Números 5:18

La Biblia Reina-Valera

Y hará el sacerdote estar en pie á la mujer delante de Jehová, y descubrirá la cabeza de la mujer, y pondrá sobre sus manos el presente de la recordación, que es el presente de celos: y el sacerdote tendrá en la mano las aguas amargas que acarrean maldici

Parallel Translations

La Biblia de las Americas
"Luego el sacerdote hará que la mujer esté delante del Señor y descubrirá la cabeza de la mujer, y pondrá en sus manos la ofrenda memorial de cereal, que es la ofrenda de celos, y en la mano del sacerdote estará el agua de amargura que trae maldición.

La Biblia Reina-Valera Gomez
Y har� el sacerdote estar en pie a la mujer delante de Jehov�, y descubrir� la cabeza de la mujer, y pondr� sobre sus manos el presente de la recordaci�n, que es el presente de celos; y el sacerdote tendr� en la mano las aguas amargas que acarrean maldici�n.

Sagradas Escrituras (1569)
Y har� el sacerdote estar en pie a la mujer delante del SE�OR, y descubrir� la cabeza de la mujer, y pondr� sobre sus manos el presente de la recordaci�n, que es el presente de celos; y el sacerdote tendr� en la mano las aguas amargas que acarrean maldici�n.

Bible Verse Review
  from Treasury of Scripure Knowledge

the priest: Hebrews 13:4, Revelation 2:19-23

uncover: Leviticus 13:45, 1 Corinthians 11:15, Hebrews 4:12, Hebrews 4:13

and put: Numbers 5:15, Numbers 5:25, Numbers 5:26

the bitter water: So called from the bitter effects which it had upon the guilty. Numbers 5:17, Numbers 5:22, Numbers 5:24, Deuteronomy 29:18, 1 Samuel 15:32, Proverbs 5:4, Ecclesiastes 7:26, Isaiah 38:17, Jeremiah 2:19, Revelation 10:9, Revelation 10:10

Reciprocal: Leviticus 2:2 - the memorial Leviticus 10:6 - Uncover Numbers 5:16 - set her Jeremiah 8:14 - water 1 Corinthians 11:6 - but

Gill's Notes on the Bible

And the priest shall set the woman before the Lord,.... In the east of the tabernacle, with her face to the west, where was the holy of holies, so Ben Gersom; but not immediately for they had her from place to place, as Jarchi says, till she was weary, and her mind disturbed, that she might confess; and if she said, I am defiled, she rent the writing of her dowry, and went out; but if she said, I am pure, they brought her to the eastern gate, the gate of Nicanor, for there they made women suspected of adultery to drink the waters t:

and uncover the woman's head; as a token of her immodesty and non-subjection to her husband, and that she might be seen by all, to cause shame in her: according to the Misnah u, the priest took off her clothes, and loosed her hair--if she was clothed with white garments, he clothed her with black; if she had on her ornaments of gold, chains, earrings, or rings, he took them away from her, that she might be unseemly, and whoever would might come and look at her:

and put the offering of memorial into her hands, which [is] the jealousy offering; to weary her, as Jarchi says, that if perhaps her mind was disturbed she would confess; and so in the Misnah w it is said, that her husband put this offering into her hands to weary her; but the true reason here seems to be, that it might appear to be her own offering:

and the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that causeth the curse; not that the water was bitter of itself, for it was the water out of the laver, and had nothing in it but the dust of the floor of the tabernacle; though some think some bitter thing was put into it, so Ben Gersom, as wormwood; but it is so called from the effects of it on those that were guilty; it produced sad effects in them, bitter and distressing, and made them appear to be accursed ones, for it was not bitter till it entered, Numbers 5:24; whereas it was not so to the innocent, nor attended with any such consequence to them; so that there was nothing in the water itself, but its efficacy was divine and supernatural.

t Sotah, c. 1. sect. 5. u Sotah, c. 1. sect. 5, 6. w Sotah, c. 2. sect. 1.

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 5:18. Uncover the woman's head — To take off a woman's veil, and expose her to the sight of men, would be considered a very great degradation in the East. To this St. Paul appears to allude, 1 Corinthians 11:5-6; 1 Corinthians 11:10.