Numbers 5
Lepers and other "defiled" people are driven from camp

5:1-4
5:1
And the LORD spake unto
Moses, saying,
5:2
Command the children of
Israel, that they put out of the camp every leper, and every one that hath
an issue, and whosoever is defiled by the dead:
5:3
Both male and female
shall ye put out, without the camp shall ye put them; that they defile not
their camps, in the midst whereof I dwell.
5:4
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.
(5:1-4) God tells Moses to expel all lepers from the camp "that they defile not
...whereof I dwell." So by God's instructions, the sick are abandoned and left to suffer
and die alone.
(5:1) The LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
(5:2) Put out of the camp every leper, and every one that hath an issue, and whosoever is defiled by the dead.
(5:3) Both male and female shall ye put out ... that they defile not their camps,
in the midst whereof I dwell.
(5:4) And the children of Israel did so, and put them out without the camp.
Sin, trespass, and recompense
5:5-10
5:5
And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
5:6
Speak unto the children of Israel, When a man or woman shall commit any
sin that men commit, to do a trespass against the LORD, and that person be
guilty;
5:7
Then they shall confess their sin which they have done: and he shall
recompense his trespass with the principal thereof, and add unto it the
fifth part thereof, and give it unto him against whom he hath trespassed.
5:8
But if the man have no kinsman to recompense the trespass unto, let the
trespass be recompensed unto the LORD, even to the priest; beside the ram of
the atonement, whereby an atonement shall be made for him.
5:9
And every offering of all the holy things of the children of Israel, which
they bring unto the priest, shall be his.
5:10
And every man's hallowed things shall be his: whatsoever any man giveth
the priest, it shall be his.
5:11
And the LORD spake unto
Moses, saying,
5:12
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man's wife go aside,
and commit a trespass against him,
5:13
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;
(5:11-31) If a man suspects his wife of being unfaithful, he reports it to the priest. The priest then makes
her drink some "bitter water." If she is guilty, the water makes her
thigh rot and her belly swell. If innocent, no harm done -- the woman is free
and will "conceive seed." In any case, "the man shall be
guiltless from iniquity, and this woman shall bear her iniquity."
What the Bible says about abortion
(5:11) The LORD spake unto Moses, saying,
(5:12) If any man's wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him,
5:14
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:
(5:14) And the spirit of jealousy come upon him ...
and she be defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him ... and she be not defiled:
5:15
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.
(5:15) Then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest,
5:16
And the priest shall
bring her near, and set her before the LORD:
5:17
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:
(5:16) The priest shall ... set her before the LORD.
5:18
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:
(5:18) And the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that causeth the curse.
5:19
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:
(5:19) And the priest shall ... say unto the woman, If no man have
lain with thee ... be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse.
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:
(5:20) But if ... some man have lain with thee beside thine husband,
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;
(5:21) The LORD doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell.
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.
(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.
5:23
And the priest shall
write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out with the bitter
water:
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.
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:
5:26
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.
(5:24) And he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that causeth the curse.
5:27
And when he hath made
her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, that, if she be
defiled, 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 woman shall be a curse
among her people.
5:28
And if the woman be not
defiled, but be clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive seed.
5:29
This is the law of
jealousies, when a wife goeth aside to another instead of her husband,
and is defiled;
5:30
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.
(5:27) When he hath made her to drink the water ... if she be defiled ... the water that causeth the curse
shall ... become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot: and the woman shall be a curse
among her people.
Is magic OK?
What the Bible says about magic
(5:28) If the woman be not defiled, but be clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive seed.
(5:29) This is the law of
jealousies,
(5:30) 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.
5:31
Then shall the man
be guiltless from iniquity, and this woman shall bear her iniquity.
(5:31) Then shall the man be guiltless from iniquity, and this woman shall bear her iniquity.
- People with leprosy must live completely alone.
- Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp every leper ... Both male and female shall ye put out, without the camp shall ye put them; that they defile not their camps, in the midst whereof I dwell.
5:2-3
- Don't allow anyone who has an issue to live near you.
- Put out of the camp ... every one that hath an issue ... Both male and female shall ye put out, without the camp shall ye put them; that they defile not their camps, in the midst whereof I dwell. 5:2-3
- Don't allow anyone who has touched a dead body to live near you.
- Put out of the camp ... whosoever is defiled by the dead: Both male and female shall ye put out, without the camp shall ye put them;
that they defile not their camps, in the midst whereof I dwell. 5:2-3
- If you sin, confess your sin.
- Speak unto the children of Israel, When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass against the LORD, and that person be guilty; Then they shall
confess their sin which they have done. 5:6-7
- If a you sin, you must pay back the preson who you injured plus 20%.
- When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass against the LORD, and that person be guilty ... he shall recompense his trespass with the principal thereof, and add unto it the fifth part thereof,
and give it unto him against whom he hath trespassed. 5:6-7
- If the injured person and his family cannot be found, then the payment goes to the priest instead.
- When a man or woman shall commit any sin that men commit, to do a trespass against the LORD, and that person be guilty ... if the man have no kinsman to recompense the trespass unto, let the trespass be recompensed unto the LORD,
even to the priest; beside the ram of the atonement, whereby an atonement shall be made for him. 5:6-8
- All holy donations belong to the priest.
- Every offering of all the holy things of the children of Israel, which they bring unto the priest, shall be his. And every man's hallowed things shall be his: whatsoever any man giveth the priest, it shall be his.
5:9-10
- The Law of Jealousies: What a man must do when he suspects that his wife has been unfaithful.
- And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man's wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him, 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; 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: Then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest.... 5:11-31
- Dwindling in Unbelief
- The Bible's Guide to Abortion
(Numbers 5:11-31)
- What to do with an unfaithful wife:
The Bible vs. the Quran (Numbers 5:11-31)
- Slate Blogs the Bible by David Plotz
- Biblical Racism and the Story of Moses' African Wife