VERSE STUDY • KJV

Numbers 5:12-17

¹² Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man’s wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him, 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]; 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: ¹⁵ Then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest, and he shall bring her offering for her, 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, bringing iniquity to remembrance. ¹⁶ And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD: ¹⁷ And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put [it] into the water:

Read it in 5 translations

KJV King James Version

¹² Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man’s wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him, 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]; 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: ¹⁵ Then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest, and he shall bring her offering for her, 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, bringing iniquity to remembrance. ¹⁶ And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD: ¹⁷ And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put [it] into the water:

BSB Berean Standard Bible

¹² “Speak to the Israelites and tell them that if any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him ¹³ by sleeping with another man, and it is concealed from her husband and her impurity is undetected (since there is no witness against her and she was not caught in the act), ¹⁴ and if a feeling of jealousy comes over her husband and he suspects his wife who has defiled herself—or if a feeling of jealousy comes over him and he suspects her even though she has not defiled herself— ¹⁵ then he is to bring his wife to the priest. He must also bring for her an offering of a tenth of an ephah of barley flour. He is not to pour oil over it or put frankincense on it, because it is a grain offering for jealousy, an offering of memorial as a reminder of iniquity. ¹⁶ The priest is to bring the wife forward and have her stand before the LORD. ¹⁷ Then he is to take some holy water in a clay jar and put some of the dust from the tabernacle floor into the water.

WEB World English Bible

¹² “Speak to the children of Israel, and tell them: ‘If any man’s wife goes astray, and is unfaithful to him, ¹³ and a man lies with her carnally, and it is hidden from the eyes of her husband, and is kept close, and she is defiled, and there is no witness against her, and she isn’t taken in the act; ¹⁴ and the spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife, and she is defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy comes on him, and he is jealous of his wife, and she isn’t defiled: ¹⁵ then the man shall bring his wife to the priest, and shall bring her offering for her: the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal. He shall pour no oil on it, nor put frankincense on it, for it is a meal offering of jealousy, a meal offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to memory. ¹⁶ The priest shall bring her near, and set her before Yahweh; ¹⁷ and the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water.

ASV American Standard Version

¹² Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man’s wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him, 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, and she be not taken in the act; 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: ¹⁵ then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest, and shall bring her oblation for her, the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense thereon; for it is a meal-offering of jealousy, a meal-offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance. ¹⁶ And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before Jehovah: ¹⁷ and the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is on the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water.

YLT Young’s Literal Translation

¹² ‘Speak unto the sons of Israel, and thou hast said unto them, When any man’s wife turneth aside, and hath committed against him a trespass, ¹³ and a man hath lain with her with the seed of copulation, and it hath been hid from the eyes of her husband, and concealed, and she hath been defiled, and there is no witness against her, and she hath not been caught, ¹⁴ and a spirit of jealousy hath passed over him, and he hath been jealous of his wife, and she hath been defiled;—or, a spirit of jealousy hath passed over him, and he hath been jealous of his wife, and she hath not been defiled— ¹⁵ Then hath the man brought in his wife unto the priest, and he hath brought in her offering for her, a tenth of the ephah of barley meal, he doth not pour on it oil, nor doth he put on it frankincense, for it is a present of jealousy, a present of memorial, causing remembrance of iniquity. ¹⁶ ‘And the priest hath brought her near, and hath caused her to stand before Jehovah, ¹⁷ and the priest hath taken holy water in an earthen vessel, and of the dust which is on the floor of the tabernacle doth the priest take, and hath put it into the water,

Surrounding context — Numbers 5

9 And every offering 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 things shall be his: whatsoever any man giveth the priest, it shall be his.

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,

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];

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:

15 Then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest, and he shall bring her offering for her, 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, bringing iniquity to remembrance.

16 And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD:

17 And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put [it] into the water:

18 And the priest shall set the woman before the LORD, and uncover the woman’s head, and put the offering of memorial in her hands, which [is] the jealousy offering: and the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that causeth the curse:

19 And the priest shall charge her 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 another] 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:

Read the whole chapter → · About Numbers →

HISTORICAL INTERPRETATION

Compare classic commentaries on Numbers 5:12-17

Put Matthew Henry, Adam Clarke, Calvin, Wesley, Barnes, Jamieson–Fausset–Brown, Aquinas’ Catena and other public-domain sources beside the passage.

Compare commentaries →