Tuesday, June 9, 2015

Numbers 5: A Test For Infidelity

Modern paternity tests did not exist in Bible times, but jealousy and suspicion on the part of husbands about their wives was around even back then.  Included within the Law was a special ceremony that could be undergone by a woman accused of unfaithfulness by her husband.  It involved a trial by ordeal of bitter water.

The accused woman was to be brought to the Tabernacle where she would appear before the priests.  After an investigation was made and question asked, she would be made to drink a potion of water along with dust from the floor of the Tabernacle and ink from a written curse that would come upon the woman if she was guilty of infidelity.  If she was not guilty, no harm would come to her.

The exact nature of the curse is unclear, but seems to involve either her sickness and death, along with possibly the same sickness and death of her illicit lover, or the miscarriage of a child that was the product of that adulterous union.

The supernatural act of God was required for this trial by ordeal to work.  That sets it apart from the rest of the Law.  The most similar act to it would be the casting of the Urim and Thummim to discern God's will.

We don't find this ceremony practiced anywhere in the Bible, and it appears to have been used very infrequently, perhaps as a last resort.

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