The husband will be free from guilt, but the woman shall bear her iniquity.”
Parallel translations
- WEB The man shall be free from iniquity, and that woman shall bear her iniquity.’”
- KJV Then shall the man be guiltless from iniquity, and this woman shall bear her iniquity.
- NKJV Then the man shall be free from iniquity, but that woman shall bear her guilt.’ ”
- NASB The man, moreover, will be free of guilt, but that woman shall bear the consequences of her guilt.’ ”
- NLT The husband will be innocent of any guilt in this matter, but his wife will be held accountable for her sin.”
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 husband bears no guilt for invoking the ordeal, while a guilty wife bears her own iniquity.
Overview
This closing verse clears the husband of wrongdoing in seeking the rite and places responsibility squarely on the guilty party. It establishes that each person answers to God for their own sin, a principle running through Scripture. Ultimately all bear iniquity until it is borne away by Christ, who took our guilt upon Himself.
Cross-references & the web
Cross-references · 6
- Lev 20:10If a man commits adultery with another man’s wife—with the wife of his neighbor—both the adulterer and the adulteress must surely be put to death.
- Rom 2:8–9But for those who are self-seeking and who reject the truth and follow wickedness, there will be wrath and anger.
- Ezek 18:4Behold, every soul belongs to Me; both father and son are Mine. The soul who sins is the one who will die.
- Ps 37:6He will bring forth your righteousness like the dawn, your justice like the noonday sun.
- Lev 20:17–20If a man marries his sister, whether the daughter of his father or of his mother, and they have sexual relations, it is a disgrace. They must be cut off in the sight of their people. He has uncovered the nakedness of his sister; he shall bear his iniquity.
- Num 9:13But if a man who is ceremonially clean and is not on a journey still fails to observe the Passover, he must be cut off from his people, because he did not present the LORD’s offering at its appointed time. That man will bear the consequences of his sin.
Themes, concepts, people & topics
Resources, by level
Commentaries & study tools
Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.
Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.
Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.
Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.
The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).
Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.
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 5:31 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.