Sotah: A Purification Ritual for an Adulteress Revised into an Ordeal

When a Woman Cheats?

As readers of the Torah, we generally interpret the sotah law, i.e., the ritual performed for the woman who has gone astray, as designed for a husband who suspects his wife was cheating, since this is the most striking and memorable part of the text. Yet the law’s protasis, i.e., the conditional clause beginning with “if/when” at its beginning, makes it clear that the woman has, in fact, cheated:

^{במדבר ה:יב} ...אִישׁ אִישׁ כִּי תִשְׂטֶה אִשְׁתּוֹ וּמָעֲלָה בוֹ מָעַל. ^ה:יג וְשָׁכַב אִישׁ אֹתָהּ שִׁכְבַת זֶרַע וְנֶעְלַם מֵעֵינֵי אִישָׁהּ וְנִסְתְּרָה וְהִיא נִטְמָאָה וְעֵד אֵין בָּהּ וְהִוא לֹא נִתְפָּשָׂה.

^{Num 5:12} …When any person’s wife has gone astray and broken faith with him, ^5:13 in that another man has had carnal relations with her unbeknownst to her husband, and she keeps secret the fact that she has defiled herself without being forced, and there is no witness against her.^[1]

Here it is clear that the woman has defiled herself by sleeping with another man and is going to the priests not out of fear of her husband—he doesn’t necessarily suspect or know that she has slept with someone else and there are no witnesses. Rather, she is afraid of defiling her husband in the marital bed, since she has been contaminated by the seed of another man. She must, therefore, go through a ritual that expunges her sin for the sake of her husband’s purity.

The next verse, however, continues with a jealous husband who suspects that his wife has cheated but cannot prove it. In other words, the problem is not purity but knowing whether or not his wife has cheated. The verse covers two possibilities: that she cheated and he is picking up on something real, and that she didn’t cheat, and he is imagining things:

^ה:יד וְעָבַר עָלָיו רוּחַ קִנְאָה וְקִנֵּא אֶת אִשְׁתּוֹ וְהִוא נִטְמָאָה

^5:14 And a fit of jealousy comes over him and he is wrought up about the wife who has defiled herself,

אוֹ עָבַר עָלָיו רוּחַ קִנְאָה וְקִנֵּא אֶת אִשְׁתּוֹ וְהִיא לֹא נִטְמָאָה.

or if a fit of jealousy comes over him and he is wrought up about his wife although she has not defiled herself.

According to this verse, the problem is not her need to cleanse herself and protect her husband from her sin, but his need to know whether his wife has been unfaithful.

Two Sources or a Supplemented Source?

As first noted by Bernhard Stade (1848–1906), the founder of the prestigious journal of biblical studies ZAW,^[2] the tension between these two verses strongly implies that the two were not written by the same author. Stade argues that the passage (Num 5:11–31) is composed of two different sources woven together,^[3] each with its own offering (see below). Nevertheless, if it originated in two sources, it should be possible to disentangle two relatively complete laws, but this is not the case.

An alternative, and more persuasive model, was put forward by Jacob Milgrom (1923–2010) of UC Berkeley, who argued that the passage consists of a core text that was lightly supplemented.^[4] Israel Knohl of Hebrew University developed this model further, arguing that the Holiness School editors (H) supplemented the core Priestly text (P).^[5]

Building on Knohl's observation, I propose that the Holiness supplementation was significantly more extensive based on the following consideration:: Since the Priestly core assumes that the woman in fact cheated and that her husband doesn’t know, then anything connected to her husband being jealous or a ritual determination of her guilt must be part of the Holiness redaction.^[6]

The Apodosis: Does the Husband Bring His Wife to the Priest?

The apodosis, i.e., what is supposed to happen when the if/when condition is fulfilled, is comprised of two main elements: a sacrifice and the bitter water ritual. These two rituals make different assumptions on how the woman gets to the priests. The sacrifice, as expected, is part of the Priestly core, the bitter water ritual, the Holiness redaction.

The apodosis begins with the man bringing his wife, whom he suspects, is part of the redaction, which focuses on the man and his suspicion:

^{במדבר ה:טו} וְהֵבִיא הָאִישׁ אֶת אִשְׁתּוֹ אֶל הַכֹּהֵן

^{Num 5:15} The man shall bring his wife to the priest.

Originally, the passage made no mention of the husband bringing his wife to the priest; she just comes on her own. The text then moves to the woman’s offering, part of the Priestly core with the exception of two redactions (in italics):

וְהֵבִיא אֶת קָרְבָּנָהּ עָלֶיהָ עֲשִׂירִת הָאֵיפָה קֶמַח שְׂעֹרִים לֹא יִצֹק עָלָיו שֶׁמֶן וְלֹא יִתֵּן עָלָיו לְבֹנָה כִּי מִנְחַת קְנָאֹת הוּא מִנְחַת זִכָּרוֹן מַזְכֶּרֶת עָו‍ֹן.

And he shall bring as her offering, for her, one-tenth of an ephah of barley flour. No oil shall be poured upon it and no frankincense shall be laid on it, for it is a meal offering of jealousy, it is a meal offering of remembrance which recalls wrongdoing.

The first word here is a doublet for the previous phrase’s verb. The awkwardness of this doubling led the Syriac Peshitta to rewrite both as one phrase to smooth things over: ויתא גברא קורבנה לות כהנא (ܢܝܬܐ ܓܒܪܐ ܩܘܪܒܢܗ ܠܘܬ ܟܗܢܐ) “then the man shall bring her sacrifice to the priest.”

The Hebrew text is problematic: Why is the husband bringing his wife’s offering? Shouldn’t she be bringing it? If, as suggested, the Priestly core doesn’t have the husband appearing there at all, this verb must be part of the redaction. In this case, instead of adding a word, the redactor erased the final heh of the original וֶהֱבִיאָה “and she will bring” to make the verb masculine, to present the husband as the driving force behind her appearance at the altar.

In the earlier text, the woman simply comes to the sacred precinct on her own to bring an offering of barley—the least expensive grain—with no added oil or spice, to highlight the degrading sin for which she is expiating. This makes sense as part of the Priestly core, but is discordant with the final, redacted text, according to which it is unclear whether or not she cheated. If she turns out to be innocent, why should she be bringing an offering at all?^[7]

This problem bothered the Holiness editor, who adjusted the language of the offering here and elsewhere by adding a second name for the offering that reflects the husband’s jealousy and need to know, even though the connotation is contradictory to the original name:

Remembrance (מִנְחַת זִכָּרוֹן) assumes that the woman definitely sinned.

Jealousy (מִנְחַת קְנָאֹת) implies that the man only suspects her.

Thus, a Priestly text that dealt with the woman’s need to bring an offering to cleanse herself of her sin was revised by the Holiness editor to be about a jealous husband bringing his wife to the priest to determine whether or not she sinned. But since an offering cannot make such a determination, the Holiness editor added another element to the procedure: the test of the bitter waters.

The Role of the Priest

In the next part of the original ritual, the priest stands the woman before YHWH, probably a reference to the entrance to the tent of meeting or perhaps to the altar. The redaction (indented)—which is easy to see from the resumptive repetition, Wiederaufnahme (underlined)^[8]—adds the making of a potion, by taking dirt from the Tabernacle and putting it in water:

^{במדבר ה:טז} וְהִקְרִיב אֹתָהּ הַכֹּהֵן וְהֶעֱמִדָהּ לִפְנֵי יְ־הוָה.

^{Num 5:16} The priest shall bring her forward and have her stand before YHWH.

^ה:יז וְלָקַח הַכֹּהֵן מַיִם קְדֹשִׁים בִּכְלִי חָרֶשׂ וּמִן הֶעָפָר אֲשֶׁר יִהְיֶה בְּקַרְקַע הַמִּשְׁכָּן יִקַּח הַכֹּהֵן וְנָתַן אֶל הַמָּיִם. ^ה:יח וְהֶעֱמִיד הַכֹּהֵן אֶת הָאִשָּׁה לִפְנֵי יְ־הוָה

^5:17 The priest shall take sacral water in an earthen vessel and, taking some of the earth that is on the floor of the Tabernacle, the priest shall put it into the water. ^5:18 The priest shall make the woman stand before YHWH,

When we put aside the potion making, the continuation of the verse explains that the priest is bringing the woman forward to humiliate her by unravelling her hair, and this is again renamed by the Holiness redactor:

וּפָרַע אֶת רֹאשׁ הָאִשָּׁה וְנָתַן עַל כַּפֶּיהָ אֵת מִנְחַת הַזִּכָּרוֹן מִנְחַת קְנָאֹת הִוא

and he shall unravel the woman’s hair and place upon her hands the meal offering of remembrance, which is a meal offering of jealousy.

This too is supplemented by mention of the potion:

וּבְיַד הַכֹּהֵן יִהְיוּ מֵי הַמָּרִים הַמְאָרֲרִים.

And in the priest’s hands shall be the water of bitterness that induces the spell.

The Curse

The next part of the priest’s action has also been reinterpreted by H, again using a resumptive repetition (underlined) to smooth over the insertion:^[9]

^ה:יט וְהִשְׁבִּיעַ אֹתָהּ הַכֹּהֵן

^5:19 The priest shall adjure the woman,

וְאָמַר אֶל הָאִשָּׁה אִם לֹא שָׁכַב אִישׁ אֹתָךְ וְאִם לֹא שָׂטִית טֻמְאָה תַּחַת אִישֵׁךְ הִנָּקִי מִמֵּי הַמָּרִים הַמְאָרֲרִים הָאֵלֶּה. ^ה:כ וְאַתְּ כִּי שָׂטִית תַּחַת אִישֵׁךְ וְכִי נִטְמֵאת וַיִּתֵּן אִישׁ בָּךְ אֶת שְׁכָבְתּוֹ מִבַּלְעֲדֵי אִישֵׁךְ.

saying to her, “If no man has lain with you, if you have not gone astray in defilement while married to your husband, be immune to harm from this water of bitterness that induces the spell. ^5:20 But if you have gone astray while married to your husband and have defiled yourself, if a man other than your husband has had carnal relations with you”—

^ה:כא וְהִשְׁבִּיעַ הַכֹּהֵן אֶת הָאִשָּׁה בִּשְׁבֻעַת הָאָלָה וְאָמַר הַכֹּהֵן לָאִשָּׁה יִתֵּן יְ־הוָה אוֹתָךְ לְאָלָה וְלִשְׁבֻעָה בְּתוֹךְ עַמֵּךְ

^5:21 and the priest shall adjure the woman with the curse of adjuration, and the priest shall say to the woman—“may YHWH make you a curse and an imprecation among your people.”

Originally, the Priestly adjuration was just a statement “you are curse for you are an embarrassment to the Israelite people.” This was part of the humiliation ritual; the priest is cursing her (root א.ל.ה) for her sinful behavior. The Holiness redactor, however, revises this to be conditional, since the curse should only take place if she sinned.

Next, the Holiness redaction (below) has the woman drink the bitter waters, and if she has indeed sinned, the curse will be the physical deformity of her body:

בְּתֵת יְ־הוָה אֶת יְרֵכֵךְ נֹפֶלֶת וְאֶת בִּטְנֵךְ צָבָה. ^ה:כב וּבָאוּ הַמַּיִם הַמְאָרְרִים הָאֵלֶּה בְּמֵעַיִךְ לַצְבּוֹת בֶּטֶן וְלַנְפִּל יָרֵךְ

“as YHWH causes your thigh to sag and your belly to distend; ^5:22 may this water that induces the spell enter your body, causing the belly to distend and the thigh to sag.”

Acceptance or Drinking

In the Priestly text, the woman is only required to stand before YHWH with her hair undone and accept the curse:

וְאָמְרָה הָאִשָּׁה אָמֵן אָמֵן.

And the woman shall say, “Amen, amen!”

This is tantamount to a confession that she has indeed sinned terribly. In the Holiness redaction, however, the priest writes down the curse and dissolves the words in the dirty water he already gathered, which the woman now must drink:

^ה:כג וְכָתַב אֶת הָאָלֹת הָאֵלֶּה הַכֹּהֵן בַּסֵּפֶר וּמָחָה אֶל מֵי הַמָּרִים. ^ה:כד וְהִשְׁקָה אֶת הָאִשָּׁה אֶת מֵי הַמָּרִים הַמְאָרֲרִים וּבָאוּ בָהּ הַמַּיִם הַמְאָרֲרִים לְמָרִים.

^5:23 The priest shall put these curses down in writing and rub it off into the water of bitterness. ^5:24 He is to make the woman drink the water of bitterness that induces the spell, so that the spell-inducing water may enter into her to bring on bitterness.

The Interruptive Offering

The text continues with the woman’s offering, part of the Priestly text, though revised yet again with the Holiness redaction’s preferred name:

^ה:כה וְלָקַח הַכֹּהֵן מִיַּד הָאִשָּׁה אֵת מִנְחַת הַקְּנָאֹת וְהֵנִיף אֶת הַמִּנְחָה לִפְנֵי יְ־הוָה וְהִקְרִיב אֹתָהּ אֶל הַמִּזְבֵּחַ. ^ה:כו וְקָמַץ הַכֹּהֵן מִן הַמִּנְחָה אֶת אַזְכָּרָתָהּ וְהִקְטִיר הַמִּזְבֵּחָה

^5:25 Then the priest shall take [it]^[10] from the woman’s hand the meal offering of jealousy, and elevate the meal offering before YHWH, and present it on the altar. ^5:26 The priest shall scoop out of the meal offering, her reminder, and turn it into smoke on the altar.^[11]

The redactor then adds the ending of the ritual, repeating that the woman now drinks the water—another resumptive repetition (to the first phrase in v. 24 above), this time of his own words, and itself phrased repetitively, likely because the supplement is so awkwardly placed after the offering and disconnected from the curse:

וְאַחַר יַשְׁקֶה אֶת הָאִשָּׁה אֶת הַמָּיִם. ^ה:כז וְהִשְׁקָהּ אֶת הַמַּיִם וְהָיְתָה אִם נִטְמְאָה וַתִּמְעֹל מַעַל בְּאִישָׁהּ וּבָאוּ בָהּ הַמַּיִם הַמְאָרֲרִים לְמָרִים וְצָבְתָה בִטְנָהּ וְנָפְלָה יְרֵכָהּ וְהָיְתָה הָאִשָּׁה לְאָלָה בְּקֶרֶב עַמָּהּ. ה:כח וְאִם לֹא נִטְמְאָה הָאִשָּׁה וּטְהֹרָה הִוא וְנִקְּתָה וְנִזְרְעָה זָרַע.

Afterwards, he shall make the woman drink the water. ^5:27 And he gives (her) the water to drink—if she has defiled herself by breaking faith with her husband, the spell-inducing water shall enter into her to bring on bitterness, so that her belly shall distend and her thigh shall sag; and the woman shall become a curse among her people. ^5:28 But if the woman has not defiled herself and is pure, she shall be unharmed and able to retain seed.

The addition of the water ritual appears on both sides of the core text about the curse and the offering, turning the ritual from a rite of expiation to a magical test.

The Law of the Sotah Summary

The summary statement is mostly Priestly, with two Holiness redactions:

^ה:כט זֹאת תּוֹרַת הַקְּנָאֹת^[12] אֲשֶׁר תִּשְׂטֶה אִשָּׁה תַּחַת אִישָׁהּ וְנִטְמָאָה.

^5:29 This is the ritual in cases of jealousy when a woman goes astray while married to her husband and defiles herself,

^ה:ל אוֹ אִישׁ אֲשֶׁר תַּעֲבֹר עָלָיו רוּחַ קִנְאָה וְקִנֵּא אֶת אִשְׁתּוֹ

^5:30 or when a fit of jealousy comes over a man and he is wrought up over his wife:

וְהֶעֱמִיד אֶת הָאִשָּׁה לִפְנֵי יְ־הוָה וְעָשָׂה לָהּ הַכֹּהֵן אֵת כָּל הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת. ^ה:לא וְנִקָּה הָאִישׁ מֵעָו‍ֹן וְהָאִשָּׁה הַהִוא תִּשָּׂא אֶת עֲו‍ֹנָהּ.

the woman shall be made to stand before YHWH and the priest shall carry out all this ritual with her. ^5:31 The man shall be clear of guilt; but that woman shall suffer for her guilt.

Again, the main text assumes that this is a woman who has kept her affair secret from her husband and is performing this ritual of her own accord, while the redaction focuses on the man’s jealousy. The point of the Priestly ritual is made clear in the final verse: she is accepting the guilt herself and clearing her husband of any possible impurity from his future intercourse with her.

For H, however, purity was not the main issue here, but sin. If the woman did cheat, she must be punished, and if she did not, there is no problem for the husband to return to marital life with her; he simply needs to know whether or not she has been unfaithful.

This kind of distinction between P and H fits with other examples.

• Is sex with a menstruant woman a problem of purity, following P (Lev 15:24), or is it a sin, following H (Lev 18:19, 20:18)?^[13]
• Is the consumption of an animal carcass (neveilah) a problem of purity, following P (Lev 17:15), or is it a sin, following H (Lev 22:8)?

Here too, is sex with a wife who has strayed with another man a problem of purity, following P, or is it a sin, following H?

Given this distinction, here is why H transformed this P ritual: The original Priestly text was about purifying the woman; the revised Holiness text turned it into a way of determining her guilt, punishing her with the distension of her body if she sinned, and rewarding her with a return to marital life if she did not.

Appendix

A. The Sotah Ritual with Holiness Redactions Marked

The Holiness text is in red and indented or italics.

^{במדבר ה:יא} וַיְדַבֵּר יְ־הוָה אֶל מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר. ^ה:יב דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם: אִישׁ אִישׁ כִּי תִשְׂטֶה אִשְׁתּוֹ וּמָעֲלָה בוֹ מָעַל. ^ה:יג וְשָׁכַב אִישׁ אֹתָהּ שִׁכְבַת זֶרַע וְנֶעְלַם מֵעֵינֵי אִישָׁהּ וְנִסְתְּרָה וְהִיא נִטְמָאָה וְעֵד אֵין בָּהּ וְהִוא לֹא נִתְפָּשָׂה.

^{Num 5:11} YHWH spoke to Moses, saying: ^5:12 Speak to the Israelite people and say to them: If any man’s wife has gone astray and broken faith with him ^5:13 in that a man has had carnal relations with her unbeknown to her husband, and she keeps secret the fact that she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her, and she wasn’t forced.

^ה:יד וְעָבַר עָלָיו רוּחַ קִנְאָה וְקִנֵּא אֶת אִשְׁתּוֹ וְהִוא נִטְמָאָה אוֹ עָבַר עָלָיו רוּחַ קִנְאָה וְקִנֵּא אֶת אִשְׁתּוֹ וְהִיא לֹא נִטְמָאָה.

^5:14 And a fit of jealousy comes over him and he is wrought up about the wife who has defiled herself, or if a fit of jealousy comes over him and he is wrought up about his wife although she has not defiled herself.

^ה:טו וְהֵבִיא הָאִישׁ אֶת אִשְׁתּוֹ אֶל הַכֹּהֵן

^5:15 The man shall bring his wife to the priest.

וְהֵבִיא [*וֶהֱבִיאָה] אֶת קָרְבָּנָהּ עָלֶיהָ עֲשִׂירִת הָאֵיפָה קֶמַח שְׂעֹרִים לֹא יִצֹק עָלָיו שֶׁמֶן וְלֹא יִתֵּן עָלָיו לְבֹנָה כִּי מִנְחַת קְנָאֹת הוּא מִנְחַת זִכָּרוֹן מַזְכֶּרֶת עָו‍ֹן.

And he [*she] shall bring as her offering, for her, one-tenth of an ephah of barley flour. No oil shall be poured upon it and no frankincense shall be laid on it, for it is a meal offering of jealousy, it is a meal offering of remembrance which recalls wrongdoing.

^ה:טז וְהִקְרִיב אֹתָהּ הַכֹּהֵן וְהֶעֱמִדָהּ לִפְנֵי יְ־הוָה.

^{Num 5:16} The priest shall bring her forward and have her stand before YHWH.

^ה:יז וְלָקַח הַכֹּהֵן מַיִם קְדֹשִׁים בִּכְלִי חָרֶשׂ וּמִן הֶעָפָר אֲשֶׁר יִהְיֶה בְּקַרְקַע הַמִּשְׁכָּן יִקַּח הַכֹּהֵן וְנָתַן אֶל הַמָּיִם. ^ה:יח וְהֶעֱמִיד הַכֹּהֵן אֶת הָאִשָּׁה לִפְנֵי יְ־הוָה

^5:17 The priest shall take sacral water in an earthen vessel and, taking some of the earth that is on the floor of the Tabernacle, the priest shall put it into the water. ^5:18 The priest shall make the woman stand before YHWH,

וּפָרַע אֶת רֹאשׁ הָאִשָּׁה וְנָתַן עַל כַּפֶּיהָ אֵת מִנְחַת הַזִּכָּרוֹן מִנְחַת קְנָאֹת הִוא

and he shall unravel the woman’s hair and place upon her hands the meal offering of remembrance, which is a meal offering of jealousy.

וּבְיַד הַכֹּהֵן יִהְיוּ מֵי הַמָּרִים הַמְאָרֲרִים.

And in the priest’s hands shall be the water of bitterness that induces the spell.

^ה:יט וְהִשְׁבִּיעַ אֹתָהּ הַכֹּהֵן

^5:19 The priest shall adjure the woman,

וְאָמַר אֶל הָאִשָּׁה אִם לֹא שָׁכַב אִישׁ אֹתָךְ וְאִם לֹא שָׂטִית טֻמְאָה תַּחַת אִישֵׁךְ הִנָּקִי מִמֵּי הַמָּרִים הַמְאָרֲרִים הָאֵלֶּה. ^ה:כ וְאַתְּ כִּי שָׂטִית תַּחַת אִישֵׁךְ וְכִי נִטְמֵאת וַיִּתֵּן אִישׁ בָּךְ אֶת שְׁכָבְתּוֹ מִבַּלְעֲדֵי אִישֵׁךְ.

saying to her, “If no man has lain with you, if you have not gone astray in defilement while married to your husband, be immune to harm from this water of bitterness that induces the spell. ^5:20 But if you have gone astray while married to your husband and have defiled yourself, if a man other than your husband has had carnal relations with you”—

^ה:כא וְהִשְׁבִּיעַ הַכֹּהֵן אֶת הָאִשָּׁה

^5:21 and the priest shall adjure the woman

בִּשְׁבֻעַת הָאָלָה וְאָמַר הַכֹּהֵן לָאִשָּׁה יִתֵּן יְ־הוָה אוֹתָךְ לְאָלָה וְלִשְׁבֻעָה בְּתוֹךְ עַמֵּךְ

with the curse of adjuration, and the priest shall say to the woman—“may YHWH make you a curse and an imprecation among your people.”

וְאָמְרָה הָאִשָּׁה אָמֵן אָמֵן.

And the woman shall say, “Amen, amen!”

^ה:כג וְכָתַב אֶת הָאָלֹת הָאֵלֶּה הַכֹּהֵן בַּסֵּפֶר וּמָחָה אֶל מֵי הַמָּרִים. ^ה:כד וְהִשְׁקָה אֶת הָאִשָּׁה אֶת מֵי הַמָּרִים הַמְאָרֲרִים וּבָאוּ בָהּ הַמַּיִם הַמְאָרֲרִים לְמָרִים.

^5:23 The priest shall put these curses down in writing and rub it off into the water of bitterness. ^5:24 He is to make the woman drink the water of bitterness that induces the spell, so that the spell-inducing water may enter into her to bring on bitterness.

^ה:כה וְלָקַח הַכֹּהֵן מִיַּד הָאִשָּׁה אֵת מִנְחַת הַקְּנָאֹת^[14] וְהֵנִיף אֶת הַמִּנְחָה לִפְנֵי יְ־הוָה וְהִקְרִיב אֹתָהּ אֶל הַמִּזְבֵּחַ. ^ה:כו וְקָמַץ הַכֹּהֵן מִן הַמִּנְחָה אֶת אַזְכָּרָתָהּ וְהִקְטִיר הַמִּזְבֵּחָה

^5:25 Then the priest shall take from the woman’s hand the meal offering of jealousy, and elevate the meal offering before YHWH, and present it on the altar. ^5:26 The priest shall scoop out of the meal offering, her reminder, and turn it into smoke on the altar.

וְאַחַר יַשְׁקֶה אֶת הָאִשָּׁה אֶת הַמָּיִם. ^ה:כז וְהִשְׁקָהּ אֶת הַמַּיִם וְהָיְתָה אִם נִטְמְאָה וַתִּמְעֹל מַעַל בְּאִישָׁהּ וּבָאוּ בָהּ הַמַּיִם הַמְאָרֲרִים לְמָרִים וְצָבְתָה בִטְנָהּ וְנָפְלָה יְרֵכָהּ וְהָיְתָה הָאִשָּׁה לְאָלָה בְּקֶרֶב עַמָּהּ. ^ה:כח וְאִם לֹא נִטְמְאָה הָאִשָּׁה וּטְהֹרָה הִוא וְנִקְּתָה וְנִזְרְעָה זָרַע.

Afterwards, he shall make the woman drink the water. ^5:27 And he gives (her) the water to drink—if she has defiled herself by breaking faith with her husband, the spell-inducing water shall enter into her to bring on bitterness, so that her belly shall distend and her thigh shall sag; and the woman shall become a curse among her people. ^5:28 But if the woman has not defiled herself and is pure, she shall be unharmed and able to retain seed.

^ה:כט זֹאת תּוֹרַת הַקְּנָאֹת אֲשֶׁר תִּשְׂטֶה אִשָּׁה תַּחַת אִישָׁהּ וְנִטְמָאָה.

^5:29 This is the ritual in cases of jealousy when a woman goes astray while married to her husband and defiles herself,

^ה:ל אוֹ אִישׁ אֲשֶׁר תַּעֲבֹר עָלָיו רוּחַ קִנְאָה וְקִנֵּא אֶת אִשְׁתּוֹ

^5:30 or when a fit of jealousy comes over a man and he is wrought up over his wife:

וְהֶעֱמִיד אֶת הָאִשָּׁה לִפְנֵי יְ־הוָה וְעָשָׂה לָהּ הַכֹּהֵן אֵת כָּל הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת. ^ה:לא וְנִקָּה הָאִישׁ מֵעָו‍ֹן וְהָאִשָּׁה הַהִוא תִּשָּׂא אֶת עֲו‍ֹנָהּ.

the woman shall be made to stand before YHWH and the priest shall carry out all this ritual with her. ^5:31 The man shall be clear of guilt; but that woman shall suffer for her guilt.

B. The Priestly Core of the Sotah Ritual Alone

The // mark where a redaction has been cut.

^{במדבר ה:יא} וַיְדַבֵּר יְ־הוָה אֶל מֹשֶׁה לֵּאמֹר. ^ה:יב דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְאָמַרְתָּ אֲלֵהֶם: אִישׁ אִישׁ כִּי תִשְׂטֶה אִשְׁתּוֹ וּמָעֲלָה בוֹ מָעַל. ^ה:יג וְשָׁכַב אִישׁ אֹתָהּ שִׁכְבַת זֶרַע וְנֶעְלַם מֵעֵינֵי אִישָׁהּ וְנִסְתְּרָה וְהִיא נִטְמָאָה וְעֵד אֵין בָּהּ וְהִוא לֹא נִתְפָּשָׂה.

^{Num 5:11} YHWH spoke to Moses, saying: ^5:12 Speak to the Israelite people and say to them: If any man’s wife has gone astray and broken faith with him ^5:13 in that a man has had carnal relations with her unbeknown to her husband, and she keeps secret the fact that she has defiled herself, and there is no witness against her, and she wasn’t forced.

^ה:טו // *[וֶהֱבִיאָהּ] אֶת קָרְבָּנָהּ עָלֶיהָ עֲשִׂירִת הָאֵיפָה קֶמַח שְׂעֹרִים לֹא יִצֹק עָלָיו שֶׁמֶן וְלֹא יִתֵּן עָלָיו לְבֹנָה // מִנְחַת זִכָּרוֹן מַזְכֶּרֶת עָו‍ֹן. ^ה:טז וְהִקְרִיב אֹתָהּ הַכֹּהֵן וְהֶעֱמִדָהּ לִפְנֵי יְ־הוָה. ^ה:יח // וּפָרַע אֶת רֹאשׁ הָאִשָּׁה וְנָתַן עַל כַּפֶּיהָ אֵת מִנְחַת הַזִּכָּרוֹן // ^ה:יט וְהִשְׁבִּיעַ אֹתָהּ הַכֹּהֵן // ^ה:כא // בִּשְׁבֻעַת הָאָלָה ^ה:כב // וְאָמְרָה הָאִשָּׁה אָמֵן אָמֵן. //

^5:15 // And she shall bring her offering one-tenth of an ephah of barley flour. No oil shall be poured upon it and no frankincense shall be laid on it, // for it is a meal offering of remembrance which recalls wrongdoing. ^5:16 The priest shall bring her forward and have her stand before YHWH. ^5:18 // and he shall bare the woman’s head and place upon her hands the meal offering of remembrance // ^5:19 The priest shall adjure the woman // ^5:21 with the curse of adjuration // ^5:22 // And the woman shall say, “Amen, amen!” //

^ה:כה וְלָקַח הַכֹּהֵן מִיַּד הָאִשָּׁה // וְהֵנִיף אֶת הַמִּנְחָה לִפְנֵי יְ־הוָה וְהִקְרִיב אֹתָהּ אֶל הַמִּזְבֵּחַ. ^ה:כו וְקָמַץ הַכֹּהֵן מִן הַמִּנְחָה אֶת אַזְכָּרָתָהּ וְהִקְטִיר הַמִּזְבֵּחָה //

^5:25 Then the priest shall take (it) from the woman’s hand // and elevate the meal offering before YHWH and present it on the altar. ^5:26 The priest shall scoop out of the meal offering a token part of it and turn it into smoke on the altar. //

^ה:כט זֹאת תּוֹרַת // אֲשֶׁר תִּשְׂטֶה אִשָּׁה תַּחַת אִישָׁהּ וְנִטְמָאָה. ^ה:ל // וְהֶעֱמִיד אֶת הָאִשָּׁה לִפְנֵי יְ־הוָה וְעָשָׂה לָהּ הַכֹּהֵן אֵת כָּל הַתּוֹרָה הַזֹּאת. ^ה:לא וְנִקָּה הָאִישׁ מֵעָו‍ֹן וְהָאִשָּׁה הַהִוא תִּשָּׂא אֶת עֲו‍ֹנָהּ.

^5:29 This is the ritual // when a woman goes astray while married to her husband and defiles herself, ^5:30 // the woman shall be made to stand before YHWH and the priest shall carry out all this ritual with her. ^5:31 The man shall be clear of guilt; but that woman shall suffer for her guilt.