Midrash for Numbers 5:27

(Numb. 5:11–12):¹Neither the Buber nor the traditional Tanhuma have a parashah, the beginning of which coincides with the beginning of Naso (Numb. 4:21-7:89) from the annual cycle. Such a parashah is also missing in other sources for the so-called “triennial cycle.” See B.Z. Wacholder, “prolegomenon,” in The Bible as Read and Preached in the Old Synagogue, by Jacob Mann (“Library of biblical Studies”; New York: Ktav, 1971), p. LX. THEN THE LORD SPOKE UNTO MOSES, SAYING: SPEAK UNTO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL AND SAY UNTO THEM: IF ANYONE HAS HIS WIFE GO ASTRAY. Let our master instruct us: When someone wanted to accuse his wife (of infidelity), how did he accuse her?²Tanh., Numb. 2:1. Thus have our masters taught (in Sot. 1:4–5; 2:2–3.):³The Mishnah quotation has several variants from the standard text. See also TSot. 1:3-4. ONE ACCUSING HIS WIFE BROUGHT HER TO THE GREAT COURT WHICH WAS IN JERUSALEM, AND THEY WOULD ADMONISH HER IN THE WAY THAT THEY WOULD ADMONISH WITNESSES IN CAPITAL CASES< … >.⁴See Sanh. 4:5. Then afterwards: THEY WOULD BRING HER UP TO THE EASTERN GATE, TO < … > THE GATE OF NICANOR, WHERE THEY WOULD PURIFY THE LEPERS AND GIVE DRINK TO SUSPECTED ADULTERESSES< … >. A PRIEST WOULD BRING AN EARTHENWARE BOWL⁵Gk.: phiale; Lat.: fiala. AND PUT A HALF LOG OF WATER INTO IT FROM THE BASIN< … >. HE WOULD ENTER THE TEMPLE AND TURN TO HIS RIGHT. NOW A PLACE WAS THERE ONE CUBIT SQUARE WITH A MARBLE FLAGSTONE⁶Gk.: tabla (“tablet”); Lat.: tabula. THERE AND A RING FIXED IN IT. HE WOULD RAISE IT, TAKE DUST FROM UNDERNEATH, AND PUT IT UPON THE WATER, AS STATED (in Numb. 5:17): AND TAKING SOME OF THE DUST WHICH IS IN THE FLOOR OF THE TABERNACLE, THE PRIEST SHALL PUT IT INTO THE WATER. THEN HE WOULD WRITE THE SCROLL (in the wording of Numb. 5:19): AND IF NO ONE HAS SLEPT WITH YOU…. From here (Numb. 5:19) our masters have taught: When one opens capital cases, you begin with <the case for> acquittal. Then he writes further (in vss. 20–21): AND IF YOU HAVE GONE ASTRAY …, MAY THE LORD MAKE YOU A CURSE…. And so Solomon has said (in I Kings 8:31–32 // II Chron. 6:22–23): WHENEVER ONE SINS AGAINST HIS NEIGHBOR, AND HE GIVES HIM AN OATH FOR HIM TO SWEAR; THEN WHEN HE COMES FOR THE OATH BEFORE YOUR ALTAR IN THIS HOUSE, YOU WILL HEARKEN IN HEAVEN, TAKE ACTION, AND JUDGE YOUR SERVANT, IN ORDER TO CONDEMN THE WICKED SO AS TO SET HIS CONDUCT UPON HIS OWN HEAD AND JUSTIFY THE RIGHTEOUS SO AS TO RENDER TO HIM ACCORDING TO HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS. In the parashah on the adulteress the text says what is stated (in Numb. 5:23): THEN <THE PRIEST> SHALL WRITE DOWN THESE CURSES <IN A SCROLL>. (I Kings 8:32 // II Chron. 6:23:) YOU WILL HEARKEN IN HEAVEN, TAKE ACTION, AND JUDGE YOUR SERVANT, IN ORDER TO CONDEMN THE WICKED SO AS TO SET HIS CONDUCT UPON HIS OWN HEAD. (Numb. 5:27:) SO THAT HER BELLY SHALL DISTEND AND HER THIGH SHALL SAG. (I Kings 8:32/II Chron. 6:23:) AND JUSTIFY THE RIGHTEOUS SO AS TO RENDER TO HIM ACCORDING TO HIS RIGHTEOUSNESS. (Numb. 5:28): BUT IF THE WOMAN HAS NOT DEFILED HERSELF AND IS PURE, SHE SHALL BE GUILTLESS AND SHALL CONCEIVE SEED. If she was defiled, (according to Sot. 3:4; 5:1) SHE WOULD NOT HAVE FINISHED DRINKING BEFORE HER FACE TURNS GREEN, HER EYES PROTRUDE, AND SHE IS FULL OF <SWOLLEN> VEINS. THEN THE PRIEST SAYS: TAKE HER OUT, TAKE HER OUT, SO THAT SHE DOES NOT DEFLE THE TEMPLE COURT< … >. JUST AS THE WATER TESTS THE WOMAN, SO DOES THE WATER TEST THE MAN, SINCE IT IS STATED <TWICE> (in Numb. 5:22 & 24): AND IT (i.e., the water that causes the curse> SHALL GO< … >. AND IT SHALL GO <INTO HER … >. JUST AS SHE IS FORBIDDEN TO HER HUSBAND, SO IS SHE FORBIDDEN TO THE LOVER, SINCE IT IS STATED <TWICE> (in Numb. 5:13 & 14): SHE HAS DEFILED HERSELF< … >. SHE HAS DEFILED HERSELF.⁷The gemara ([Sot. 28a) explains these double usages more fully. Cf. also ibid., 26b. If, however, she drinks <the potion> and is found pure, then if she was barren, she is <now> visited (i.e., given conception).⁸Sot. 26a. <If> she used [to] bear ugly <children>, she <now> bears beautiful ones. <Instead of> dark <children>, she bears fair ones. <Instead of> short <children>, she bears tall ones. <Instead of> females, she bears males. Thus it is stated (in Numb. 5:28): BUT IF THE WOMAN HAS NOT DEFILED HERSELF AND IS PURE, SHE SHALL BE GUILTLESS AND SHALL CONCEIVE SEED. The Holy One said to Moses: Write a section on the adulteress so that she may know which name the priest blots out for her,⁹On the scroll of Numb. 5:23, where the priest put down the curses in writing and then rubbed them off into the bitter water. See also Sot. 2:4. what is to be her death, and how it will be made public.¹⁰Gk.: parresiazesthai. Where is it shown? {Where it is stated} [from what they have read on the matter] (in Numb. 5:12): IF ANYONE HAS HIS WIFE GO ASTRAY.

(Deut. 29:11:) “To enter into the covenant with the Lord your God....” Three covenants did the Holy One, blessed be He, make with Israel when they came out of Egypt, one when they stood before Mount Sinai, (one at Horeb,) and one here. But why did he make [a covenant] with them here? Because they had revoked the one which He had made with them at Sinai, when they said (of the golden calf in Exod. 32:4), “This is your god, O Israel.” For that reason He made [another covenant] with them at Horeb⁵The text should probably read: “With them here,” in accord with Codex Vaticanus Ebr. 34. and established a curse over it for whoever would go back on his words. Now the word, enter (rt.: 'br), [can] only be in the sense of one who says to his companion, “May this curse come (rt.: 'br) upon you, if you go back on me in this thing.” And so you find that, when Israel provoked [the Holy One, blessed be He], and they went into captivity, what did Daniel say (in Dan. 9:11)? “And all Israel has transgressed (rt.: 'br) Your Torah [...] so the curse (alah) and the oath are poured down upon us.” Now alah can only be a curse,⁶Alah can also mean “oath” and “covenant.” as where it is stated (in Numb. 5:27), “and the woman shall become a curse (alah).” [This is] to teach you that just as one imposes an oath on the suspect adulteress, so the Holy One, blessed be He, imposed an oath upon Israel. But perhaps you will say, “Why all this bother?” It is not because I need you? Rather what shall I do to you, when I have already sworn to your ancestors, that I will never replace you and your children? It is therefore stated (in Deut. 29:12), “In order to establish you today as his people […] as he swore to your ancestors.” It [also] says (in Cant. 7:6), “a king is bound by his tresses.” Now bound [indicates] nothing except an oath. Thus it is stated (in Numb. 30:4), “[When a woman vows a vow to the Lord] and binds herself with a bond.” Therefore, He cannot break his oath. And so you find, when they sought to get rid of the yoke of His oath in the days of Ezekiel, it is written (in Ezek: 20:1), “some elders of Israel came to consult the Lord.” They said to him, “When the son of a priest buys a slave, is it legal for him to eat the terumah?”⁷The priestly tithe on produce. He said to them, “He may eat it.” They said to him, “If a priest returned and sold him to an [ordinary] Israelite, has he not left his jurisdiction?” He told them, “Yes.” They said to him, “We too have left the jurisdiction of [the Holy One, blessed be He]; are we not [now] like the all the [rest of the] world?” Ezekiel said to them (in Ezek. 20:32-33), “But that which you have in mind shall never come to pass, that should you say: let us become like the gentiles…. ‘As I live,’ says the Lord God, ‘surely I will [reign] over you with a powerful hand....’” He said to them, “As long as one has not sold [a slave], he is in his jurisdiction; and you have not been sold for a price.” It is so stated (in Is. 52:3), “For thus says the Lord, ‘You were sold for free, [and you shall be redeemed for no money].’” (Deut. 29:12:) “In order to establish you today as his people…,” so that I would not go back on the word that I swore to your ancestors. Deut. 29:13), “And not only with you [have I made this covenant and this oath].” But rather the generations that have yet to come were also there at that time, as stated (in vs. 14), “But with those who are [standing ('md)] here with us [today… and with those who are not here with us today].” R. Abahu said in the name of R. Samuel bar Nahmani, “Why does it say, ‘those who are [standing ('md)] here [...]; and those who are not here’ (without using the word, standing)? Because all the souls were there, [even] when [their] bodies had still not been created. It is for that reason [their] existence (literally, standing, rt.: 'md) is not stated here.” R. Eliezer said, “A curse will come upon Laban, because he said to Jacob (in Gen. 31:30), ‘Why did you steal my gods?’ It (i.e., such an idol) could not save itself from theft. [So] how could it save others? But Israel is not like that, as they serve the Holy One, blessed be He, about whom it is stated (in Deut. 10:21), “He is your praise, and He is your God, [who has done these great and awful things for you that your own eyes have seen].” He [also] watches over Israel like a father who watches over his son, as stated (in Ps. 121:4), “Behold the One keeping Israel shall neither slumber nor sleep.”

(Deut. 29:11 [12]:) TO ENTER INTO THE COVENANT WITH THE LORD YOUR GOD, EVEN THROUGH HIS OATH. Three covenants did the Holy One make with Israel: one when they came out of Egypt, one when they stood before Mount Sinai, {one at Horeb,} and one here.⁷Tanh., Deut. 8:3. But why did he make <a covenant> with them here? Because they had {cooked} [revoked] the one which he had made with them <on Sinai>,⁸This identification appears in the parallel from the traditional Tanhuma. when they said (of the Golden Calf in Exod. 32:4): THIS IS YOUR GOD, O ISRAEL. For that reason he made < another covenant> with them on Horeb⁹The text should probably read: “With them here,” in accord with Codex Vaticanus Ebr. 34. and established a curse over it for whoever would go back on his words. Now the word, ENTER (rt.: 'BR), <can> only be in the sense of one who says to his companion: May this curse come (rt.: 'BR) upon me, if I go back on this word. And so you find that, when they provoked the Holy One, they went into captivity. What did Daniel say (in Dan. 7:11)? AND ALL ISRAEL HAS TRANSGRESSED (rt.: 'BR) YOUR TORAH [….] SO THE CURSE (alah) AND THE OATH ARE POURED DOWN UPON US. Now alah can only be a curse,¹⁰Alah can also mean “oath” and “covenant.” as where it is stated (in Numb. 5:27): AND THE WOMAN SHALL BECOME A CURSE (alah). <This is> to teach you that, just as one imposes an oath on the suspect adulteress, so the Holy One imposed an oath upon Israel. But perhaps you will say: Why all this bother? It is not because I need you? Rather what shall I do to you, when I have already sworn to your ancestors, that I will never change anything for you and your children? It is therefore stated (in Deut. 29:12 [13]): IN ORDER TO ESTABLISH YOU TODAY AS HIS PEOPLE […,] <AS HE SWORE TO YOUR ANCESTORS, TO ABRAHAM, TO ISAAC, AND TO JACOB>. It also says (in Cant. 7:6 [5]): THE KING IS BOUND BY THE TRESSES. Now no one is bound except by an oath. Thus it is stated (in Numb. 30:4 [3]): <WHEN A WOMAN VOWS A VOW TO THE LORD> AND BINDS HERSELF WITH A BOND <….> Therefore, one cannot break his oath.