May this water that brings a curse enter your stomach and cause your belly to swell and your thigh to shrivel.’ Then the woman is to say, ‘Amen, Amen.’
Parallel translations
- WEB and this water that brings a curse will go into your bowels, and make your body swell, and your thigh fall away.” The woman shall say, “Amen, Amen.”
- KJV 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.
- NKJV and may this water that causes the curse go into your stomach, and make your belly swell and your thigh rot.” ‘Then the woman shall say, “Amen, so be it.”
- NASB and this water that brings a curse shall go into your stomach, to make your belly swell up and your thigh shrivel.” And the woman shall say, “Amen, Amen.”
- NLT Now may this water that brings the curse enter your body and cause your abdomen to swell and your womb to shrivel.’ And the woman will be required to say, ‘Yes, let it be so.’
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org
Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.
Quick answer
The cursed water would bring affliction if she is guilty, and the woman affirms the oath with 'Amen, Amen.' She submits to God's judgment of the hidden truth.
Overview
The woman's double 'Amen' is her solemn agreement to accept whatever verdict God renders, trusting Him to reveal the truth. The whole procedure entrusted a matter beyond human proof to the all-knowing God, protecting the innocent and exposing the guilty. Her submission models the reverent acknowledgment that God alone judges the secrets of the heart.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 15
- Ps 109:18The cursing that he wore like a coat, may it soak into his body like water, and into his bones like oil.
- Prov 1:31So they will eat the fruit of their own way, and be filled with their own devices.
- Deut 27:15–26‘Cursed is the man who makes a carved idol or molten image—an abomination to the LORD, the work of the hands of a craftsman—and sets it up in secret.’ And let all the people say, ‘Amen!’
- Ezek 3:3“Son of man,” He said to me, “eat and fill your stomach with this scroll I am giving you.” So I ate, and it was as sweet as honey in my mouth.
- Num 5:27When he has made her drink the water, if she has defiled herself and been unfaithful to her husband, then the water that brings a curse will enter her and cause bitter suffering; her belly will swell, her thigh will shrivel, and she will become accursed among her people.
- John 6:53So Jesus said to them, “Truly, truly, I tell you, unless you eat the flesh and drink the blood of the Son of Man, you have no life in you.
- John 5:24–25Truly, truly, I tell you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life and will not come under judgment. Indeed, he has crossed over from death to life.
- John 3:11Truly, truly, I tell you, we speak of what we know, and we testify to what we have seen, and yet you people do not accept our testimony.
- Job 31:39–40if I have devoured its produce without payment or broken the spirit of its tenants,
- John 3:3Jesus replied, “Truly, truly, I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again.”
- Ps 7:4–5if I have rewarded my ally with evil, if I have plundered my foe without cause,
- Ps 41:13Blessed be the LORD, the God of Israel, from everlasting to everlasting. Amen and Amen.
- Ps 89:52Blessed be the LORD forever! Amen and amen.
- Ps 72:19And blessed be His glorious name forever; may all the earth be filled with His glory. Amen and amen.
- Job 31:21–22if I have lifted up my hand against the fatherless because I saw that I had support in the gate,
Themes, concepts, people & topics
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Christ at the center
In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.
How Numbers 5:22 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.
Original language
Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.