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Números 5

BLIVRE · Chapter 5/36

1E o SENHOR falou a Moisés, dizendo:

2Manda aos filhos de Israel que expulsem do acampamento a todo leproso, e a todos os que sofrem de corrimento, e a todo contaminado sobre morto:

3Tanto homens como mulheres lançareis, fora do acampamento os expulsareis; para que não contaminem o acampamento daqueles entre os quais eu habito.

4E fizeram-no assim os filhos de Israel, que os lançaram fora do acampamento: como o SENHOR disse a Moisés, assim o fizeram os filhos de Israel.

5Também falou o SENHOR a Moisés, dizendo:

6Fala aos filhos de Israel: O homem ou a mulher que cometer algum de todos os pecados dos homens, fazendo transgressão contra o SENHOR, e transgredir aquela pessoa;

7Confessarão seu pecado que cometeram, e compensarão sua ofensa inteiramente, e acrescentarão seu quinto sobre ele, e o darão a aquele contra quem pecaram.

8E se aquele homem não tiver parente ao qual seja ressarcida a ofensa, se dará a indenização da injustiça ao SENHOR, ao sacerdote, a mais do carneiro das expiações, com o qual fará expiação por ele.

9E toda oferta de todas as coisas santas que os filhos de Israel apresentarem ao sacerdote, sua será.

10E o santificado de qualquer um será seu: também o que qualquer um der ao sacerdote, seu será.

11E o SENHOR falou a Moisés, dizendo:

12Fala aos filhos de Israel, e dize-lhes: Quando a mulher de alguém se desviar, e fizer traição contra ele,

13Que alguém se houver deitado com ela em carnal ajuntamento, e seu marido não o houvesse visto por haver-se ela contaminado ocultamente, nem houver testemunha contra ela, nem ela houver sido pega no ato;

14Se vier sobre ele espírito de ciúme, e tiver ciúme de sua mulher, havendo-se ela contaminado; ou vier sobre ele espírito de ciúme, e tiver ciúmes de sua mulher, não havendo ela se contaminado;

15Então o marido trará sua mulher ao sacerdote, e trará sua oferta com ela, um décimo de um efa de farinha de cevada; não lançará sobre ela azeite, nem porá sobre ela incenso; porque é oferta de ciúme, oferta de recordação, que traz o pecado em memória.

16E o sacerdote a fará aproximar, e a porá diante do SENHOR.

17Logo tomará o sacerdote da água santa em um vaso de barro: tomará também o sacerdote do pó que houver no chão do tabernáculo, e o lançará na água.

18E fará o sacerdote estar em pé à mulher diante do SENHOR, e descobrirá a cabeça da mulher, e porá sobre suas mãos a oferta da recordação, que é a oferta de ciúme; e o sacerdote terá na mão as águas amargas que trazem maldição.

19E o sacerdote a fará jurar, e lhe dirá: Se ninguém houver dormido contigo, e se não te afastaste de teu marido à imundícia, livre sejas destas águas amargas que trazem maldição:

20Mas se te desviaste de teu marido, e te contaminaste, e alguém houver tido relação contigo, fora de teu marido:

21(O sacerdote fará jurar à mulher com juramento de maldição, e dirá à mulher): O SENHOR te dê em maldição e em conspiração em meio de teu povo, fazendo o SENHOR a tua coxa que caia, e a teu ventre que se te inche;

22E estas águas que dão maldição entrem em tuas entranhas, e façam inchar teu ventre, e cair tua coxa. E a mulher dirá: Amém, Amém.

23E o sacerdote escreverá estas maldições em um livro, e as apagará com as águas amargas:

24E dará a beber à mulher as águas amargas que trazem maldição; e as águas que operam maldição entrarão nela por amargas.

25Depois tomará o sacerdote da mão da mulher a oferta de ciúme, e a moverá diante do SENHOR, e a oferecerá diante do altar;

26e o sacerdote tomará um punhado da oferta em sua memória, e o queimará sobre o altar, e depois dará a beber as águas à mulher.

27Dará a ela pois a beber as águas; e será, que se for imunda e houver feito traição contra seu marido, as águas que operam maldição entrarão nela em amargura, e seu ventre se inchará, e cairá sua coxa; e a mulher será por maldição em meio de seu povo.

28Mas se a mulher não for imunda, mas sim que estiver limpa, ela será livre, e será fértil.

29Esta é a lei do ciúme, quando a mulher fizer traição a seu marido, e se contaminar;

30Ou do marido, sobre o qual passar espírito de ciúme, e tiver ciúme de sua mulher: ele a apresentará então diante do SENHOR, e o sacerdote executará nela toda esta lei.

31E aquele homem será livre de iniquidade, e a mulher levará seu pecado.

📖 Chapter study

Summary

God orders the temporary expulsion of the unclean from the camp, establishes the law of restitution for theft or fraud, and institutes the strange ritual of the 'bitter water' to resolve cases of suspected marital unfaithfulness when there are no witnesses.

Explanation

The ritual for a woman suspected of adultery, though strange to modern eyes, was actually a remarkable legal protection for the woman in the ancient culture: instead of allowing a jealous husband to freely accuse and punish her, the case was handed over to God through a formal, public process, and if she was innocent, she would go free and unblemished. This contrasts with neighboring legal codes of the time, which often gave the husband almost absolute power over a suspected wife. The insistence on keeping the camp free of physical and moral impurity again reflects the central idea of Numbers: God dwells literally in the midst of the people, and that demands a high standard of collective holiness.

Fun facts

  • There is no biblical or archaeological record that this 'bitter water' ritual was ever actually carried out in Israel's history — many scholars believe it served more as a psychological deterrent and formal process than as a frequent practice.
  • The principle of restitution with an added fifth (20%) for fraud, repeated here, is the same one already established in Leviticus 6:5, showing the consistency of the Mosaic law across the books.

Verse-by-verse explanation

  1. Números 5:1After the chapters on organization and census-taking, the Lord speaks to Moses again, now about rules of purity within the camp.
  2. Números 5:2The order is to temporarily remove from the camp anyone with leprosy, any kind of bodily discharge, or anyone who had touched a dead body — the same cases detailed in the next verse.
  3. Números 5:3People with leprosy, with certain bodily discharges, or who had touched a corpse were sent outside the camp for a time. This was not a moral punishment but a rule of health and ritual purity: since the camp was seen as the place where God dwelt in the midst of the people, anything associated with disease or death had to stay away until it passed.
  4. Números 5:4The people obey without question: whoever fell into these cases was sent outside the camp, exactly as the Lord had determined.
  5. Números 5:5Another word from the Lord to Moses, now changing subject to deal with restitution when someone wrongs another person.
  6. Números 5:6If a man or woman wronged someone in any way, this was treated also as a breach of trust with God, not just a matter between people.
  7. Números 5:7Whoever had wronged another person was to confess and repay the full value of the loss, adding a fifth more on top as extra compensation.
  8. Números 5:8If the wronged person had already died without a relative to receive that restitution, the value went to the priest, along with the ram offered for the atonement of guilt.
  9. Números 5:9In the same way, any offering of the holy things that the Israelites brought to the priest became his.
  10. Números 5:10The general rule was simple: whatever someone voluntarily handed over to the priest as an offering became his.
  11. Números 5:11Once more the Lord speaks to Moses, this time introducing a very specific law about suspected unfaithfulness in marriage.
  12. Números 5:12The case dealt with next is that of a wife who strayed from her husband, being unfaithful to him.
  13. Números 5:13The situation described is one of a betrayal no one witnessed: no witness, no proof, and the woman hiding what happened.
  14. Números 5:14Even without proof, it was enough for the husband to be seized by a feeling of jealousy and suspicion, whether or not the wife was guilty, for the process described in the rest of the chapter to begin.
  15. Números 5:15When a husband suspected his wife without proof, the law required him to bring her to the priest with a simple offering of barley flour. This offering came without oil or frankincense, the ingredients that normally made an offering pleasant — here it is deliberately plain, because this is not a celebration, but a case of suspicion to be settled.
  16. Números 5:16The priest would bring the suspected woman and set her before the Lord, beginning the ritual described in the verses that follow.
  17. Números 5:17The priest would prepare the mixture used for the trial: water in a clay vessel, mixed with a little dust from the floor of the tabernacle itself.
  18. Números 5:18The priest would mix water with dust from the floor of the tabernacle and have the suspected woman hold the offering while she drank this “bitter water.” The idea was that if she were innocent, nothing would happen, but if she were guilty, the drink would bring visible physical consequences. It is an ancient trial custom for when there was no other way to prove an accusation, and one that shocks us today because it fell only on the woman.
  19. Números 5:19Before giving her the drink, the priest would have the woman take an oath: if she were innocent, that bitter water would not harm her at all.
  20. Números 5:20But the oath also covered the other side: if she really had been involved with another man, the next verse describes the curse that would fall on her.
  21. Números 5:21The priest would then pronounce the formal curse: if guilty, the woman’s body would show visible signs, her belly swollen and her thigh wasted, before all her people.
  22. Números 5:22The woman had to answer “Amen, amen” to the curse, formally agreeing to take part in that trial even before drinking the water.
  23. Números 5:23The priest would write these curses on a scroll and then wash them off into the bitter water itself, mixing the written curse into the liquid she would drink.
  24. Números 5:24Only after all of this was prepared would the woman finally drink the bitter water, which would bring the consequences if she were guilty.
  25. Números 5:25Before giving her the water, the priest would also take the flour offering from the woman’s hand, presenting it to the Lord over the altar.
  26. Números 5:26The priest would burn a handful of that offering on the altar as a memorial, and only then have the woman drink the water.
  27. Números 5:27If the woman really had been involved with another man, the text says the drink would make her belly swell and her thigh waste away — signs understood as public proof of guilt. This ritual existed only for cases where there was no witness or confession; it served as an ancient way of settling an accusation that would otherwise remain unresolved.
  28. Números 5:28If the woman were truly innocent, nothing bad happened: she was cleared of the accusation and could still bear children normally.
  29. Números 5:29This passage sums up everything already described: this is the law applied when a wife strays and defiles herself with another man.
  30. Números 5:30The same law also covered the opposite case: when the husband himself, seized by jealousy, decided to bring his wife to this trial before the priest.
  31. Números 5:31In the end, a husband who made the accusation suffered no consequence for it, but the woman, if truly guilty, bore the result alone.

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