Numbers 5:6-16

6 "Speak to the sons of Israel, '¹When a man or woman commits any * of the sins of mankind, acting unfaithfully against the LORD, and that person is guilty,

7 then he shall ²confess his sins which he has committed, and he ³shall make restitution in full for his wrong and add to it one-fifth of it, and give it to him whom he has wronged.

8 'But if the man has no relative to whom restitution may be made for the wrong, the restitution which is made for the wrong must go to the LORD for the priest, besides * the ram of atonement, by which atonement is made for him.

9 '⁴Also every contribution pertaining to all the holy gifts of the sons of Israel, which they offer to the priest, shall be his.

10 'So every man's holy gifts shall be his; whatever any man gives to the priest, it ⁵becomes his.' "

The Adultery Test

11 Then the LORD spoke to Moses, saying,

12 "Speak to the sons of Israel and say to them, 'If any man's wife ⁶goes astray and is unfaithful to him,

13 and a man has ⁷intercourse * with her and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband and she is undetected, although she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her and she has not been caught in the act,

14 if a spirit of ⁸jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife when she has defiled herself, or if a spirit of jealousy comes over him and he is jealous of his wife when she has not defiled herself,

15 the man shall then bring his wife to the priest, and shall bring as an offering for her one-tenth of an ephah of barley meal; he shall not pour oil on it nor put frankincense on it, for it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering of memorial, ⁹a reminder of iniquity.

16 'Then the priest shall bring her near and have her stand before the LORD,

Read Chapter Compare

Numbers 5:6-16 Meaning and Commentary

INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 5

This chapter contains a repetition of some former laws, concerning putting unclean persons out of the camp, Nu 5:1-4; making restitution in case of trespass against another, Nu 5:5-8; and of giving the offering of all holy things and all hallowed things to the priests, Nu 5:9,10; and a new law concerning jealousy, in a man, of his wife, Nu 5:11-14; when she was to be brought to the priest, and various rites and ceremonies to be used, Nu 5:15-23; who was to give her bitter water as a trial of her chastity, which, if guilty, would have a strange effect upon her, and make her accursed, but if not, would not affect her, and she would be free and happy, Nu 5:24-31.

Taken from John Gill's Exposition of the Bible

Cross References 9

1. Lev 5:14-6:7
2. Leviticus 5:5; Leviticus 26:40, 41; Joshua 7:19
3. Leviticus 6:4, 5
4. Leviticus 7:32, 34; Leviticus 10:14, 15
5. Leviticus 10:13
6. Num 5:19-21, 29
7. Leviticus 18:20; Leviticus 20:10
8. Proverbs 6:34; Song of Songs 8:6
9. 1 Kings 17:18; Ezekiel 29:16

Footnotes 9

[a]. Lit "they"
[b]. Lit "their"
[c]. Lit "they have"
[d]. Lit "redeemer"
[e]. Lit "heave offering"
[f]. Lit "concealed"
[g]. Lit "and"
[h]. Lit "her"
[i]. I.e. Approx one bu