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The Jealousy Ordeal

11 [a] The Lord spoke to Moses: 12 “Speak to the Israelites and tell them, ‘If any man’s wife goes astray and behaves unfaithfully toward him, 13 and a man goes to bed with her for sexual relations[b] without her husband knowing it,[c] and it is undetected that she has defiled herself since[d] there was no witness against her, nor was she caught in the act—

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Footnotes

  1. Numbers 5:11 sn There is a good bit of bibliography here. See, e.g., J. M. Sasson, “Numbers 5 and the Waters of Judgment,” BZ 16 (1972): 249-51; and M. Fishbane, “Accusation of Adultery: A Study of Law and Scribal Practice in Numbers 5:11-31, ” HUCA 45 (1974): 25-46.
  2. Numbers 5:13 tn Heb “And a man when he lies with her, the lying of seed.” The verb שָׁכַב (shakhav) “to lie down” acts as a euphemism, implying going to bed for sexual relations. In this case, the phrase “lying for (a man’s) seed” specifies that it refers to sexual intercourse.
  3. Numbers 5:13 tn Heb “and it is concealed from the eyes of her husband.”
  4. Numbers 5:13 tn The noun clause beginning with the simple conjunction is here a circumstantial clause, explaining that there was no witness to the sin.

The Test for an Unfaithful Wife

11 Then the Lord said to Moses, 12 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘If a man’s wife goes astray(A) and is unfaithful to him 13 so that another man has sexual relations with her,(B) and this is hidden from her husband and her impurity is undetected (since there is no witness against her and she has not been caught in the act),

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