She Turned Me Into a Newt

Numbers 5:11-31

A rare passage in Numbers that I find fascinating. Disturbing and odd, but fascinating.

So, if a man suspected his wife of being unfaithful- there was a sure fire test to determine her guilt. It sounds like it comes straight out of the Salem witch trials. He is to bring his wife (and a grain offering of barley flour) to the priest. The grain offering is because of jealousy.

The priest mixes some holy water with dust from the tabernacle floor. He loosens her hair and puts the dust water (in a clay jar) into her hands. He holds onto some bitter water. He puts her under oath... I'm not sure what she had to put her hand on to make this happen- and says the following to her:

""If no other man has slept with you and you have not gone astray and become impure while married to your husband, may this bitter water that brings a curse not harm you. ²⁰ But if you have gone astray while married to your husband and you have defiled yourself by sleeping with a man other than your husband... may the LORD cause your people to curse and denounce you when he causes your thigh to waste away and your abdomen to swell.²² May this water that brings a curse enter your body so that your abdomen swells and your thigh wastes away."

I'm not sure what the oath was for, since the woman isn't asked any questions regarding her guilt or innocence. She is supposed to say "Amen. So be it."

The priest writes the curse down and washes the words off into the bitter water and gives it to the woman to drink. So the curse literally enters the woman's body. Then the priest burns the grain offering and the woman drinks the holy water that he was holding.

The result will be a wasting thigh, which sounds a little like leprosy to me- and the inability to have children. If she bears a child, she is innocent and cleared of all charges.

This seems like it's all set-up for problems. What if a woman was already unable to bear children- is she then to pay the penalty for adultery? What if the husband shoots blanks? Maybe God wouldn't allow this scenario to take place.

What about a man who refrains from sex with his wife because he assumes she has been sleeping around and he's still hurt over the whole thing? Seems like that might prevent the birth of a child, too.

Sadly interesting that there is no scenario to punish a man who falsely accuses his wife. It seems like if she is found innocent the scene is more like "oops, my bad."

There's also not much room here for grace. We aren't told about a woman's ability to plead her case. What about rape? Or just a mistake? Can there be no reconciliation?

And why wouldn't a guilty woman just confess instead of going through this process? Just to buy her a little more time before she's found guilty? Does she think maybe there's a way out in the meantime? Maybe she doubts God's power to make the curse work?

This passage seems to illustrate God's hand in the administering of justice. If nothing else, it shows that God's not too fond of adultery. And while it seems like God is making sure justice occurs- I'd much rather have grace.