Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 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.
Verse 22. Thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot] What is meant by these expressions cannot be easily ascertained. lanpel yarech signifies literally thy thigh to fall. As the thigh, feet, c., were used among the Hebrews delicately to express the parts which nature conceals, (see Ge 46:26), the expression here is probably to be understood in this sense and the falling down of the thigh here must mean something similar to the prolapsus uteri, or falling down of the womb, which might be a natural effect of the preternatural distension of the abdomen. In 1Co 11:29, St. Paul seems to allude to the case of the guilty woman drinking the bitter cursed waters that caused her destruction: He who eateth and drinketh unworthily, eateth and drinketh damnation (, condemnation or judgment) to himself; and there is probably a reference to the same thing in Ps 109:18, and in Da 9:11.
And the woman shall say, Amen, amen.] This is the first place where this word occurs in the common form of a concluding wish in prayer. The root aman signifies to be steady, true, permanent. And in prayer it signifies let it be so – make it steady – let it be ratified. Some have supposed that it is composed of the initial letters of Adonai Melech Neeman, My Lord the faithful King, but this derivation is both far-fetched and unnecessary.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
i.e. So let it be if I be guilty. The word is doubled by her as an evidence of her innocency, and ardent desire that God would deal with her according to her desert.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
22. the woman shall say, Amen,AmenThe Israelites were accustomed, instead of formallyrepeating the words of an oath merely to say, “Amen,” a “sobe it” to the imprecations it contained. The reduplication ofthe word was designed as an evidence of the woman’s innocence, and awillingness that God would do to her according to her desert.
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
And this water that causeth the curse,…. Upon the drinking of which the curse follows, if guilty:
shall go into thy bowels; and there operate and produce the above effects, which are repeated again to inject terror:
to make [thy] belly to swell, and [thy] thigh to rot; here ends the form of the oath, which begins Nu 5:19;
and the woman shall say, amen, amen; so be it; let it be as pronounced, if I am guilty; which, as Aben Ezra observes, is repeated for the sake of confirmation; though the Jewish writers commonly understand it as respecting various things, the oath and the curse, the thing charged with, and the persons suspected of x.
x Misn. ib. sect. 5. Targum Jon. & Jerus. & Jarchi in loc.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
22. Amen, amen True, true. Thus the guilty one appropriates the penalty to herself, and proclaims the righteousness of her sentence. Thus in the judgment day will the Divine rectitude shine out so brightly that the left-hand assembly will involuntarily say Amen, amen, to the curse which will abide through the duration of the soul. This is the first time that this word amen is used in the Bible. “It involves the ideas of swearing, acceptance, and truthfulness.”
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Num 5:22. And the woman shall say, Amen, amen. If the woman, after this adjuration, persisted in pleading not guilty, she was to pronounce amen, or so be it, doubled, to express her hearty consent that it might be as the priest, in the name of God, had declared. If the woman acknowledged her guilt, she was immediately divorced without dowry, according to the Jewish canon: for the Scripture is very concise upon the subject; not informing us whether a woman might, or might not, be allowed to refuse drinking the water after the oath administered by the priest.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Num 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.
Ver. 22. Amen, amen. ] Twice; to show the fervency of her zeal, the innocency of her cause, the uprightness of her conscience, and the purity of her heart.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Amen. A Hebrew word, transferred to the Greek = verily, truly so. If one adjured another and he replied “Amen”, it was thereby considered as confirmed by an oath. Compare 2Co 1:20.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
go into: Num 5:27, Psa 109:18, Pro 1:31, Eze 3:3
the woman: Deu 27:15-26, Job 31:21, Job 31:22, Job 31:39, Job 31:40, Psa 7:4, Psa 7:5
Amen: Psa 41:13, Psa 72:19, Psa 89:52, Joh 3:3, Joh 3:11, Joh 5:24, Joh 5:25, Joh 6:53,*Gr.
Reciprocal: Num 5:18 – the bitter water Deu 22:22 – General Neh 5:13 – Amen Jer 28:6 – Amen Mat 6:13 – Amen 1Co 14:16 – Amen
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
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, {l} Amen, amen.
(l) That is, may it be as you wished, as in Psa 41:13 De 27:15.