Комментарий к Бамидбар 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.