🔢WEB · Numbers 5:12
What does Numbers 5:12 mean?
"“Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them: ‘If any man’s wife goes astray, and is unfaithful to him,"
— Numbers 5:12 (World English Bible)
Surrounding context
Every heave offering of all the holy things of the children of Israel, which they present to the priest, shall be his.
Every man’s holy things shall be his: whatever any man gives the priest, it shall be his.’”
Yahweh spoke to Moses, saying,
“Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them: ‘If any man’s wife goes astray, and is unfaithful to him,
and a man lies with her carnally, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and this is kept concealed, and she is defiled, and there is no witness against her, and she isn’t taken in the act;
and the spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife, and she is defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife, and she isn’t defiled:
then the man shall bring his wife to the priest, and shall bring her offering for her: one tenth of an ephah of barley meal. He shall pour no oil on it, nor put frankincense on it, for it is a meal offering of jealousy, a meal offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to memory.
Explanation
Numbers 5:12 is the opening line of a longer legal passage (verses 11-31) in which God instructs Moses to give Israel a procedure for handling a husband's suspicion that his wife has been unfaithful. In plain language, the verse simply sets up the scenario: "If any man's wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him..." It is a conditional statement, the "if" clause that introduces the law that follows, which describes what a husband should do when he suspects his wife of adultery but has no witnesses or proof — only suspicion and jealousy. The rest of the passage details a ritual involving a priest, a grain offering, and "bitter water," meant to bring the matter before God for judgment since human evidence is lacking.
The context here is important. This is part of the book of Numbers, traditionally attributed to Moses, written for the community of Israel during their wilderness journey after the Exodus from Egypt. Numbers contains a mixture of narrative and legal material meant to organize Israel's
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