18<\/strong>. The hair is let loose as a sign of mourning for her shame.<\/p>\n the water of bitterness<\/em> ] the water which causes physical pain.<\/p>\n Verse 18<\/span>. Uncover the woman’s head<\/B><\/I>] To take off a woman’s veil, and expose her to the sight of men, would be considered a very great degradation in the East. To this St. Paul appears to allude, 1Co 11:5-6<\/span>; 1Co 11:10<\/span>.<\/P> <\/p>\n Before the Lord; <\/B>before the tabernacle, with her face towards the ark. <\/P> Uncover the womans head; <\/B>partly, that she might be made sensible how manifest she and all her ways were to God, and that she might be more visible to the congregation, that her shame might be greater if she were guilty; partly, in token of her sorrow either for her sin, or at least for any cause of suspicion which she had given; partly, as a sign that she was after a sort deprived of the help and protection of her husband, which the covering of the womans head signified, 1Co 11:5-7<\/span>,10<\/span>, and that she was neither virgin nor loyal with, for the heads of both these used to be covered. <\/P> In her hands, <\/B>that she herself might offer it, and therefore call God to be witness of her innocency. Bitter<\/I>; so called either from the bitter taste which the dust gave it, or from the bitter effects of it upon her if she were guilty. Compare Exo 32:20<\/span>. <\/P> That causeth the curse; <\/B>not by any natural power, but by a supernatural efficacy ordained and wrought by God for her punishment, and for the terror and caution of others. <\/P> <\/p>\n And the priest shall set the woman before the Lord<\/strong>,…. In the east of the tabernacle, with her face to the west, where was the holy of holies, so Ben Gersom; but not immediately for they had her from place to place, as Jarchi says, till she was weary, and her mind disturbed, that she might confess; and if she said, I am defiled, she rent the writing of her dowry, and went out; but if she said, I am pure, they brought her to the eastern gate, the gate of Nicanor, for there they made women suspected of adultery to drink the waters t:<\/p>\n and uncover the woman’s head<\/strong>; as a token of her immodesty and non-subjection to her husband, and that she might be seen by all, to cause shame in her: according to the Misnah u, the priest took off her clothes, and loosed her hair–if she was clothed with white garments, he clothed her with black; if she had on her ornaments of gold, chains, earrings, or rings, he took them away from her, that she might be unseemly, and whoever would might come and look at her:<\/p>\n and put the offering of memorial into her hands, which [is] the jealousy offering<\/strong>; to weary her, as Jarchi says, that if perhaps her mind was disturbed she would confess; and so in the Misnah w it is said, that her husband put this offering into her hands to weary her; but the true reason here seems to be, that it might appear to be her own offering:<\/p>\n and the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that causeth the curse<\/strong>; not that the water was bitter of itself, for it was the water out of the laver, and had nothing in it but the dust of the floor of the tabernacle; though some think some bitter thing was put into it, so Ben Gersom, as wormwood; but it is so called from the effects of it on those that were guilty; it produced sad effects in them, bitter and distressing, and made them appear to be accursed ones, for it was not bitter till it entered, Nu 5:24<\/span>; whereas it was not so to the innocent, nor attended with any such consequence to them; so that there was nothing in the water itself, but its efficacy was divine and supernatural.<\/p>\n t Sotah, c. 1. sect. 5. u Sotah, c. 1. sect. 5, 6. w Sotah, c. 2. sect. 1.<\/p>\n 18<\/strong>. <\/strong> The woman before the Lord <\/strong> In Num 5:16<\/span> the offering was “before the Lord” when brought to the altar. The woman was “before the Lord” when, with her face toward the ark, where dwelt the Shekinah, she stood before the door of the tabernacle. <\/p>\n And uncover the woman’s head <\/strong> The Mishna prescribes that she be clothed in black, with a rope girded around her waist. It would seem from the text that her head was vailed, probably also in black. This uncovering seems to typify her removal from the protection of her husband, and her exposure to the wrath of God. It was necessary, also, that the vail be removed in order that the people might mark the woman, and note the Divine stroke upon her in the future if she were guilty. We cannot accept the statement that dishevelling the hair is all that is here meant. In the same Hebrew words Aaron is forbidden to uncover his head in mourning for his sons, Nadab and Abihu. Lev 10:6<\/span>. The jealousy offering <\/strong> was to be in her hands until her oath had entitled her to have it burned upon the altar. The woman, holding her offering the priest, with the curse-water in his hand and the jealous husband, the priests, and people looking on, constitute a tableau vivant <\/em> of deep and solemn interest. <\/p>\n The bitter water <\/strong> It was not bitter in its taste, but in its effects upon the guilty. The Septuagint reads, water of conviction.<\/p>\n The Woman is Made to Stand Before Yahweh as Prepared For It By the Priest ( Num 5:18<\/strong><\/span><\/strong> ). <\/p>\n Num 5:18<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n ‘And the priest shall set the woman before Yahweh, and let the hair of the woman’s head go loose, and put the grain offering of memorial in her hands, which is the grain offering of jealousy, and the priest shall have in his hand the water of bitterness which causes the curse.’ <\/p>\n It is repeated that the woman was set ‘before Yahweh’. That was the most important part of the process and was repeated so that it might be stamped on the listener’s mind when the account was read out. All should know that it was Yahweh Who would judge her, not man. <\/p>\n The woman’s hair was then let loose. This symbolically revealed to Yahweh, and more emphatically to those watching, what the charge against the woman was and why she was there. Hair hanging loose was an indication of uncleanness (Lev 13:45<\/span>) and of the fact that she was laid bare before Yahweh. She was being seen by Him as no one ever saw her publicly, with all pretence removed. Then the grain offering of memorial, the reminder to Yahweh of what the woman had done, if she had really done it, was put into her hands. Why the grain was of barley we can only guess. But it was ‘the grain offering of jealousy’. It was the indication to Yahweh of the fact of what her husband feared about her. He thought that she was cheap and low. The thought is possibly also that God was determining whether her faith was a sham. Was her life like barley, of low quality? Like the hair loosed it was the sign of a woman laid bare. If she were innocent it would not be held against her, and Yahweh would not be jealous. <\/p>\n Alternatively the hair loosed might have been seen as taking her back to man’s primitive state for her to be judged afresh as man had been judged when accused of sinning in the Garden, with the barley seen as wild grain found in the Garden. It may have been seen as going back to the days before man’s increasing sophistication caused the dressing of the hair, to the very beginning. Thus did woman stand once more to be judged by God for possible secret sin as had her ancestress Eve before her. <\/p>\n Or the hair might have been hanging loose in readiness for it to be cut if necessary as a sign of desolation and mourning (Jer 7:29<\/span>). <\/p>\n The priest then took in his hand ‘the water of bitterness which causes the curse’. It was not yet fully ready for use but the woman and all who were watching would know what it was. That water brought a curse on any guilty person who drank of it. The whole purpose of all this symbolism was to bring home to the woman, if she was guilty, how great her guilt was. She was no longer bringing her purity, or lack of it, before men, she was bringing it before God. (See Zec 3:1-3<\/span> for a similar idea). <\/p>\n Num 5:18<\/span><\/em><\/strong>. <\/strong>Uncover the woman’s head, <\/em><\/strong>&c.<\/strong> The priest was first to take off the woman’s head-attire that she might appear as a mourner; see Leviticus 21<\/span>. <\/p>\n 10 and as the covering of the head betokens the woman’s subjection and chastity, 1Co 11:10<\/span> it was fitly taken away, says Bishop Kidder, as a sign that her fidelity and dutiful subjection were questioned: after this, the jealousy-offering was to be put into the woman’s hand, the priest having in his hand the bitter water which causeth the curse; <\/em>which may be so called from the bitter effects, and the horrible curse which it produced, in case of guilt: terms by no means improper for it, though it might happen to be taken by chaste and worthy women whose innocence was called in question. Pro 5:4<\/span>. <\/p>\n Num 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:<\/p>\n Ver. 18. Uncover the woman’s head.] Because she stood now upon her justification, and thereupon laid aside, for present, this sign of subjection to the man. 1Co 11:7 <\/p>\n <\/p>\n The offering of memorial.<\/strong> ] Brought by her husband, Num 5:15 who was now sick of one of those three diseases, that they say are hardly cured, jealousy, frenzy, and heresy.<\/p>\n bitter water. Hebrew water of bitters, Genitive of cause: i.e., causing bitterness of spirit. Compare Psa 109:18. Pro 5:4. Bitter = ham’arim. <\/p>\n curse. Figure of speech Paronomasia (App-6). Hebrew. ham’arim. <\/p>\n the priest: Heb 13:4, Rev 2:19-23 <\/p>\n uncover: Lev 13:45, 1Co 11:15, Heb 4:12, Heb 4:13 <\/p>\n and put: Num 5:15, Num 5:25, Num 5:26 <\/p>\n the bitter water: So called from the bitter effects which it had upon the guilty. Num 5:17, Num 5:22, Num 5:24, Deu 29:18, 1Sa 15:32, Pro 5:4, Ecc 7:26, Isa 38:17, Jer 2:19, Rev 10:9, Rev 10:10 <\/p>\n Reciprocal: Lev 2:2 – the memorial Lev 10:6 – Uncover Num 5:16 – set her Jer 8:14 – water 1Co 11:6 – but<\/p>\n 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 {i} curse:<\/p>\n (i) It was so called by the effect, because it declared the woman to be accursed, and turned to her destruction.<\/p>\n 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: 18. The hair is let loose as a sign of mourning … Continue reading “Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 5:18”<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3819","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-commentary"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3819","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3819"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3819\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3819"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3819"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.biblia.work\/bible-commentary\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3819"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Geneva Bible Notes<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"