Adultery Trials! (Numbers 5:11-31)
Without a doubt, this has got to be one of the most hard-to-swallow passages in the Bible for modern readers. It feels unequal in the way it handles the sexes. Certainly the husband faces no consequences for being wrong!
However, it might be helpful to keep a few things in context here:
As with the other passages in this section, the rule here is designed to keep the camp holy. Both in terms of weeding out hidden sin, but also in maintaining good harmony in the relationships in camp. This is not a case of proven sin being judged. If people were actually caught in adultery in Israel, the consequence was death for both parties. (This was the common practice among most nations at the time.) Here, we merely have the case of a jealous husband who suspects he is being wronged. The outcome here is either innocence is proven, or shame is given… but not death.
Consider too the other possible outcome of this situation. If a husband was jealous and there was no prescribed way to handle the situation, the woman would undoubtedly suffer. Women had no rights at this time. If a husband suspected a wife, he could turn her out and she would have no recourse, no livelihood. This law protects the woman from injustice and mob rule.
Finally, we have here a case of true protection. The only way for the curse to work would be divine intervention! Drinking water with dust from the cleanest surface of the camp and a little ink is not going to have an effect on anyone. The only way for the (hard to understand what is actually being described) curse to occur is for God to make it happen. This law protects women and likely dampens jealousy.
However, it might be helpful to keep a few things in context here:
As with the other passages in this section, the rule here is designed to keep the camp holy. Both in terms of weeding out hidden sin, but also in maintaining good harmony in the relationships in camp. This is not a case of proven sin being judged. If people were actually caught in adultery in Israel, the consequence was death for both parties. (This was the common practice among most nations at the time.) Here, we merely have the case of a jealous husband who suspects he is being wronged. The outcome here is either innocence is proven, or shame is given… but not death.
Consider too the other possible outcome of this situation. If a husband was jealous and there was no prescribed way to handle the situation, the woman would undoubtedly suffer. Women had no rights at this time. If a husband suspected a wife, he could turn her out and she would have no recourse, no livelihood. This law protects the woman from injustice and mob rule.
Finally, we have here a case of true protection. The only way for the curse to work would be divine intervention! Drinking water with dust from the cleanest surface of the camp and a little ink is not going to have an effect on anyone. The only way for the (hard to understand what is actually being described) curse to occur is for God to make it happen. This law protects women and likely dampens jealousy.
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