Bamidbar 5:19

19 And the kohen shall put her under oath, and say unto the isha, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not turned astray to tum’a (uncleanness, impurity) with another instead of thy husband, be thou free from these mei hamarim hame’ararim;

Bamidbar 5:19 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 5:19

And the priest shall charge her by an oath
Or give her her oath:

and say unto the woman, if no man hath lain with thee:
besides her husband:

and thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness [with another] instead of
thy husband;
which is but another phrase expressive of the same thing, the sin of adultery:

be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse;
if this is the case, it shall produce no bitter effects, or bring any curse upon thee.

Bamidbar 5:19 In-Context

17 And the kohen shall take mayim kedoshim in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is in the floor of the Mishkan the kohen shall take, and put it into the mayim;
18 And the kohen shall set the isha before Hashem, and unbind the hair of the isha, and put the minchat zekaron in her hands, which is the minchat kena’ot; and the kohen shall have in his hand the mei hamarim hame’ararim (waters of bitterness that causeth the curse);
19 And the kohen shall put her under oath, and say unto the isha, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not turned astray to tum’a (uncleanness, impurity) with another instead of thy husband, be thou free from these mei hamarim hame’ararim;
20 But if thou hast turned astray to another instead of thy ish, and if thou be defiled, and some man have lain with thee other than thine ish;
21 Then the kohen shall put the isha under oath with the oath of the curse, and the kohen shall say unto the isha, Hashem make thee an alah (curse) and a shevu’ah (oath) among thy people, when Hashem doth make thy thigh to waste away, and thy belly to swell;
The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.