Kommentar zu Bamidbar 5:18

והעמיד הכהן וגו׳ AND THE PRIEST SHALL PRESENT [THE WOMAN BEFORE THE LORD] — But has it not already been stated, (v. 16) “and he shall present her before the Lord”? But they used to move her about from place to place (and thus, as it were, present her many times) in order to wear her out so that her thoughts should become confused and she be unable to invent explanations of her conduct and so she would confess her guilt (Sotah 8a).

AND THE PRIEST SHALL HAVE IN HIS HAND ‘MEI HAMARIM’ (THE WATER OF BITTERNESS) THAT CAUSETH THE CURSE. The commentators⁸²Rashi and Ibn Ezra. have written that Scripture describes it [i.e., the water of bitterness] in terms of its final effect, for there will be a bitterness in it, and G-d will deal very bitterly with her,⁸³See Ruth 1:20. and it will effect a curse upon her. So also have our Rabbis said in the Sifre:⁸⁴Sifre Naso 11. “the water is called water of bitterness because of its final effect, for it effects a curse⁸⁵In our Sifre: “makes the body ‘bitter’ (sick).” on the body and brings to light the sin.” But in the Gemara [of Tractate Sotah] the Sages have said⁸⁶Sotah 20 a. that the priest put a bitter substance in the water, in order to arouse her. If so, the verse stating, and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her and become bitter⁸⁷Further, Verse 24. should rather have said: “and the bitter water shall enter into her to cause the curse,” [since the bitter substance was already present in the water before she drank it]. And in the Sifre it is further stated:⁸⁸Sifre Naso 16. “And he shall blot them out into the water of bitterness.⁸⁹Verse 23. The verse teaches you that it is the writing [on the scroll of the sotah which was blotted out into the water] which makes the water bitter.”
The correct interpretation appears to me to be in accordance with its plain meaning, for when the woman drinks the water, it will taste to her just like any other water, and only afterwards when it enters into her, will it arouse her if she had become defiled [i.e., committed adultery], and then she will immediately feel the bitterness in her mouth and inside her. Therefore Scripture states, And when he hath made her drink the water, then it shall come to pass, if she be defiled, and have acted unfaithfully against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her and become bitter,⁹⁰Verse 27. This shows that the water is called mei hamarim in our verse because of its final effect, for if she is guilty, the curses that have been erased into the water will cause a bitter taste and the fatal effects described further on. for it is after drinking, when the water enters her belly, that it immediately becomes bitter in her mouth and inside her, as happens with all substances which make one nauseous and cause vomiting, that they seem very bitter to those that drink them. After that her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall fall away.⁹⁰Verse 27. This shows that the water is called mei hamarim in our verse because of its final effect, for if she is guilty, the curses that have been erased into the water will cause a bitter taste and the fatal effects described further on. The water is called [in the verse before us] m’orerim [from the root arur — “cursed”] because of the curses [written on the scroll] which have been erased into the water, and which cause her to suffer their effects.
Now the commentators⁹¹The commentators quoted above. The point involved is as follows: Since the commentators explain that mei hamarim is a reference to the final effect of the water, the word mei cannot be in construct [‘the water of’ bitterness — for it is not yet bitter]; thus the word mei here merely means “water” — “the bitter water,” and is so called because of its final effect. However, as Ramban continues, according to the Rabbis who said that the bitter substance was mixed with the water, the word mei may indeed be understood as being in construct — “the water ‘of’ bitterness,” since the water was already bitter. have said that the word mei [‘mei’ hamarim] is like mayim hamarim [“the bitter water”], the word mei [literally: “the water of”] being stated here in a construct form in place of the absolute form, just as we find [an opposite verse]: mayim birkayim⁹²Ezekiel 47:3. [literally: “the water the ankles,” where the word mayim occurs in the absolute form, but is really to be understood in the construct: mei birkayim — “the water ‘of’ the ankles,” i.e., water which reached as high as the ankles]. But Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra wrote that “the word mei is [indeed] construct [meaning: the water ‘of’], but the word hamarim is an adjectival noun [meaning: ‘the bitter substances’ — thus mei hamarim means ‘the water of bitter substances’], and if so, the secret thereof is known.”⁹³A reference by Ibn Ezra to the statement of the Sages that a bitter substance had to be mixed with the water, and hence the term mei hamarim — “the water of bitter substances.” But [Ibn Ezra’s interpretation] does not appear to me to be correct, because the verse states, and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her and become bitter.⁸⁹Verse 23.

וביד הכהן יהיו מי המרים המאררים, “and the bitter waters shall be in the hand of the priest.” Nachmanides writes that numerous commentators describe these waters as bitter, מים מרים, as the Torah supposedly names these water so in light of the ultimate tragic results that are likely to occur after they have been drunk by the Sotah. The Talmud in Sotah 20 however, says that the priest adds something to this water that ensures that it will taste bitter. The purpose is to awaken the woman to her endangering herself by toying with her future by denying her guilt and ignoring the fact that G’d Himself will bring it to light. This would explain the line in verse 22 that describes graphically that the waters in question will have the power of bringing a curse upon those who drink it while guilty. As to the plain meaning of the text, Nachmanides continues, he believes that as soon as the woman in question drinks these waters they will prove to taste sweet to her just as ordinary drinking water. If she was guilty however, once these waters have entered her entrails, they will display the devastating effect described in our paragraph. She may even disgorge these waters, after their having turned bitter. The expression מאררים refers to the effect that these waters have upon the guilty woman drinking them, i.e. they act as a curse.

מנחת קנאות ה'יא ו'ביד ה'כהן י'היו, “it is a meal-offering of jealousies, and in the hand of the Priest they shall be.” I have already explained on a number of occasions (Genesis 11,9 et al) that whenever the letters of the name of G’d appear in the reverse order this is an allusion to the attribute of Justice. It means that the subject matter under discussion by the Torah at that point is one in which the attribute of Justice is poised to strike against the guilty party concerned. I have also mentioned that there were a total of 54 words written on the parchment which is placed in the jug with the מים המאררים, “the potentially curse-laden waters,” mentioned in verse 22. (Maimonides Hilchot Sotah 3,7). The number 54 represents the middle two letters of the name א-ד-נ-י, the name of G’d with those letters in reverse order. In other words, the number 54 is the allusion to the attribute of Justice poised to take action against the woman drinking these waters.

But, they moved. מסיעין (they moved) in the sense of transferring.

V. 18. והעמיד הכהן את האשה לפני ד׳. Es heißt schon einmal V. 16: והעמידה לפני ד׳, allein sie wurde wiederholt von Stelle zu Stelle geführt, um die Prozedur in die Länge zu ziehen und ihr zum Geständnis Zeit zu lassen (Sota 8 a). — ופרע את ראש Das Haupthaar der züchtigen Frau wird durch ihre Kopfbekleidung vom Sichtbarwerden "zurückgehalten" daher heißt das Entblößen des Hauptaares: פרע, freimachen. Nach Sota 7 a wird auch ihr Kleid am Halse eingerissen und durch ein Bastband oberhalb der Brust festgehalten, die Entblößung des Haupthaares aber noch durch Auflösen der Flechten vollendet. Diese Entblößung des Haupthaares widerstößt der Züchtigkeit einer jüdischen Ehefrau, אזהרה, heißt es z. St. (Ketubot 72 a): אזהרה לבנות ישראל שלא יצאו בפרוע ראש Jisraels Töchtern ist es untersagt, mit entblößtem Haupthaar zu erscheinen. Haarentblößung einer Ehefrau gehört mit zu dem Begriffe ערוה in des Wortes buchstäblicher Bedeutung und soll eben hier den Charakter der Frau als der jüdischen Züchtigkeit ermangelnd kennzeichnen. Die das Haar verhüllende Kopfbedeckung ist das äußere Merkmal ehelicher Züchtigkeit. Die Frau, die durch ihr Benehmen den Pfad dieser Züchtigkeit verlassen, verdient dies Diadem des צניעות, dieses Grundcharakters jüdischer Weiblichkeit nicht. Indem der Priester ihr die Kopfbedeckung abnimmt, spricht er den ganzen Vorwurf aus, der auf ihr lastet. Man hat sich gegenwärtig zu halten, dass wenn auch die Tatsache wirklich vollzogener טומאה in Frage steht und eben hier der Entscheidung harrt, die Frau doch jedenfalls durch סטיה מדרכי הצניעות (V. 20) קנוי veranlasst, eine Warnung, die sie durch konstatierte סתירה außer acht gelassen, somit) jedenfalls den Vorwurf unzüchtigen Leichtsinnes verdient hat.

ופרע AND HE SHALL PUT IN DISORDER [THE WOMAN’S HAIR] — i.e. he pulls away her hair-plaits in order to make her look despicable. — We may learn from this that as regards married Jewish women an uncovered head is a disgrace to them (Sifrei Bamidbar 11).

He disentangles. This implies that פרע (disentangle) is a term of demolishing. You might ask: Rashi always explains the word פרע when used regarding the head as a term of growth. This was evident above in Parshas Emor (Vayikra 21:11) where he said that לא יפרע means “you shall not grow,” and below regarding the Nazir. The answer is that here it is also a term of growth, because when the hair is plaited it is shorter, and when one disentangles the plaits it ‘becomes’ longer. Thus it emerges that the disentangling causes the hair to ‘grow’. Re’m writes that though פרע is normally a term of exposing, as Rashi himself writes on the verse “for they were פרוע (exposed)” (Shemos 32:25) where he says that that this means exposed … as with “and expose the woman’s hair,” this is not a contradiction to his explanation that he disentangles the plaits of her hair. For Rashi’s explanation here is not inferred from the word פרע, rather from the superfluous word “the woman”. The Torah should have written “and expose her hair” since it refers to the woman mentioned previously. Thus “the woman” was added to allude to her whole body, teaching that one disentangles her hair revealing her heart and compounding her disgrace. It appears possible to me to say that by way of the disentangling one reveals how the hair appeared long before it was shortened.

ונתן על כפי׳ את מנחת הזכרון מנחת קנאת היא. Hier steht die eine Seite der Bedeutung dieses Mincha, מנחת זכרון, dass damit die etwaige Schuld der Frau der göttlichen Erwägung nahegelegt werde, im Vordergrund; denn eben durch diese göttliche Erwägung und das dadurch eventuell hervorgerufene göttliche Verhängnis, wird der Trunk des Wassers erst verhängnisvoll (siehe zu V. 25). Es ist aber auch die andere Seite, die Vindizierung der Frau als fernerer Ehefrau des Mannes, der ihr Mincha gebracht, nicht vergessen: מנחת קנאות היא.

לפני ה׳ [AND THE PRIEST SHALL PRESENT THE WOMAN] BEFORE THE LORD — i.e. in the gateway of Nicanor (cf. Rashi on Leviticus 14:11 and Note thereon) which was the eastern gate of the court, the passage for all who entered the court [and where she was therefore most exposed to public view] (Sotah 7a).

Debasing. The reason that I found is a parable of a person who committed a sin. He went out to the market place and was embarrassed, so he covered his head and his face. Likewise one uncovers the hair of a woman who transgressed the command.

וביד הכהן יהיו וגו׳. Das Mincha in der Hand der Frau und das Wasser in der Hand des Priesters gehören zusammen. Durch das Mincha wird das Wasser מי המרים המאררים. Das Mincha ist כמה דלא קרבה מנחתה לא בדקי לה מיא ,מזכרת עון (Sota 14 a u. 20 b). — מי ,מי המרים ist stat. vonstr. zu המרים, das bittere Wasser hieße: מרים .המים המרים sind die Bitterkeiten, die bitteren Wahrheiten, die die מי סוטה der Frau entgegenhalten. Wir haben gesehen, wie die מים קדשים בכלי חרש und der עפר מקרקע המשכן die Wahrung heiliger Sittenreinheit trotz der irdischen Natur leiblicher Sinnlichkeit, ja, mit vollster Voraussetzung und auf Grund derselben als entschiedene Anforderung setzen. Ist diese Wahrheit der Frau eine "bittere", d. h. widerstrebt sie der bisherigen Aufführung derselben, so bringt der Trunk des Wassers dieser Bitterkeiten ihr Fluch; מאררים ist aktiv. Sie sind מאררים, wenn ihr Inhalt מר ist. Beides, das Bittere ihres Inhaltes und das Fluchbringende, wenn ihr Inhalt bitter, erhielt auch noch einen konkreten Ausdruck. Es ward nach Sota 20 a etwas Bitteres hineingetan, צריך שיתן מר לתוך המים מ׳׳ט דאמר קרא מי המרים שמרים כבר (siehe Raschi daselbst). Es wird damit, wie wir glauben, veranschaulicht, dass nicht die verhängnisvolle Wirkung sie "bitter" mache, sondern ihr Inhalt und ihre Bedeutung. Das Verhängnisvolle ist nur Folge der Bitterkeit ihres Inhaltes. Und ebenso erhielt auch das Fluchbringende des Wassers durch das gänzliche Ablöschen des niedergeschriebenen Fluches in ihm seine konkrete Veranschaulichung.

ונתן על כפיה AND HE SHALL PUT [THE MEAL-OFFERING OF MEMORIAL] IN HER HANDS — to wear her out even more (cf. Rashi on the beginning of the verse); — perhaps her thoughts would become confused now, so that she would confess her guilt and it would become unnecessary to blot out from the parchment the Divine Proper Name by the water (cf. Sifrei Bamidbar 11; Sotah 14a).

At the Nikanor Gate. He [Nikanor] was a virtuous person who brought copper doors for this gate from Alexandria in Egypt. In doing so Hashem performed many miracles, as is taught in Maseches Yoma 37b. Some say in the name of Maharam: Why Rashi did explain this out of order, after “and expose the woman’s head.” Furthermore, upon the words “before Hashem” (v.16) above he did not explain anything. The answer is that there it would be possible to explain “before Hashem” as referring to the sanctuary. However here, Rashi explains that he disentangles the plaits in her hair in order to humiliate her, in accordance with the teaching of the Rabbis that there were many actions through which she was humiliated. It would not be proper to do so in the sanctuary, therefore one is forced to say that it was at the gate of Nikanor.

המרים THE BITTER [WATERS] — They were called bitter waters because of their final effect, viz., that they proved bitter for her (Sifrei Bamidbar 11; Sotah 20a).

To exhaust her. One cannot say that this was for waving, as previously in the verse “upon the palms of Aharon and upon the palms of his sons” (Shemos 29:24) in the context of the inauguration. There the Torah continues, “and shall wave,” while here it begins with causing her to drink the bitter waters and the oaths of accursedness. Only afterwards does it write “and shall wave” (v.25). Therefore one is forced to say that it was in order to exhaust her etc.

המאררים means, the waters that make her disappear (pine away) from the world. It has the same meaning as, (Ezekiel. 28:24): “a removing (ממאיר) brier” (one that removed some of the flesh). It would not be correct to explain מים המאררים as מים ארורים, “cursed waters” for actually they are holy (cf. v. 17). Besides, even if the meaning has anything to do with “cursing”, Scripture does not write ארורים, “waters that are cursed”, but מאררים — “that bring a curse to others”; and Onkelos, too, does not render it by ליטיא — “cursed waters” but by מלטטיא — “waters that show a curse on the body of this woman”.

So that the Sacred Name not be erased. [R. Hendil] Rashi did not explain this above when he also wrote that they acted to exhaust her (s.v. “The Kohein shall station”). The reason is that there he was commanded to exhaust her so that she would not drink and die. The Torah took pity on her since there were neither witnesses nor warning of her defilement. However here it is not possible to say this because there is no reason to be concerned about her to this extent, since she turned aside from the ways of modesty and transgressed the warning to conceal herself. Rather, here Hashem was concerned for the honor of His name.

Because of their aftermath. Thus מי המרים means “the bitter waters” while המאררים למרים (v. 24) means “[they shall enter her] to become bitter and lethal” becoming bitter and destructive in her mouth. (Gur Aryeh) If this were not so why would they be bitter? Though the Gemara says that they would place a bitter grass in them, because the Torah writes המרים (the bitter [waters]), nonetheless the word המרים with a hei denoting the definite article (the bitter [waters]) implies that it was for this that they were known. We do not explicitly find anywhere [in the Torah] that they would place a bitter substance in them. Therefore Rashi says that they were termed bitter because of their aftermath.