Numbers 5:18

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.

Catholic Public Domain Version

In The King James Version

And the priest shall set the woman before the LORD, and uncover the woman’s head, and put the offering of memorial in her hands, which is the jealousy offering: and the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that causeth the curse:

In Context

17And 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.

19And 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.

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Cross References

Numbers 5:15he 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.

Numbers 5:22May the cursed waters enter into your stomach, and may your womb swell and your thigh rot.’ And the woman shall respond: ‘Amen, amen.’

Deuteronomy 29:18so that there would not be among you man or woman, family or tribe, whose heart has been turned away this day from the Lord our God, so as to go and serve the gods of those nations. For then there would be among you a root springing forth gall and bitterness.

Proverbs 5:4But in the end, she is as bitter as wormwood, and as sharp as a two-edged sword.

Isaiah 38:17Behold, in peace my bitterness is most bitter. But you have rescued my soul, so that it would not perish. You have cast all my sins behind your back.

1 Corinthians 11:6So if a woman is not veiled, let her hair be cut off. Truly then, if it is a disgrace for a woman to have her hair cut off, or to have her head shaven, then she should cover her head.

Matthew Henry on Numbers 5:12-31

The Bitter Water of Jealousy. ( b. c. 1490.) 11 And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, 12 Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man's wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him, 13 And a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept close, and she be defiled, and there be no witness against her, neither she be taken with the manner; 14 And the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled: or if the spirit of… Read the whole commentary →

This Verse In Other Editions

Study Numbers 5:18