Numbers 5:26

26 He will take a handful of the flour as a token portion and burn it on the altar, and he will require the woman to drink the water.

Numbers 5:26 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 5:26

And the priest shall take an handful of the offering, [even]
the memorial thereof
For good or evil, according as her works were, as Aben Ezra observes; a memorial for good, if innocent, and a memorial for evil, if guilty:

and burn [it] upon the altar;
as the handful of other meat offerings used to be, ( Leviticus 1:2 ) ;

and afterwards shall cause the woman to drink the water;
oblige her to it; having proceeded thus far, and no confession made, namely, an oath taken, the curses of it written in a scroll and scraped into the waters, and the jealousy offering waved and offered.

Numbers 5:26 In-Context

24 He will make the woman drink the bitter water that brings on the curse. When the water enters her body, it will cause bitter suffering if she is guilty.

25 “The priest will take the jealousy offering from the woman’s hand, lift it up before the LORD, and carry it to the altar.

26 He will take a handful of the flour as a token portion and burn it on the altar, and he will require the woman to drink the water.

27 If she has defiled herself by being unfaithful to her husband, the water that brings on the curse will cause bitter suffering. Her abdomen will swell and her womb will shrink, and her name will become a curse among her people.

28 But if she has not defiled herself and is pure, then she will be unharmed and will still be able to have children.