Numbers 5:23

23 Then the priest shall write this curse down and wash the writing off into the bowl of bitter water.

Numbers 5:23 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 5:23

And the priest shall write these curses in a book
The above curses imprecated on herself by an oath; the words and the letters of them were written at length, in a scroll of parchment; and, as some say also, her name, but not her double amen to them ^F25: and he shall blot [them] out with the bitter water:
wash them out with it, and into it, or scrape them off of the parchment into it.

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FOOTNOTES:

F25 Misnah, ut supra, (Sotah, c. 2) sect. 3.

Numbers 5:23 In-Context

21 may the Lord make your name a curse among your people. May he cause your genital organs to shrink and your stomach to swell up.

22 May this water enter your stomach and cause it to swell up and your genital organs to shrink." The woman shall respond, "I agree; may the Lord do so."

23 Then the priest shall write this curse down and wash the writing off into the bowl of bitter water.

24 Before he makes the woman drink the water, which may then cause her bitter pain,

25 the priest shall take the offering of flour out of the woman's hands, hold it out in dedication to the Lord, and present it on the altar.