Context No. 3119 of 4322 · Numbers

Numbers 5:11-22: in context

11The LORD spoke to Moses, saying, 12“Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them: ‘If any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him, 13and 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; 14and 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; 15then 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. 16The priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD. 17The 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. 18The 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. 19The 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. 20But 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—” 21then 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; 22and 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.”

This is a difficult, ancient law for a husband seized by jealousy who suspects his wife of unfaithfulness but has no witness and no proof. He brings her to the priest, who sets her before the LORD and administers a solemn ritual with water, dust, and an oath, so that God, not the husband, would settle the matter. It should be read within its harsh world, not imported into ours.

But notice what the law actually does in that setting. It takes a matter that would otherwise be left to a suspicious husband's private rage, an accused woman with no witness and no defense, and removes it from his hands entirely, placing it before God and the priest. Rather than let a jealous man punish or discard his wife on mere suspicion, the law requires the case be brought to God, who alone knows the hidden truth. However strange the ritual is to us, its underlying instinct was to take vengeance out of human hands and leave the verdict with the God who sees what no one else can.

Do I leave hidden matters I cannot prove to the God who sees the truth, rather than acting on my own suspicion and rage?

Sources

Numbers 5:16: "The priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD."
Deuteronomy 32:35: "Vengeance is mine, and recompense... For the LORD will judge his people."
1 Corinthians 4:5: "Judge nothing before the time, until the Lord comes, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness."