Numbers 5:21
Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman, The Lord make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the Lord doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell;
Numbers 5:21 in other translations
| BSB | and the priest shall have the woman swear under the oath of the curse—‘then may the LORD make you an attested curse among your people by making your thigh shrivel and your belly swell. |
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| WEB | then the priest shall cause the woman to swear with the oath of cursing, and the priest shall tell the woman, “May the LORD make you a curse and an oath among your people, when the LORD allows your thigh to fall away, and your body to swell; |
| ASV | then the priest shall cause the woman to swear with the oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman, Jehovah make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when Jehovah doth make thy thigh to fall away, and thy body to swell; |
| YLT | (then the priest hath caused the woman to swear with an oath of execration, and the priest hath said to the woman) --Jehovah doth give thee for an execration, and for a curse, in the midst of thy people, in Jehovah's giving thy thigh to fall, and thy belly to swell, |
| DARBY | — then the priest shall adjure the woman with the oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman: Jehovah make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when Jehovah doth make thy thigh to shrink, and thy belly to swell; |
| BBE | Then the priest will put the oath of the curse on the woman, and say to her, May the Lord make you a curse and an oath among your people, sending on you wasting of the legs and disease of the stomach; |
| Webster | Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest shall say to the woman, The LORD make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the LORD doth make thy thigh to perish, and thy belly to swell; |
What does Numbers 5:21 mean?
Jamieson-Fausset-Brown
Adam Clarke's Commentary
Adam Clarke, 1831 · public domain
Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary on Numbers 5:11-31
This law would make the women of Israel watch against giving cause for suspicion. On the other hand, it would hinder the cruel treatment such suspicions might occasion. It would also hinder the guilty from escaping, and the innocent from coming under just suspicion. When no proof could be brought, the wife was called on to make this solemn appeal to a heart-searching God. No woman, if she were guilty, could say…
Numbers 5:21 in the original Hebrew
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Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).
Cross references for Numbers 5:21
- Nehemiah 10:29
They clave to their brethren, their nobles, and entered into a curse, and into an oath, to walk in God’s law, which was given by Moses the servant of God, and to observe and do all the commandments of the Lord our Lord, and his judgments and his statutes;
- 1 Samuel 14:24
And the men of Israel were distressed that day: for Saul had adjured the people, saying, Cursed be the man that eateth any food until evening, that I may be avenged on mine enemies. So none of the people tasted any food.
- Joshua 6:26
And Joshua adjured them at that time, saying, Cursed be the man before the Lord, that riseth up and buildeth this city Jericho: he shall lay the foundation thereof in his firstborn, and in his youngest son shall he set up the gates of it.
- Jeremiah 29:22
And of them shall be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah which are in Babylon, saying, The Lord make thee like Zedekiah and like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire;
- Proverbs 10:7
The memory of the just is blessed: but the name of the wicked shall rot.
- Matthew 26:74
Then began he to curse and to swear, saying, I know not the man. And immediately the cock crew.
- 2 Chronicles 21:15
And thou shalt have great sickness by disease of thy bowels, until thy bowels fall out by reason of the sickness day by day.
- Isaiah 65:15
And ye shall leave your name for a curse unto my chosen: for the Lord God shall slay thee, and call his servants by another name:
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Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Context
- Numbers 5:20
But if thou hast gone aside to another instead of thy husband, and if thou be defiled, and some man have lain with thee beside thine husband:
- Numbers 5:21
Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman, The Lord make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the Lord doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell;
- Numbers 5:22
And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, to make thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot: And the woman shall say, Amen, amen.
Numbers 5:21 in other languages
| Spanish Reina-Valera 1909 | (El sacerdote conjurará á la mujer con juramento de maldición, y dirá á la mujer): Jehová te dé en maldición y en conjuración en medio de tu pueblo, haciendo Jehová á tu muslo que caiga, y á tu vientre que se te hinche; |
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| French Bible J.N. Darby 1885 | alors le sacrificateur adjurera la femme avec un serment d’exécration, et le sacrificateur dira à la femme: Que l’ Éternel fasse de toi une exécration et un serment, au milieu de ton peuple, l’ Éternel faisant dessécher ta hanche et enfler ton ventre; |
| German Elberfelder 1871 | und zwar soll der Priester das Weib beschwören mit dem Schwure des Fluches, und der Priester soll zu dem Weibe sagen-:So mache dich Jehova zum Fluche und zum Schwure in der Mitte deines Volkes, indem Jehova deine Hüfte schwinden und deinen Bauch schwellen mache, |
| Latin Clementine Vulgate | his maledictionibus subjacebis: det te Dominus in maledictionem, exemplumque cunctorum in populo suo: putrescere faciat femur tuum, et tumens uterus tuus disrumpatur. |