Numbers 5:14

14 If the spirit of jealousy stir up the husband against his wife, who either is defiled, or is charged with false suspicion,

Numbers 5:14 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 5:14

And the spirit of jealousy come upon him
A thought rises up in his mind, a strong suspicion works in him, which he cannot resist and throw off, but it remains with him, and makes him very uneasy, that his wife has defiled his bed, as it follows:

and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled;
that his wife is defiled by a man; and which is the real case, as it afterwards appears, though at present he is not certain, only has a suspicion of it:

or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his
wife, and she be not defiled;
it is mere jealousy and suspicion, without any foundation for it; and his wife proved a chaste and virtuous woman; yet be it which it would, he being jealous, the following law was to take place, and the following rules to be observed.

Numbers 5:14 In-Context

12 Speak to the children of Israel, and thou shalt say to them: The man whose wife shall have gone astray, and contemning her husband,

13 Shall have slept with another man, and her husband cannot discover it, but the adultery is secret, and cannot be proved by witnesses, because she was not found in the adultery:

14 If the spirit of jealousy stir up the husband against his wife, who either is defiled, or is charged with false suspicion,

15 He shall bring her to the priest, and shall offer an oblation for her, the tenth part of a measure of barley meal: he shall not pour oil thereon, nor put frankincense upon it: because it is a sacrifice of jealousy, and an oblation searching out adultery.

16 The priest therefore shall offer it, and set it before the Lord.