CLARITY EDITION · OLD TESTAMENT
Numbers 5
Chapter 5 of 36
Chapter Overview
What happens in Numbers 5
God gives laws to keep the camp pure. He also describes how to make things right after sinning against someone and provides a way to settle cases of jealousy between a husband and wife.
Scripture
Numbers 5
Removing the Unclean from Camp
Study note
Because God's presence lived among the Israelites in the tabernacle, the camp had to be kept clean. Anyone with a skin disease, a bodily discharge, or who had touched a dead body was sent outside the camp until they were clean again. This was about keeping the whole community pure before God.
1 The Lord told Moses, And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
2 "Order the Israelites to remove certain people from the camp. Remove anyone with a skin disease. Remove anyone with a body discharge. Remove anyone made unclean by a dead body." Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp every leper, and every one that hath an issue, and whosoever is defiled by the dead:
3 "This applies to both men and women. Send them outside the camp so they do not contaminate the place where I live among you." Both male and female shall ye put out, without the camp shall ye put them; that they defile not their camps, in the midst whereof I dwell.
4 The Israelites obeyed and sent those people outside the camp, just as the Lord had told Moses. And the children of Israel did so, and put them out without the camp: as the LORD spake unto Moses, so did the children of Israel.
Making Things Right After Wrongdoing
Study note
When someone sinned against another person, they were sinning against God too. The wrongdoer had to confess the sin, pay back the full amount they owed, and add one-fifth more as a penalty. If the wronged person had died and had no relatives, the payment went to the priest along with a ram for sacrifice.
5 The Lord told Moses, And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
6 "Say this to the Israelites. A man or woman might wrong another person. That person has been unfaithful to the Lord. That person carries guilt." Speak unto the children of Israel, When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass against the LORD, and that person be guilty;
7 "That person needs to admit what they did wrong. Then they must pay back the full amount they owe, add an extra twenty percent on top, and give it all to the person they wronged." Then they shall confess their sin which they have done: and he shall recompense his trespass with the principal thereof, and add unto it the fifth part thereof, and give it unto him against whom he hath trespassed.
8 "If the wronged person has already died and has no close relative who can receive the payment, then the payment goes to the Lord and must be given to the priest. This is on top of the ram that must be sacrificed to make things right with God." But if the man have no kinsman to recompense the trespass unto, let the trespass be recompensed unto the LORD, even to the priest; beside the ram of the atonement, whereby an atonement shall be made for him.
9 "When Israelites bring a special offering to the priest, that offering belongs to the priest." And every offering of all the holy things of the children of Israel, which they bring unto the priest, shall be his.
10 "Each person's sacred gifts are theirs to give. But once someone gives an offering to the priest, it becomes the priest's property." And every man's hallowed things shall be his: whatsoever any man giveth the priest, it shall be his.
The Test for an Unfaithful Wife
Study note
If a husband suspected his wife had been unfaithful but had no proof, there was a special process. The priest would make the woman drink bitter water mixed with dust from the tabernacle floor. If she was guilty, the water would cause her body to suffer. If she was innocent, nothing would happen and she would be able to have children. This process put the judgment in God's hands rather than leaving it to human anger or guesswork.
11 The Lord told Moses, And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
12 "Tell the Israelites: Suppose a man's wife is unfaithful and betrays him." Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man's wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him,
13 "Suppose she sleeps with another man, but her husband does not find out. She has defiled herself secretly, and nobody witnessed it. She was not caught." 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 "If the husband becomes jealous and suspicious, whether his wife is guilty or not," And the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled:
15 "he must take her to the priest along with an offering for her: about two quarts of barley flour. He should not pour oil on it or add incense, because this is a jealousy offering meant to reveal the truth." Then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest, and he shall bring her offering for her, the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense thereon; for it is an offering of jealousy, an offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance.
16 "The priest must bring the woman forward to stand before the Lord." And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD:
17 "The priest must take holy water in a clay jar and mix in some dust from the floor of the tabernacle." And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water:
18 "He must have the woman stand before the Lord with her hair let down. The jealousy offering of grain goes into her hands, while the priest holds the bitter water that brings a curse." 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:
19 "The priest must then have her swear an oath. He says, 'No man besides your husband has slept with you. You have not gone astray. Then may this bitter water do you no harm.'" And the priest shall charge her by an oath, and say unto the woman, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness with another instead of thy husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse:
20 "'But if you have gone astray and defiled yourself by sleeping with a man who is not your husband' --" But if thou hast gone aside to another instead of thy husband, and if thou be defiled, and some man have lain with thee beside thine husband:
21 "then the priest must pronounce this curse over the woman: 'May the Lord make you a living example of what happens when someone is cursed among your people. May the Lord cause your body to waste away and your belly to swell up.'" Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman, The LORD make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the LORD doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell;
22 "'May this cursing water enter your body, making your belly swell and your body waste away.' The woman must respond, 'Yes, let it be so. Let it be so.'" 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.
23 "The priest must write these curses on a scroll and rinse the ink off into the bitter water." And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out with the bitter water:
24 "He must then have the woman drink the bitter water that carries the curse. If she is guilty, the water will enter her body and cause painful suffering." And he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that causeth the curse: and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter.
25 "The priest must take the offering from the woman's hands, lift it up and wave it before the Lord, and bring it to the altar." Then the priest shall take the jealousy offering out of the woman's hand, and shall wave the offering before the LORD, and offer it upon the altar:
26 "He must take a handful of the grain offering as a representative portion and burn it on the altar. After that, he must have the woman drink the water." And the priest shall take an handful of the offering, even the memorial thereof, and burn it upon the altar, and afterward shall cause the woman to drink the water.
27 "If she has been unfaithful to her husband, the bitter water will cause her terrible pain. Her belly will swell and her body will waste away. She will become an example of what happens under a curse." And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, that, if she be defiled, and have done trespass against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot: and the woman shall be a curse among her people.
28 "But if the woman is innocent and has not been unfaithful, she will not be hurt. She will still be able to have children." And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive seed.
29 "This is what to do in cases of jealousy, when a wife strays and makes herself unclean while married." This is the law of jealousies, when a wife goeth aside to another instead of her husband, and is defiled;
30 "or when a husband becomes suspicious and jealous about his wife. The priest must have her stand before the Lord and follow this entire procedure." Or when the spirit of jealousy cometh upon him, and he be jealous over his wife, and shall set the woman before the LORD, and the priest shall execute upon her all this law.
31 "The husband will not be guilty for bringing up the matter. But the woman will face the results of her sin if she is guilty." Then shall the man be guiltless from iniquity, and this woman shall bear her iniquity.
Key Themes
Themes in Numbers 5
Holiness and purity in God's communityConfession and restitution for wrongdoingGod as the ultimate judgeTrust and faithfulness in relationships
Apply This Today
Living Numbers 5
Sin affects the whole community, not just the individual. God requires us to make things right with those we have wronged, not just confess privately. When human judgment fails, God sees the truth and can be trusted to bring justice.
Go Deeper
Study Numbers in Covenant Path
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