|
The Fourth Book of Moses, called Numbers,
Chapter Five
<>< <>< ><> ><>
3. The purity of the camp
<>< <>< ><> ><>
1. What did the LORD
tell Moses to command the Israelites to do, why did the LORD
tell Moses to send them outside the camp, and what did the Israelites do?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
In biblical times skin diseases, especially open sores, were
among the three prominent factors (along with oozing discharges and contact with
dead bodies) that rendered one unclean and hence unfit to be with the community;
such a person was also a possible contaminate to the tabernacle and the pure
worship of the Lord. It is not clearly indicated (despite the NIV rendering)
that the offending skin diseases are infectious, for some of the diseases that
might cause the disorders described in Leviticus 13 are not infectious. A
preferable, nonspecific translation is "[to suffer] a serious skin disorder."
The Old Testament concept of "uncleanness" is hard for many modern readers to
understand. For more on "skin disease," see Leviticus 13-14.
The second problem rendering a person ritually unclean is a
discharge of any kind. These discharges were primarily from the sexual organs
and were chronic in nature.
The third factor rendering a person unclean in ancient Israel was
contact with a dead body. The ultimate tangible sign of uncleanness in ancient
Israel was the corpse. Processes of decay and disease in dead flesh were evident
to all. Physical contact with a corpse was a sure mark of uncleanness and quite
possibly a source of infection.
The modern reader should be impressed that these various disorders
that render one unclean, and hence to be expelled from the camp, include male
and female alike. The concept of clean versus unclean cuts across sexual lines.
Women are excluded along with men, and women may be released of exclusion along
with men. The essential issue in all laws of purity in Israel was not magic or
health or superstition; the great reality was the presence of the Lord in the
camp; there can be no uncleanness where he dwells.
Israel fully complied with this law when it was initiated.
<>< <>< ><> ><>
Cross-reference Numbers 1:54
(54)The Israelites did all this just as the L ORD
commanded Moses.
Cross-reference Numbers 2:34
(34)So the Israelites did everything the L ORD
commanded Moses; that is the way they encamped under their standards, and that
is the way they set out, each with his clan and family.
Cross-reference Numbers 3:16, 42, 51
(16)So Moses counted them, as he was commanded by the word of the L ORD...
(42)So Moses counted all the firstborn
of the Israelites, as the LORD
commanded him...(51)Moses
gave the redemption money to Aaron and his sons, as he was commanded by the
word of the LORD.
Cross-reference Numbers 4:49
(49)At the L ORD's
command through Moses, each was assigned his work and told what to carry.
Thus they were counted, as the LORD
commanded Moses.
<>< <>< ><> ><>
In view of the dramatic phrase "I dwell among them" (verse 3),
the essential reason for the importance of "uncleanness" in the camp is the
indwelling presence of the Lord. His commands that the unclean be expelled from
the camp are essentially expressions of his mercy.
<>< <>< ><> ><>
Restitution for Wrongs
<>< <>< ><> ><>
2. What did the LORD
tell Moses to tell the Israelites a man or woman who wrongs another in any way
and so is unfaithful to the LORD is,
what must they do, how must they make full restitution for their wrong,
who does the restitution belong to if no close relative
can be made to for the wrong, and what else are they to give, which atonement is
made for them?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Here Moses discusses a person within the camp who wrongs
another. The connection of verses 5-10 (personal wrongs) to the first paragraph
(ritual uncleanness) may be one of moving from the outward and visible to the
inward and more secret faults that mar the community. Those with evident marks
of uncleanness are to be expelled for the duration of their malady. But more
insidious are those people who have overtly sinned against others and think that
they may continue to function as though there were no real wrong.
The particulars of the text demand a procedure for restitution in
the case of unspecified personal wrongs. Of first importance is the recognition
that such wrongs are not slight offenses between people only but are in fact
acts of treachery against God. The steps for restitution include (1) a condition
of guilt - that person is guilty, which excludes that person from active
participation in the community as surely as a serious skin disease or contact
with a dead body; (2) a public confession of that sin - presumably in the
precincts of the sacred shrine, before witnesses and priests; (3) full
restitution plus one-fifth to the one wronged (see Lev 22:14; 27:11-13, 31); (4)
a sacrifice to the Lord of a ram offering for atonement.
Each above step is enumerated in Leviticus 6:1-7 in the initial
presentation of the law of defrauding. However, Numbers 5 has an additional
provision: What if a person has defrauded another but that person is no longer
living and has no living relative to whom restitution might be paid? Verse 8
adds the next proviso: (5) the payment of restitution is to be made to the
priest when there is no suitable relative to whom such payment might otherwise
be made. In this way the debt is paid fully, no matter who of the injured family
has survived. The term for "close relative" means "the protector of the family
rights" and sometimes is translated "kinsman-redeemer" (e.g., Ruth 4:3).
<>< <>< ><> ><>
Cross-reference Leviticus 22:14
(14)" 'If anyone eats a sacred offering by mistake, he
must make restitution to the priest for the offering and add a fifth of the
value to it...' "
Cross-reference Leviticus 27:11-13, 31
(11)If what he vowed is a ceremonially unclean animal - one that is
not acceptable as an offering to the L ORD
- the animal must be presented to
the priest, (12)who will judge its quality as good or bad. Whatever value the
priest then sets, that is what it will be. (13)If the owner wishes to redeem
the animal, he must add a fifth to its value...(31)If
a man redeems any of his tithe, he must add a fifth of the value to it.
<>< <>< ><> ><>
3. What will belong to the priest, and what
belongs to each man?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
Finally, a note is added that the offerings presented to the
priests truly belong to the priests. The offering is not a sham that is
withdrawn secretly after a public presentation. The intent of this law on
defrauding is clear in the context of this chapter: purity among the people is
essential for their successful journey through the desert and their eventual
triumph over the inhabitants of the land. Just as the physically impure needed
to be expelled from the camp, so those attitudes and jealousies one might have
against another of a petty or serious nature also had to be dealt with equitably
for the camp to remain pure.
<>< <>< ><> ><>
The Test for an Unfaithful Wife
<>< <>< ><> ><>
4. Where did the LORD
tell Moses to tell the Israelites a husband is to take his wife if his wife goes
astray and is unfaithful to him by sleeping with another man, and this is hidden
from her husband and her impurity is undetected (since there is no witness
against her and she has not been caught in the act), and if feelings of jealousy
came over her husband and he suspects his wife and she is impure - or if he is
jealous and suspects her even though she is not impure, what must the husband
take with him as well, what must the husband not do, and why must the husband
not do this?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
A test for marital fidelity is far harder to prove than a test for a
skin disorder; hence the larger part of the chapter is given over to this most
sensitive issue. The husband's "feelings of jealousy" may have been provoked on
the basis of good cause, and the issue must be faced; the concern is ultimately
based on the reality of God's dwelling among his people (verse 3). The gravity of
the ritual shows that the Law regards marital infidelity most seriously. Such
was not just a concern of a jealous husband; the entire community was affected.
Two sides need to be discussed. On one hand, the husband may shame
his wife publicly and force her to a rigorous, demeaning religious trial merely
on the (unfounded) suspicion of marital faithlessness. She may have presented no
evidence whatsoever. Further, there is no mention of the guilt, trial, and
judgment of the man that this woman is supposedly involved with - all guilt,
shame, trial, and judgment rest on her shoulders.
On the other hand, there is a limitation on the husband - a
protection of the wife from his abusive hand. Were there not such a provision in
a male-dominant culture, an angry, suspicious husband might strike out against
his wife without any sure reason, harm her physically and mentally, and even
take her life. But God reaches out through Moses and has a means of escape for a
woman under suspicion of unfaithfulness. The trial she is taken to is not a
kangaroo court; it is in the precincts of the tabernacle, under the jurisdiction
of the priests, in concert with a solemn sacrifice - she places herself under the
hand of the Lord.
The woman brought to such a place will not take this issue lightly.
Public humiliation, shame, anger with her spouse, and exposure before priests
and people were all terrifying prospects. But then neither would her husband
take these issues lightly. For he was not just spreading rumors nor digging at
his wife in the privacy of their home. He too was coming before the Lord, and he
too might be judged. Hence we have another expression of the mercy of God to
women who are so often abused by prideful men. Here is a means of escape from
suspicion and evasion of punishment. If the woman was indeed guilty, then the
husband was vindicated. This was important, not just for the pique he might be
feeling, but for the sense of the ongoing stability of the family. If a woman
was unfaithful to her husband, she might be carrying the child of another man;
and the rights of inheritance might become hopelessly enmeshed in the
complexities of family relationships.
But if the woman was innocent, then her husband would have his
reasons for jealousy alleviated. Again, this is a limitation on his jealous
nature. Most men would be very careful before pressing the issue. The results
could be disastrous for themselves.
5. What did the LORD
say the priest was to do to the woman the man has brought to him because she had
gone astray, what was the priest to do then, and what was the priest to do after he
has had the woman stand before the LORD?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
The central phrasing of this text is that the priest shall bring
the woman to stand before the Lord. The repetition in verse 18 is for emphasis. The
biblical phrasing demands a theological understanding of the woman's judgment.
Further, that she is brought before the Lord helps again to demonstrate the
concept of purity and the proper connection of this law with the two earlier
laws of the chapter.
Taking holy water, adding dust, and then mixing a doubtful drink
seems to be a world away from things we understand. It seems most unlikely that
the addition of dust from the floor to the holy water is what makes that water
"bitter." It was added to holy water, not to change the taste, but to
emphasize the holiness of the matter.
Next the woman is made to loosen her hair, perhaps a sign of
openness on her part. She is to be presented before the Lord. This loosening of
the hair would be for the guilty woman an expectation of judgment and mourning.
<>< <>< ><> ><>
Cross-reference Leviticus 13:45
(45)"The person with such an infectious disease must
wear torn clothes, let his hair be unkempt, cover the lower part of his face
and cry out, 'Unclean! Unclean!'..."
Cross-reference Leviticus 21:10
(10)" 'The high priest, the one among his brothers who
has had the anointing oil poured on his head and who has been ordained to wear
the priestly garments, must not let his hair become unkempt or tear his
clothes.'..."
<>< <>< ><> ><>
For the innocent wife, who had nothing to fear but the
glory of the Lord to demonstrate, the loosening of her hair is a strengthening
action of feminine personhood in the Holy Place.
The terminology that bitter water brings a curse is problematic. It
is not just that the water was bitter tasting but that it had the potential of
bearing with it a bitter curse. That this potion was neither simply a tool of
magic nor merely a psychological device to determine stress is to be seen in the
repeated emphasis on the role of the Lord (verses 16, 18, 21, 25). The verdict of
the woman was precipitated by her physiological and psychological responses to
the bitter water, but the judgment was from the Lord. The phrase may be rendered
in a somewhat expansive manner: "the water that may result in bitterness and
provoke a profound curse."
6. What did the LORD
say the priest was to say to the woman after he put her under oath, and what was
the woman to say?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
The priest presents two possibilities. First, the woman is truly
innocent. In this case his specific prayer to the Lord is that the water with
the potential of bitterness will not harm her. The priest's words to the
innocent woman assure her of no harm from the bitter water. If she is truly
guilty of the deed that her husband suspects, then the full onus of the
curse-bearing waters will come to her, enter her body, descend through her
intestines, and be the physical means the Lord will use to produce a physical
change in her body.
The other possibility is that the woman has been unfaithful to
her husband, in which case the priest pronounces a curse on her from the Lord.
The NIV note has "causes you to have a miscarrying womb and barrenness." The
figurative language here (and in verse 27) speaks of the loss of the capacity for
childbearing (and, if pregnant at the time of her judgment, the miscarriage of
the child). For a woman in the ancient Near East to be denied the ability to
bear children was a personal loss of inestimable proportion.
The woman who was guilty may return to her home to await the
outcome of the oath. If she was innocent of infidelity, she should count on
progeny. If she was guilty but not caught in the act, then she would suffer
debilitating physical symptoms that would prohibit successful pregnancies. She
would then bear her guilt in her body and the inner chambers of her heart. In
either case the woman was to hear the words of the curse in the midst of the
solemn precincts, and then to bring that potential curse on herself by saying to
the Lord and his priest, "Amen. So be it." The double "Amen" (lit. Hebrew)
is her signal that she understands the issues and is in agreement with the
judgment - or escape from judgment - that will come into her body.
7. What was the priest to write on a scroll
and then wash them off into the bitter water, what did the priest have the woman
do, what will happen to the woman when this water enters her, what was the
priest to take from her hand, what was the priest to do with it, what was the
priest to do after that, what was the priest to have the woman do, what will
happen to the woman if she had defiled herself and been unfaithful to her
husband when she is made to drink the water that brings a curse, and what will
happen to the woman if she had not defiled herself and is free from impurity?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
After the words of the cursing had been announced, the priest
would write them on a scroll and then blot the letters off into the water. The
woman was not only going to hear the words but in a dramatic, figurative sense
drink them; thus the awful sense of taking the curse into one's own body was
realized. The NIV suggests the very drinking of the water would cause suffering.
The bitterness was not in taste, convulsions, or physical shock but in the
latent sense of the potential judgment of childlessness. "Bitterness" is a most
appropriate term for just this potential judgment. The innocent woman, however,
would not suffer the bitterness of the water and its curses.
8. What did the LORD
say the husband will be innocent of, and will the woman bear?
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________________
The summary statement of this law concerns the woman who
has been rightly accused by her husband. The chapter has a cohesion to it of
instances relating to the maintaining of purity within the camp. The importance
of marital fidelity is further supported by numerous NT texts (especially 1st
Corinthians 5), which point to God's continuing affirmation of the seventh
commandment: You are not to commit adultery.
<>< <>< ><> ><>
Answers to Numbers five
<>< <>< ><> ><>
1.
Send away from the camp anyone who has an infectious skin disease or a discharge
of any kind, or who is ceremonially unclean because of a dead body. Send away
male and female alike...so they will not defile their camp, where the LORD dwells
among them...they did this; they sent them outside the camp. They did just as
the LORD had instructed Moses.
2. Guilty...confess the sin they have committed...by adding one fifth to it and
give it all to the person he has wronged...to the LORD
and must be given to the priest...the ram
3. All the sacred contributions the Israelites bring to a priest...sacred gifts
are his own, but what he gives to the priest will belong to the priest
4. The priest...an offering of a tenth of an ephah of barley flour on her
behalf...pour oil on it or put incense on it...because it is a grain offering
for jealousy, a reminder offering to draw attention to guilt
5. Bring her and have her stand before the LORD...take
some holy water in a clay jar and put some dust from the tabernacle floor into
the water...he shall loosen her hair and place in her hands the reminder
offering, the grain offering for jealousy, while he himself holds the bitter
water that brings a curse
6. "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. 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" - here the
priest is to put the woman under this curse of the oath - "may the LORD
cause your people to curse and denounce you when he causes your thigh to waste
away and your abdomen to swell. May this water that brings a curse enter your
body so that your abdomen swells and your thigh wastes away."..."Amen. So be
it."
7. These curses...drink the bitter water that brings a curse...it will cause
bitter suffering...the grain offering for jealousy...wave it before the LORD
and bring it to the altar...take a handful of the grain offering as a memorial
offering and burn it on the altar...drink the water...it
will go into her and cause bitter suffering; her abdomen will swell and her
thigh waste away, and she will become accursed among her people...she will be
cleared of guilt and will be able to have children
8. Any wrongdoing...the consequences of her sin
<>< <>< ><> ><>
The NIV Commentary - Zondervan
|