Numbers 5 · Verse 24

Numbers 5:24

And he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that causeth the curse: and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter.
Numbers 5:24, King James Version

Numbers 5:24 in other translations

BSBHe is to have the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and it will enter her and cause her bitter suffering.
WEBHe shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that causes the curse; and the water that causes the curse shall enter into her and become bitter.
ASVand he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that causeth the curse; and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her and become bitter.
YLTand hath caused the woman to drink the bitter waters which cause the curse, and the waters which cause the curse have entered into her for bitter things.
DARBYand he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that bringeth the curse, that the water that bringeth the curse may enter into her for bitterness.
BBEAnd he will give to the woman the bitter water for drink; and the bitter water causing the curse will go into her.
WebsterAnd he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that causeth the curse: and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter.

What does Numbers 5:24 mean?

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Numbers 5:23-24

23-24. write these curses in a book--The imprecations, along with her name, were inscribed in some kind of record--on parchment, or more probably on a wooden tablet. blot them out with the bitter water--If she were innocent, they could be easily erased, and were perfectly harmless; but if guilty, she would experience the fatal effects of the water she had drunk.

Read the full comment on Numbers 5:23-24 →

Adam Clarke's Commentary
Verse 24 The bitter water that causeth the curse - Though the rabbins think that the priest put some bitter substance in the water, yet as nothing of the kind is intimated by Moses, we may consider the word as used here metaphorically for affliction, death, etc. These waters were afflicting and deadly to her who drank them, being guilty. In this sense afflictions are said to be bitter, Isa 38:17; so also is death, 1Sam 15:32 : Ecc 7:26.

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…

Read the full comment on Numbers 5:11-31 →

Numbers 5:24 in the original Hebrew

Word-by-word with transliteration, English gloss and Strong's number. Tap a number for the full definition and every place the word is used.

וְהִשְׁקָה֙ve.hish.Kahand he will make drinkH8248
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
הָ֣אִשָּׁ֔הha.'i.Shahthe womanH802
אֶת\־'et-<obj.>H853
מֵ֥יmei[the] waters ofH4325
הַמָּרִ֖יםha.ma.Rim<the> bitter [things]H4751
הַמְאָֽרֲרִ֑יםham.'a.ra.Rimwhich bring a curseH779
וּבָ֥אוּu.Va.'uand they will goH935
בָ֛הּvahin <the> her
הַמַּ֥יִםha.Ma.yimthe watersH4325
הַֽמְאָרֲרִ֖יםham.'a.ra.Rimwhich bring a curseH779
לְמָרִֽים\׃le.ma.Rimto bitter [things]H4751

Source: STEPBible TAHOT/TAGNT (Tyndale House, CC BY 4.0).

Cross references for Numbers 5:24

  • Malachi 3:5

    And I will come near to you to judgment; and I will be a swift witness against the sorcerers, and against the adulterers, and against false swearers, and against those that oppress the hireling in his wages, the widow, and the fatherless, and that turn aside the stranger from his right, and fear not me, saith the Lord of hosts.

  • Zechariah 5:3-4

    Then said he unto me, This is the curse that goeth forth over the face of the whole earth: for every one that stealeth shall be cut off as on this side according to it; and every one that sweareth shall be cut off as on that side according to it. I will bring it forth, saith the Lord of hosts, and it shall enter into the house of the thief, and into the house of him that sweareth falsely by my name: and it shall remain in the midst of his house, and shall consume it with the timber thereof and the stones thereof.

Ranked by reader votes · OpenBible.info cross references (CC BY).

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Zec 5:3,4; Mal 3:5

Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (Samuel Bagster, c. 1836) · public domain

Context

  • Numbers 5:23

    And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out with the bitter water:

  • Numbers 5:24

    And he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that causeth the curse: and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter.

  • Numbers 5:25

    Then the priest shall take the jealousy offering out of the woman’s hand, and shall wave the offering before the Lord, and offer it upon the altar:

Read all of Numbers 5

Numbers 5:24 in other languages

Spanish
Reina-Valera 1909		Y dará á beber á la mujer las aguas amargas que traen maldición; y las aguas que obran maldición entrarán en ella por amargas.
French
Bible J.N. Darby 1885		Et il fera boire à la femme les eaux amères qui apportent la malédiction, et les eaux qui apportent la malédiction entreront en elle, pour être amères.
German
Elberfelder 1871		und er soll das Weib das fluchbringende Wasser der Bitterkeit trinken lassen, damit das fluchbringende Wasser in sie komme zur Bitterkeit.
Latin
Clementine Vulgate		et dabit ei bibere. Quas cum exhauserit,