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Números 5

VBL · Chapter 5/36

1Entonces el Señor le dijo a Moisés:

2“Ordena a los israelitas que expulsen del campamento a cualquiera que tenga una enfermedad de la piel, o que tenga una secreción, o que esté sucio por tocar un cuerpo muerto.

3Ya sea hombre o mujer, debes expulsarlos para que no ensucien su campamento, porque ahí es donde yo habito con ellos”.

4Los israelitas siguieron estas instrucciones y expulsaron a esas personas del campamento. Hicieron lo que el Señor le había dicho a Moisés que debían hacer.

5El Señor le dijo a Moisés:

6“Dile a los israelitas que cuando un hombre o una mujer es infiel al Señor pecando contra alguien más, son culpables

7y deben confesar su pecado. Tienen que pagar el monto total de la compensación más un quinto de su valor, y darlo a la persona a la que han agraviado.

8Sin embargo, si esa persona no tiene un pariente que pueda recibir la compensación, ésta le pertenece al Señor y será entregada al sacerdote, junto con un carnero de sacrificio con el que se justifica al culpable.

9Todas las ofrendas sagradas que los israelitas traigan al sacerdote, le pertenecen a él.

10Sus santas ofrendas les pertenecen, pero una vez que se las dan al sacerdote, le pertenecen a él”.

11El Señor le dijo a Moisés:

12“Dile a los israelitas que estas son las instrucciones a seguir en caso de que la esposa de un hombre tenga una aventura amorosa, siéndole infiel a él

13por acostarse con otra persona. Puede ser que su marido no se entere y que su acto sucio no haya sido presenciado. No la atraparon.

14Pero si su marido se pone celoso y sospecha de su mujer, sea culpable o no,

15debe llevarla ante el sacerdote. También debe llevar en su nombre una ofrenda de un décimo de efa de harina de cebada. También debe llevar para ella una ofrenda de un efa de harina de cebada. No debe verter aceite de oliva o poner incienso sobre ella, ya que es una ofrenda de grano por los celos, una ofrenda recordatoria para recordarle a las personas sobre el pecado.

16“El sacerdote debe guiar a la esposa hacia adelante y hacer que se presente ante el Señor.

17Luego llenará una vasija de barro con agua sagrada y rociará sobre ella polvo del suelo del Tabernáculo.

18Una vez que el sacerdote haya hecho que la mujer se ponga de pie ante el Señor, le soltará el pelo y le hará sostener la ofrenda de grano recordatoria, la ofrenda de grano que se usa en casos de celos. El sacerdote sostendrá el agua amarga que maldice.

19Pondrá a la mujer bajo juramento y le dirá: ‘Si nadie más ha dormido contigo y no has sido infiel ni te has vuelto impura mientras estabas casada con tu marido, que no te perjudique esta agua amarga que maldice.

20Pero si has sido infiel mientras estabas casada con tu marido y te has vuelto impura y has tenido relaciones sexuales con otra persona...’”.

21(Aquí el sacerdote pondrá a la mujer bajo juramento de la maldición como sigue). “Que el Señor te envíe una maldición que todo el mundo conoce, haciendo que tus muslos se encojan y tu vientre se hinche.

22Que esta agua que maldice entre en tu estómago y haga que tu vientre se hinche y tus muslos se encojan.

23“El sacerdote debe escribir estas maldiciones en un pergamino y luego lavarlas en el agua amarga.

24Hará que la mujer beba el agua amarga que maldice, y le causará un dolor amargo si es culpable.

25El sacerdote le quitará la ofrenda de grano por los celos, la agitará ante el Señor y la llevará al altar.

26Entonces el sacerdote tomará un puñado de la ofrenda de grano como porción de recuerdo y lo quemará en el altar, y hará que la mujer beba el agua.

27“Después de hacerla beber el agua, si ella se ha hecho impura y ha sido infiel a su marido, entonces el agua que maldice le causará un dolor amargo. Su vientre se hinchará y sus muslos se encogerán. Se convertirá en una mujer maldita entre su pueblo.

28Pero si la mujer no se ha hecho impura por ser infiel y está limpia, no experimentará este castigo y aún podrá tener hijos.

29“Esta es la regla a seguir en casos de celos cuando una mujer tiene una aventura y se hace impura mientras está casada con su marido,

30o cuando el marido empieza a sentir celos y sospecha de su esposa. Su esposa deberá presentarse ante el Señor, y el sacerdote deberá cumplir cada parte de esta regla.

31Si es hallada culpable, su marido no será responsable. Pero la mujer cargará con las consecuencias de su 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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