lived were 930 years, and he died.

Genesis 5:6
Now Seth lived 105 years, and fathered Enosh.

Genesis 5:24
Enoch walked with God; and he was not, for God took him.

Genesis 6:9
These are the records of the generations of Noah. Noah was a righteous man, blameless in his generation. Noah walked with God.

Genesis 17:1
Now when Abram was ninety-nine years old, the LORD appeared to Abram and said to him, "I am God Almighty; Walk before Me, and be blameless.

Genesis 24:40
"And he said to me, 'The LORD, before whom I have walked, will send His angel with you to make your journey successful, and you will take a wife for my son from my relatives and from my father's house;

Genesis 48:15
And he blessed Joseph, and said, "The God before whom my fathers Abraham and Isaac walked, The God who has been my shepherd all my life to this day,

Exodus 16:4
Then the LORD said to Moses, "Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day's portion every day, so that I may test them, whether or not they will walk in My instruction.

Leviticus 26:12
'I will also walk among you and be your God, and you shall be My people.

Deuteronomy 5:33
"You shall walk entirely in the way which the LORD your God has commanded you, so that you may live and that it may be well for you, and that you may prolong your days in the land which you will possess.

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And this water that causeth the curse,.... Upon the drinking of which the curse follows, if guilty:

shall go into thy bowels; and there operate and produce the above effects, which are repeated again to inject terror:

to make [thy] belly to swell, and [thy] thigh to rot; here ends the form of the oath, which begins Numbers 5:19;

and the woman shall say, amen, amen; so be it; let it be as pronounced, if I am guilty; which, as Aben Ezra observes, is repeated for the sake of confirmation; though the Jewish writers commonly understand it as respecting various things, the oath and the curse, the thing charged with, and the persons suspected of x.

x Misn. ib. sect. 5. Targum Jon. & Jerus. & Jarchi in loc.

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 5:22. Thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot — What is meant by these expressions cannot be easily ascertained. לנפל ירך lanpel yarech signifies literally thy thigh to fall. As the thigh, feet, c., were used among the Hebrews delicately to express the parts which nature conceals, (see Genesis 46:26), the expression here is probably to be understood in this sense and the falling down of the thigh here must mean something similar to the prolapsus uteri, or falling down of the womb, which might be a natural effect of the preternatural distension of the abdomen. In 1 Corinthians 11:29, St. Paul seems to allude to the case of the guilty woman drinking the bitter cursed waters that caused her destruction: He who eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation (κριμα, condemnation or judgment) to himself; and there is probably a reference to the same thing in Psalms 109:18, and in Daniel 9:11.

And the woman shall say, Amen, amen. — This is the first place where this word occurs in the common form of a concluding wish in prayer. The root אמן aman signifies to be steady, true, permanent. And in prayer it signifies let it be so - make it steady - let it be ratified. Some have supposed that it is composed of the initial letters of אדני מלך נאמן Adonai Melech Neeman, My Lord the faithful King, but this derivation is both far-fetched and unnecessary.