Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 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:
17. holy water ] A unique expression. The writer may have thought that the water should be taken from the sacred laver, which, according to a late stratum of P , stood in the court. LXX. , however, has ‘pure living water,’ which suggests that in the primitive ritual ‘running water’ was prescribed (cf. Num 19:17, Lev 14:5 f.). It is possible that ‘running water’ was the original reading, and that it was altered by a later hand.
the dust &c.] This was sacred dust, which would increase the sacredness of the potion, and so make it more dangerous for one who was unworthy to drink it.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Verse 17. Holy water] Water out of the laver, called holy because consecrated to sacred uses. This is the most ancient case of the trial by ordeal. See Clarke on Nu 5:31.
In an earthen vessel] Supposed by the Jews to be such as had never been previously used.
Dust that is in the floor] Probably intended to point out the baseness of the crime of which she was accused.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
Holy water; either water out of the holy laver, Exo 30:18, or rather the water of purification appointed for such kind of uses, Num 19:9. This was used, that if she were guilty, she might be afraid to add profaneness and the pollution of holy things to her other crime.
In an earthen vessel; either to signify that frailty and vileness of which she stood accused, or express her sorrowful and shameful condition, or because, after this use, it was to be broken in pieces, that the remembrance of it might be blotted out as far as possible. Compare Lev 6:28; 11:33; 15:12.
And of the dust; all emblem of vileness and misery, as appears from Job 2:12; Psa 22:15; Lam 3:29; and the serpents food, Gen 3:14; very proper for her who had been seduced to folly by the serpents instigation.
In the floor of the tabernacle; which made it holy dust, and struck the greater terror into the woman, if she were guilty. Put it into the water, to make it more unpleasant and bitter, which was suitable to one in that sorrowful state.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
17, 18. the priest shall take holywaterWater from the laver, which was to be mixed with dustanemblem of vileness and misery (Gen 3:14;Psa 22:15).
in an earthen vesselThisfragile ware was chosen because, after being used, it was broken inpieces (Lev 6:28; Lev 11:33).All the circumstances of this awful ceremonyher being placed withher face toward the arkher uncovered head, a sign of her beingdeprived of the protection of her husband (1Co11:7) the bitter potion being put into her hands preparatoryto an appeal to Godthe solemn adjuration of the priest (Nu5:19-22), all were calculated in no common degree to excite andappall the imagination of a person conscious of guilt.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And the priest shall take holy water,…. Out of the laver, as the Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan, and so Jarchi and Aben Ezra:
in an earthen vessel; which held half a log, and that was but a quarter of a pint, or three egg shells; for no more was assigned, to a suspected woman, according to the Misnah r. Some say only a fourth part: an earthen vessel was made use of, as everything vile and mean was in this affair:
and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put [it] into the water; first the water was put in, and then the dust, as Ben Gersom observes: there was a place a cubit square, where was a marble table, and a ring fixed in it, and when he lifted it up he took dust from under it, and put it so as it might be upon the top of the water s; which was used, either, as the Targum of Jonathan suggests, because the end of all flesh is to come to dust, and so to put her in mind of her original and her end; and in like manner the earthen vessel might signify, that she would be broke to pieces as that vessel; as also it might direct her thoughts to the tempter, by the influence of whose temptation she had been drawn into this sin, dust being the serpent’s food; and this being taken off the floor of the tabernacle, might add to the veneration of it, and make it more solemn and awful to drink of it.
r Sotah, c. 2. sect. 2. Menachot, c. 9. sect. 3. s Sotah, c. 2. sect. 2.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
17. Holy water Hebrew, holy waters; Greek, pure living water. This was at hand in the brazen laver near the altar. Exo 30:18. The water of separation, mixed with the ashes of the red heifer, ceremonially defiled the pure and purified the unclean. Num 19:20-21. As neither of these was the purpose of this rite, the water of separation would have been inappropriate. There is no authority here, nor elsewhere in the Bible, for the holy water superstitiously used in the Roman, Greek, and Armenian Churches.
An earthen vessel Thus symbolizing the baseness of the crime. As the vessel could be easily broken, no monument would remain to bring to the husband’s remembrance his wife’s criminality, if guilty, or his groundless jealousy, if innocent. Lev 6:28; Lev 11:33.
The dust of the tabernacle Endued for the occasion with supernatural qualities by Jehovah. Dust in several passages of the Holy Scripture typifies the state of condemnation before God. Gen 3:14; Deu 28:24; Jos 7:6; Mic 7:17. It would not harm the innocent.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Num 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:
Ver. 17. Holy water, ] i.e., Water taken out of the holy laver: no warrant for Popish lustral water, and sprinkling of sepulchres: for the ground whereof Cardinal Baronius fairly refers us to Juvenal’s sixth Satire. a
a Annal. ad Annum 44.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
holy = separated: taken from the laver. See note on Exo 3:5.
tabernacle. Hebrew. mishkan. App-40.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
holy water: 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, Exo 30:18
of the dust: Job 2:12, Jer 17:13, Lam 3:29, Joh 8:6, Joh 8:8
Reciprocal: Lev 14:5 – earthen vessel Num 5:18 – the bitter water
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
5:17 And the priest shall take {h} 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:
(h) Which also is called the water of purification of sprinkling, read Num 19:9.