Numbers 5:26

26 And the priest shall take a handful of the present, in memory of her, and incense it upon the altar and afterward shall cause 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 and he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that brings the curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter into her as bitter.

25 Then the priest shall take the present of jealousy out of the woman’s hand and shall wave the offering before the LORD and offer it before the altar.

26 And the priest shall take a handful of the present, in memory of her, and incense it upon the altar and afterward shall cause the woman to drink the water.

27 He shall give her, therefore, the water to drink, and it shall come to pass, that if she is defiled and has betrayed her husband, that the water that works the curse shall enter into her in bitterness, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall fail; and that woman shall be a curse among her people.

28 But if the woman is not defiled, but is clean; then she shall be free and shall conceive seed.