NUMBERS—NOTE ON Numbers 5:11 The ritual described here is designed to distinguish between actual adultery (vv. Numbers 5:12) and unwarranted suspicion (v. Numbers 5:14). In Israel as well as in other ancient Near Eastern countries, adulterers faced the death penalty (Deuteronomy 22:22). It is not clear what the threat that her womb swell and her thigh fall away means, but it could refer to miscarriage. The guilty wife is threatened with childlessness, while the innocent wife is assured she shall be free and shall conceive children (Numbers 5:28; compare Genesis 20:17).

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