The Fourth Book of Moses: Numbers

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- Chapter 5 -

(Leviticus 13:1–46)

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

“Instruct the sons of Israel to cast out of the camp every leper, and those who have a flow of seed, and those who have been polluted because of the dead;

cast out of the camp both male and female, lest they contaminate it while I am dwelling with you.”

And the sons of Israel did so, and they cast them out, beyond the camp, just as the Lord had spoken to Moses.

Restitution for Trespasses

(Luke 19:1–10)

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

“Say to the sons of Israel: A man or a woman, when they have done anything out of all the sins that often befall men, or if, by negligence, they have transgressed the commandment of the Lord, and so have committed an offense,

they shall confess their sin, and they shall restore the principle itself, plus a fifth part above it, to any against whom they have sinned.(a)

But if there would be no one to receive it, they shall give it to the Lord, and it shall be for the priest, except for the ram, which is offered for expiation, in order to be a pleasing victim.

Likewise, all the first-fruits, which the sons of Israel offer, belong to the priest,

with whatever is offered by each one at the Sanctuary, and which is delivered into the hands of the priest; it shall be his.”

The Adultery Test

And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying:

“Speak to the sons of Israel, and you shall say to them: The man whose wife will have gone astray, and, disdaining her husband,

will have slept with another man, and if her husband cannot discover it, but the adultery is secret, and if it cannot be proved by witnesses, because she was not caught in the shameful act,

if the spirit of jealousy stirs up the husband against his wife, who either has been polluted or is being assailed with a false suspicion,(b)

(c)

he shall bring her to the priest, and he shall offer an oblation for her, a tenth part of native barley meal. He shall not pour oil over it, nor shall he place frankincense on it, because it is a sacrifice for jealousy, or an oblation investigating adultery.(d)

Therefore, the priest shall offer it, and he shall set it in the sight of the Lord.

And he shall take up holy water in an earthen vessel, and he shall cast a little earth from the pavement of the tabernacle into it.

And while the woman stands before the Lord, he shall uncover her head, and he shall place over her hands the sacrifice of recollection and oblation of jealousy. But he shall take hold of the most bitter waters, in which he has gathered curses with loathing.

And he shall bind her by an oath, and he shall say: ‘If another man has not slept with you, and if you have not been polluted by forsaking the bed of your husband, these most bitter waters, into which I have gathered curses, shall not harm you.

But if you have turned away from your husband, and also have been defiled, and have lain together with another man,

these curses shall be thrown upon you: May the Lord turn you into a curse and an example among all his people. May he cause your thigh to rot, and may your abdomen swell up and burst out.

May the cursed waters enter into your stomach, and may your womb swell and your thigh rot.’ And the woman shall respond: ‘Amen, amen.’

And the priest shall write these curses in a little book, and then he shall erase them with the very bitter waters, into which he had gathered the curses,

and he shall give it to her to drink. And when she has emptied it,

the priest shall take from her hand the sacrifice of jealousy, and he shall elevate it before the Lord, and he shall impose it upon the altar. Yet only after he first

takes a handful of the sacrifice from that which is offered, and burns it upon the altar, and then he may give the most bitter waters to the woman as a drink.

And when she drinks it, if she has been defiled, and, having despised her husband, is guilty of adultery, the curse shall pass through her, and as her belly swells up, her thigh shall decay, and the woman shall become a curse and an example to all the people.

But if she has not been defiled, she shall be unharmed and she shall bear children.

This is the law for jealousy. If a woman has turned aside from her husband, and if she has been polluted,

and if the husband, being stirred up by the spirit of jealousy, has brought her before the sight of the Lord, and the priest has acted toward her according to all that has been written:

then the husband shall be without guilt, and she shall bear her iniquity.”

Footnotes

(a)5:7 Shall confess:This confession and satisfaction, ordained in the Old Law, was a figure of the sacrament of penance.(Challoner)

(b)5:14 The wife may be guilty, in which case she has been defiled by her act, or she may be innocent, in which case it is a false accusation.(Conte)

(c)5:14 The spirit of jealousy, etc:This ordinance was designed to clear the innocent, and to prevent jealous husbands from doing mischief to their wives: as likewise to give all a horror of adultery, by punishing it in so remarkable a manner.(Challoner)

(d)5:15 The word ‘siti’ can refer to something grown natively, or to something sprouting. The phrasing ‘native barley meal’ is probably a better translation than ‘sprouted barley meal.’(Conte)

(Leviticus 13:1–46)

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

“Command the children of Israel that they put out of the camp every leper, everyone who has a discharge, and whoever is unclean by a corpse.

You shall put both male and female outside of the camp so that they don’t defile their camp, in the midst of which I dwell.”

The children of Israel did so, and put them outside of the camp; as the LORD spoke to Moses, so the children of Israel did.

Restitution for Trespasses

(Luke 19:1–10)

The LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

“Speak to the children of Israel: ‘When a man or woman commits any sin that men commit, so as to trespass against the LORD, and that soul is guilty,

then he shall confess his sin which he has done; and he shall make restitution for his guilt in full, add to it the fifth part of it, and give it to him in respect of whom he has been guilty.

But if the man has no kinsman to whom restitution may be made for the guilt, the restitution for guilt which is made to the LORD shall be the priest’s, in addition to the ram of the atonement, by which atonement shall be made for him.

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.’”

The Adultery Test

The LORD 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, 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(a) 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.

The priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD.

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

The priest shall set the woman before the LORD, and let the hair of the woman’s head go loose, and put the meal offering of memorial in her hands, which is the meal offering of jealousy. The priest shall have in his hand the water of bitterness that brings a curse.

The priest shall cause her to take an oath and shall tell the woman, “If no man has lain with you, and if you haven’t gone aside to uncleanness, being under your husband’s authority, be free from this water of bitterness that brings a curse.

But if you have gone astray, being under your husband’s authority, and if you are defiled, and some man has lain with you besides your husband—”

then the priest shall cause the woman to swear with the oath of cursing, and the priest shall tell the woman, “May The LORD make you a curse and an oath among your people, when the LORD allows your thigh to fall away, and your body to swell;

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.”

“‘The priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall wipe them into the water of bitterness.

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.

The priest shall take the meal offering of jealousy out of the woman’s hand, and shall wave the meal offering before the LORD, and bring it to the altar.

The priest shall take a handful of the meal offering, as its memorial portion, and burn it on the altar, and afterward shall make the woman drink the water.

When he has made her drink the water, then it shall happen, if she is defiled and has committed a trespass against her husband, that the water that causes the curse will enter into her and become bitter, and her body will swell, and her thigh will fall away; and the woman will be a curse among her people.

If the woman isn’t defiled, but is clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive offspring.(b)

“‘This is the law of jealousy, when a wife, being under her husband, goes astray, and is defiled,

or when the spirit of jealousy comes on a man, and he is jealous of his wife; then he shall set the woman before the LORD, and the priest shall execute on her all this law.

The man shall be free from iniquity, and that woman shall bear her iniquity.’”

Footnotes

(a)5:15 1 ephah is about 22 liters or about 2/3 of a bushel

(b)5:28 or, seed