(KJV) Numbers 51

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⥃Cleansing the Camps [ Leviticus 13:1–46 ]

[1] And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, [2] Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp2 every leper, and every3 one that hath an issue, and whosoever4 is defiled by the dead:567 [3] Both male and female shall ye put out, without8 the camp shall ye put them; that they defile not9 their camps, in the midst10 whereof I dwell. [4] And the children of Israel did so, and put them out without the camp: as the Lord spake unto Moses, so did the children of Israel.

⥃Confession and Restitution [ Luke 19:1–10 ]

[5] [¶]And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, [6] Speak unto the children of Israel, When11 a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass against the Lord, and that person12 be guilty; [7] Then they shall confess13 their sin which they have done: and he shall14 recompense his trespass with the principal15 thereof, and add unto it the fifth [part] thereof, and give [it] unto [him] against whom he hath trespassed. [8] But if the man have no16 kinsman to recompense the trespass unto, let the trespass be recompensed unto the Lord, [even] to the priest; beside the ram17 of the atonement, whereby an atonement shall be made for him. [9] And every offering18 of all the holy things of the children of Israel, which they bring unto the priest, shall be his. [10] And every man’s hallowed things19 shall be his: whatsoever any man giveth the priest, it shall be his.

⥃The Adultery Test

[11] And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, [12] Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man’s wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him,20 [13] And a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept close, and she be defiled, and [there be] no witness against her, neither she be taken [with the manner];21 [14] And the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled:2223 [15] Then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest, and he shall bring her offering for her24, the tenth [part] of an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense thereon; for it [is] an offering of jealousy, an offering of memorial, bringing25 iniquity to remembrance. [16] And the priest shall bring her near26, and set her27 before the Lord: [17] And the priest shall take holy water28 in an earthen vessel; and of the dust29 that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put [it] into the water: [18] And the priest30 shall set the woman before the Lord, and uncover31 the woman’s head, and put32 the offering of memorial in her hands, which [is] the jealousy offering: and the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water33 that causeth the curse: [19] And the priest shall charge her34 by an oath, and say unto the woman, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness [with another35] instead of thy husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse: [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: [21] Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath36 of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman, The Lord make37 thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the Lord doth make thy thigh to rot38, and thy belly to swell; [22] And this water that causeth the curse shall go into39 thy bowels, to make [thy] belly to swell, and [thy] thigh to rot: And the woman40 shall say, Amen41, amen. [23] And the priest shall write these42 curses in a book, and he shall blot43 [them] out with the bitter water: [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.44 [25] Then the priest45 shall take the jealousy offering out of the woman’s hand, and shall wave46 the offering before the Lord, and offer it upon the altar: [26] And the priest shall take an handful of the offering, [even] the memorial thereof, and burn [it] upon the altar, and afterward shall cause the woman to drink the water.47 [27] And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, [that], if she be defiled48, and have done trespass against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, [and become] bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot: and the woman49 shall be a curse among her people. [28] And if50 the woman be not defiled, but be clean; then she shall be free, and shall51 conceive seed. [29] This [is] the law52 of jealousies, when a wife goeth53 aside [to another] instead of her husband, and is defiled; [30] Or when the spirit of jealousy cometh upon him, and he be jealous over his wife, and shall set the woman before the Lord, and the priest shall execute upon her all this law. [31] Then shall the man be guiltless54 from iniquity, and this woman shall bear55 her iniquity.

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  1. Num 5:1, The unclean are removed out of camp; Num 5:5, Restitution is to be made in trespass; Num 5:11, The trial of jealousy. ↩

  2. The camp of Israel being now formed, with the sanctuary of God in the centre, orders were given that the lepers and unclean persons should be excluded from the camp, according to the laws given at different times on these subjects. (See the marginal references.) This expulsion was founded: ↩

  3. Lev 15:2-27 ↩

  4. Num 9:6-10, Num 19:11-16, Num 31:19; Lev 21:1 ↩

    1. On a purely physical reason; for the diseases were contagious, and therefore there was a necessity of putting those afflicted with them apart, that the infection might not be communicated.

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    1. There was also a spiritual reason. The camp was the habitation of God; and therefore, in honour of Him who had thus condescended to dwell with them, nothing impure should be permitted to remain.

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    1. Further, there was a typical reason; for the camp was the emblem of the church, where nothing that is defiled should enter, and in which nothing that is unholy should be tolerated. Num 12:14; Lev 13:46; Deut 24:8-9; 2Kgs 7:3

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  8. 1Kgs 7:3; 1Cor 5:7-13; 2Cor 6:17; 2Thess 3:6; Titus 3:10; Heb 12:15-16; 2John 1:10-11; Rev 21:27 ↩

  9. Num 19:22; Hag 2:13-14 ↩

  10. Lev 26:11-12; Deut 23:14; Ps 68:18; Isa 12:6; 2Cor 6:16; Rev 21:3 ↩

  11. Lev 5:1-4, Lev 5:17, Lev 6:2-3 ↩

  12. This expression does not merely refer to the actual criminality of the person, but to his consciousness of guilt respecting it. For this case must be distinguished from that of a person detected in dishonesty, which he attempted to conceal. ↩

  13. Lev 5:5, Lev 26:40; Josh 7:19; Job 33:27-28; Ps 32:5; Prov 28:13; 1John 1:8-10 ↩

  14. Not only confession, but restitution, in every possible case, is necessary in order to obtain forgiveness. ↩

  15. Lev 5:15, Lev 6:4-7, Lev 7:7; Luke 19:8 ↩

  16. Lev 25:25-26 ↩

  17. Lev 6:6-7, Lev 7:7 ↩

  18. or, heave offering, Num 18:8-9, Num 18:19; Exod 29:28; Lev 6:17-18, Lev 6:26, Lev 7:6-14, Lev 10:13, Lev 22:2-3; Deut 18:3-4; Ezek 44:29-30; Mal 3:8-10; 1Cor 9:7-13 ↩

  19. 1Cor 3:21-23; 1Pet 2:5, 1Pet 2:7, 1Pet 2:9 ↩

  20. Num 5:19-20; Prov 2:16-17 ↩

  21. Lev 18:20, Lev 20:10; Prov 7:18-19, Prov 30:20 ↩

  22. Rooach kinah, either a supernatural diabolic influence, exciting him to jealousy, or, rather, the passion or affection of jealousy. ↩

  23. Num 5:30; Prov 6:34; Song 8:6; Zeph 3:8; 1Cor 10:22 ↩

  24. This coarse offering, without oil or frankincense, implied the baseness of the crime of which the woman was suspected, and the mournful state of her family. It was not an atoning sacrifice, but an oblation for a memorial, as solemnly referring the decision to God, and calling upon him either to acquit or punish. Lev 5:11; Hos 3:2 ↩

  25. 1Kgs 17:18; Ezek 29:16; Heb 10:3 ↩

  26. or, rather, "bring it near;" i. e. her offering ↩

  27. Rather, "set it," i.e., the offering; for the woman is afterwards ordered to be set before the Lord (Num 5:18). Lev 1:3; Jer 17:10; Heb 13:4; Rev 2:22-23 ↩

  28. That is, water from the laver; called holy, because separated from common to sacred uses. This is the most ancient account of the trial by ordeal, which obtained so generally among various nations; and it was calculated to fortify the minds of the Israelitish women in the hour of temptation, and to render them watchful against all occasions of exciting suspicion in the breasts of their husbands. Num 19:2-9; Exod 30:18 ↩

  29. Job 2:12; Jer 17:13; Lam 3:29; John 8:6, John 8:8 ↩

  30. Heb 13:4; Rev 2:19-23 ↩

  31. Lev 13:45; 1Cor 11:15; Heb 4:12-13 ↩

  32. Num 5:15, Num 5:25-26 ↩

  33. So called from the bitter effects which it had upon the guilty. Num 5:17, Num 5:22, Num 5:24; Deut 29:18; 1Sam 15:32; Prov 5:4; Eccl 7:26; Isa 38:17; Jer 2:19; Rev 10:9-10 ↩

  34. Matt 26:63 ↩

  35. or, being in the power of thy husband, Heb. under thy husband. Rom 7:2 *Gr. ↩

  36. Josh 6:26; 1Sam 14:24; Neh 10:29; Matt 26:74 ↩

  37. Isa 65:15; Jer 29:22 ↩

  38. Heb. fall, 2Chr 21:15; Prov 10:7 ↩

  39. Num 5:27; Ps 109:18; Prov 1:31; Ezek 3:3 ↩

  40. Deut 27:15-26; Job 31:21-22, Job 31:39-40; Ps 7:4-5 ↩

  41. Ps 41:13, Ps 72:19, Ps 89:52; John 3:3, John 3:11, John 5:24-25, John 6:53 *Gr. ↩

  42. Exod 17:14; Deut 31:19; 2Chr 34:24; Job 31:35; Jer 51:60-64; 1Cor 16:21-22; Rev 20:12 ↩

  43. Ps 51:1, Ps 51:9; Isa 43:25, Isa 44:22; Acts 3:19 ↩

  44. Zech 5:3-4; Mal 3:5 ↩

  45. Num 5:15, Num 5:18 ↩

  46. Exod 29:24; Lev 8:27 ↩

  47. Lev 2:2, Lev 2:9, Lev 5:12, Lev 6:15 ↩

  48. Num 5:20; Prov 5:4-11; Eccl 7:26; Rom 6:21; 2Cor 2:16; Heb 10:26-30; 2Pet 2:10 ↩

  49. Deut 28:37; Ps 83:9-11; Isa 65:15; Jer 24:9, Jer 29:18, Jer 29:22, Jer 42:18; Zech 8:13 ↩

  50. Num 5:19; Mic 7:7-10; 2Cor 4:17; 1Pet 1:7 ↩

  51. Ps 113:9 ↩

  52. Lev 7:11, Lev 11:46, Lev 13:59, Lev 14:54-57, Lev 15:32-33 ↩

  53. Num 5:12, Num 5:15, Num 5:19; Isa 5:7-8 ↩

  54. Ps 37:6 ↩

  55. Num 9:13; Lev 20:10, Lev 20:17-20; Ezek 18:4; Rom 2:8-9 ↩