Numbers 5:19

19 Then the priest shall make her take an oath, saying, 'If no man has lain with you, and if you have not turned aside to uncleanness, while you were under your husband's authority, be free from this water of bitterness that brings the curse.

Numbers 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.

Numbers 5:19 In-Context

17 and the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel, and take some of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle and put it into the water.
18 And the priest shall set the woman before the LORD, and unbind the hair of the woman's head, and place in her hands the cereal offering of remembrance, which is the cereal offering of jealousy. And in his hand the priest shall have the water of bitterness that brings the curse.
19 Then the priest shall make her take an oath, saying, 'If no man has lain with you, and if you have not turned aside to uncleanness, while you were under your husband's authority, be free from this water of bitterness that brings the curse.
20 But if you have gone astray, though you are under your husband's authority, and if you have defiled yourself, and some man other than your husband has lain with you,
21 then' (let the priest make the woman take the oath of the curse, and say to the woman) 'the LORD make you an execration and an oath among your people, when the LORD makes your thigh fall away and your body swell;
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.