Verse 1
Numbers 5:1. The camps and
divisions of priests, Levites,
and people being thus settled,
now was the time when the law
about excluding leprous and
unclean persons from the camps
was to take place; God having,
for wise reasons, appointed that
all persons under such legal
impurities should, in proportion
to the degree of them, be
excluded from the community
where he himself dwelt by the
symbols of his divine presence
till they were cleansed again.
This the Israelites began now to
put in execution by express
order from God to Moses.
Verse 3
Numbers 5:3. That they defile
not the camp — By which God
would intimate the danger of
being made guilty by other men’s
sins, and the duty of avoiding
intimate converse with wicked
men. I dwell — By my special and
gracious presence.
Verse 6
Numbers 5:6. Any sin that men
commit — Hebrew, any sins of
men; that is, sins against men,
as deceits or wrongs, whereby
other men are injured, of which
he manifestly speaks. Against
the Lord — Which words may be
added, to show that such
injuries done to men are also
sins against God, who hath
commanded justice to men, as
well as religion to himself.
Guilty — That is, shall be
sensible of his guilt, convicted
in his conscience.
Verse 7
Numbers 5:7. They shall confess
their sin — They shall not
continue in the denial of the
fact, but give glory to God, and
take shame to themselves by
acknowledging it. The principal
— That is, the thing he took
away, or what is equivalent to
it. And add — Both as a
compensation to the injured
person for want of his goods so
long, and as a penalty upon the
injurious dealer, to discourage
others from such attempts.
Verse 8
Numbers 5:8. No kinsman — This
supposes the person injured to
be dead, or gone into some
unknown place. To the priest —
Whom God appointed as his
deputy, to receive his dues, and
take them to his own use, that
so he might more cheerfully and
entirely devote himself to the
ministration of holy things.
This is an additional
explication to that law,
Leviticus 6:2, and for the sake
thereof it seems here to be
repeated.
Verse 10
Numbers 5:10. Every man’s
hallowed things — Understand
this not of the sacrifices,
because these were not the
priest’s entirely, but part of
them was offered to God, and the
remainder was eaten by the
offerer as well as by the
priest; but of such other things
as were devoted to God, and
could not be offered in
sacrifices; as, suppose a man
consecrated a house to the Lord,
this was to be the priest’s.
Verse 12
Numbers 5:12. If a man’s wife go
aside — From the way of piety
and virtue, and that either in
truth or in her husband’s
opinion. This law was given
partly to deter wives from
adulterous practices, and partly
to secure them against the rage
of their hard-hearted husbands,
who otherwise might, upon mere
suspicion, have effected their
destruction, or at least put
them away. There was not the
like fear of inconveniences to
husbands from the jealousy of
their wives, who had not that
authority and power, and
opportunity for the putting away
or killing their husbands, which
the husbands had with respect to
their wives.
Verse 15
Numbers 5:15. The man shall
bring her to the priest — With
the witnesses that could prove
the ground of his suspicions,
and desire she might be put upon
her trial. The Jews say, the
priest was first to endeavour to
persuade her to confess the
truth, saying, to this purpose,
“Dear daughter, perhaps thou
wast overtaken by drinking wine,
or wast carried away by the heat
of youth, or the examples of ill
neighbours; come, confess the
truth, for the sake of his great
name, which is described in this
most sacred ceremony; and do not
let it be blotted out with the
bitter water.” If she confessed,
saying, I am defiled, she was
not put to death, but was
divorced, and lost her dowry; if
she said, I am pure, then they
proceeded.
Verse 27
Numbers 5:27. The water shall
enter into her — These effects,
the Jews tell us, presently
followed; for she grew pale, and
her eyes were ready to start out
of her head, so that they cried
out, Carry her away, lest she
defile the court of the temple,
by dying there. But if what has
just been observed from the
Jewish writers be true, that,
upon confessing her guilt, the
woman was only divorced and
condemned to lose her dowry, it
is probable there were not many
instances wherein this
miraculous judgment was
inflicted; for it is hardly to
be supposed that any woman,
conscious of her guilt, would,
by asserting her innocence thus
solemnly, in defiance of the
Almighty, venture upon the
hazard of sudden and immediate
death, with all the miserable
circumstances here described,
rather than confess and gain
time to repent. And the woman
shall be a curse among her
people — Such woful effects
shall the before-mentioned
bitter draught produce, that she
shall become a perfect proverb
of a curse and wretchedness in
the mouths of all her neighbours.
Verse 28
Numbers 5:28. Conceive seed —
That is, shall bring forth
children: as the Jews say, in
case of her innocence, she
infallibly did, yea, though she
had been barren before.
Verse 29
Numbers 5:29. This is the law of
jealousy — “It is not to be
wondered,” says Grotius, “if
God, among his own people,
produced a miraculous effect for
the detection of a crime most
heinous, and very difficult to
be proved. Indeed history
abounds with examples of the
direful effects of jealousy, not
only to private persons and
families, but to whole states
and kingdoms; the design,
therefore, of this institution
was to prevent these evils, by
appointing a method whereby
injured innocence might be
cleared, and every shameful
breach of conjugal fidelity
brought to condign punishment.
By this solemn and awful
decision of Providence, jealous
husbands were restrained from
cruel outrages against their
wives, and wives were preserved
in their duty out of dread of
punishment.”
Verse 31
Numbers 5:31. Then shall the man
be guiltless — Which he should
not have been if he had either
indulged her in so great a
wickedness, and not endeavoured
to bring her to repentance or
punishment, or cherished
suspicions in his breast, and
thereupon proceeded to hate her
or cast her off. Whereas now,
whatsoever the consequence is,
the husband shall not be
censured for bringing such
curses upon her, or for defaming
her, if she appear to be
innocent. Her iniquity — That
is, the punishment of her
iniquity, whether she was false
to her husband, or by any light
carriage gave him occasion to
suspect her. |