The Adultery Test
The law addresses a case where a wife is suspected of adultery, but the act is hidden and unproven, and the jealous husband brings her to the priest.
T11hen the LORD said to Moses, 12“Speak to the Israelites and tell them that if any man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him 13by sleeping with another man, and it is concealed from her husband and her impurity is undetected (since there is no witness against her and she was not caught in the act), 14and if a feeling of jealousy comes over her husband and he suspects his wife who has defiled herself— or if a feeling of jealousy comes over him and he suspects her even though she has not defiled herself— 15then he is to bring his wife to the priest.
Before the LORD, the priest prepares bitter water, places the jealousy offering in the woman's hands, and pronounces an oath that distinguishes innocence from defilement and names the curse for guilt.
16The priest is to bring the wife forward and have her stand before the LORD. 17Then he is to take some holy water in a clay jar and put some of the dust from the tabernacle floor into the water. 18After the priest has the woman stand before the LORD, he is to let down her hair and place in her hands the grain offering of memorial, which is the grain offering for jealousy. The priest is to hold the bitter water that brings a curse. 19And he is to put the woman under oath and say to her, ‘If no other man has slept with you and you have not gone astray and become defiled while under your husband’s authority, may you be immune to this bitter water that brings a curse. 20But if you have gone astray while under your husband’s authority and have defiled yourself and lain carnally with a man other than your husband’— 21and the priest shall have the woman swear under the oath of the curse— ‘then may the LORD make you an attested curse among your people by making your thigh shrivel and your belly swell. 22May this water that brings a curse enter your stomach and cause your belly to swell and your thigh to shrivel.’
The priest writes the curses, washes them into the water, presents the offering, and has the woman drink. If she is guilty, the curse takes effect; if she is clean, she remains unharmed and can bear children.
23And the priest shall write these curses on a scroll and wash them off into the bitter water. 24He is to have the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and it will enter her and may cause her bitter suffering. 25The priest shall take from her hand the grain offering for jealousy, wave it before the LORD, and bring it to the altar. 26Then the priest is to take a handful of the grain offering as a memorial portion and burn it on the altar; after that he is to have the woman drink the water. 27When he has made her drink the water, if she has defiled herself and been unfaithful to her husband, then the water that brings a curse will enter her and cause bitter suffering; her belly will swell, her thigh will shrivel, and she will become accursed among her people. 28But if the woman has not defiled herself and is clean, she will be unaffected and able to conceive children.
The passage closes by naming this the law for jealousy, requiring the priest to apply it before the LORD when a husband suspects his wife. The husband is cleared of guilt in bringing the case, while guilt remains with the woman if she is defiled.
29This is the law of jealousy when a wife goes astray and defiles herself while under her husband’s authority, 30or when a feeling of jealousy comes over a husband and he suspects his wife. He is to have the woman stand before the LORD, and the priest is to apply to her this entire law. 31The husband will be free from guilt, but the woman shall bear her iniquity.”