NIV
problems with Numbers 5: 21,27 (and the issue of abortion )
The word womb in
Modern translations (NIV as example)
Numbers
5:21 King James Version (KJV)
21 Then the
priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest
shall say unto the woman, The Lord make thee a curse and an
oath among thy people, when the Lord doth make thy thigh
to rot, and thy belly to
swell;
Numbers
5:27 New King James Version (NKJV)
27 When he
has made her drink the water, then it shall be, if she has defiled
herself and behaved unfaithfully toward her husband, that the water
that brings a curse will enter her and become bitter,
and her belly will swell, her thigh will rot, and the
woman will become a curse among her people.
Numbers
5:21 New International Version (NIV)
21 here
the priest is to put the woman under this curse—“may the Lord
cause you to become a curse[a] among
your people when he makes your
womb miscarry and
your abdomen swell.
Numbers
5:27 New International Version (NIV)
27 If she has
made herself impure and been unfaithful to her husband, this will be
the result: When she is made to drink the water that brings a curse
and causes bitter suffering, it will enter her, her abdomen will
swell and her womb will miscarry, and she will become a curse.
CLARIFICATION
Hebrew generic word for
thigh or leg of flank is YARUK
The male version of this
is YARKA
The female version of
this is YEREKAH
This is in Numbers
5:21,27 (as a curse, part of test for adultery)
Just as important , here
re the two words for "womb"
One is BETHEN and that
is usually used for animals and here is the reason why: when you are
cutting up an animal, the womb is like a little nut and it just so
happens that a pistachio nut is almost the same word, a BOTHEN. It's
similar to the word for womb. The plural is BETHONIM (so it can be
used for nuts OR womb)
The other word for womb
is REKHEM and that is the formal word for womb of matrix . It comes
from the idea of compassion or nurturing (the side meaning)
It just so happens,
those two words for womb used in the Old Testament never appear in
Numbers 5 so the word is not there.
However, if you turn to
the NIV , and you look at Numbers 5:21,27 , they have inserted womb
and miscarriage twice but it's not in the Hebrew
The KJV renders it
literally and correctly: The thigh shall shrivel
The
Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB) also renders it correctly:
21 at
this point the priest must make the woman take the oath with the
sworn curse, and he is to say to her—‘May the Lord make
you into an object of your people’s cursing and swearing when He
makes your thigh[a] shrivel
and your belly swell.[b]
Numbers
5:27 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
27 “When he
makes her drink the water, if she has defiled herself and been
unfaithful to her husband, the water that brings a curse will enter
her and cause bitter suffering; her belly will swell, and her
thigh will shrivel. She will become a curse among her people.
The context is in
reference to the issue of adultery and/or jealousy. Holman
Christian Standard Bible translates it this way
:
The
Jealousy Ritual 11 The Lord spoke
to Moses: 12 “Speak
to the Israelites and tell them: If any man’s wife goes astray, is
unfaithful to him, 13 and
sleeps with another,[a] but
it is concealed from her husband, and she is undetected, even though
she has defiled herself, since there is no witness against her, and
she wasn’t caught in the act; 14 and
if a feeling of jealousy comes over the husband and he becomes
jealous because of his wife who has defiled herself—or if a feeling
of jealousy comes over him and he becomes jealous of her though she
has not defiled herself— 15 then
the man is to bring his wife to the priest. He is also to bring an
offering for her of two quarts[b] of
barley flour. He is not to pour oil over it or put frankincense on it
because it is a grain offering of jealousy, a grain offering for
remembrance that brings sin to mind.
16 “The
priest is to bring her forward and have her stand before
the Lord. 17 Then
the priest is to take holy water in a clay bowl, and take some of the
dust from the tabernacle floor and put it in the water. 18 After
the priest has the woman stand before the Lord, he is to let
down her hair[c] and
place in her hands the grain offering for remembrance, which is the
grain offering of jealousy. The priest is to hold the bitter water
that brings a curse. 19 The
priest will require the woman to take an oath and will say to her,
‘If no man has slept with you, if you have not gone astray and
become defiled while under your husband’s authority, be unaffected
by this bitter water that brings a curse. 20 But
if you have gone astray while under your husband’s authority, if
you have defiled yourself and a man other than your husband has slept
with you’— 21 at
this point the priest must make the woman take the oath with the
sworn curse, and he is to say to her—‘May the Lord make
you into an object of your people’s cursing and swearing when He
makes your thigh[d] shrivel
and your belly swell.[e] 22 May
this water that brings a curse enter your stomach, causing your belly
to swell and your thigh to shrivel.’
“And
the woman must reply, ‘Amen, Amen.’
23 “Then
the priest is to write these curses on a scroll and wash them off
into the bitter water. 24 He
will require the woman to drink the bitter water that brings a curse,
and it will enter her and cause bitter suffering. 25 The
priest is to take the grain offering of jealousy from the woman’s
hand, wave the offering before the Lord, and bring it to the
altar. 26 The
priest is to take a handful of the grain offering as a memorial
portion and burn it on the altar. Then he will require the woman to
drink the water.
27 “When
he makes her drink the water, if she has defiled herself and been
unfaithful to her husband, the water that brings a curse will enter
her and cause bitter suffering; her belly will swell, and her thigh
will shrivel. She will become a curse among her people.
The
translators interpreted the Law incorrectly for various reasons
1. The NIV translators
presumed the woman is pregnant and this is not the case - the Law is
much more general - It is not a LAW just for pregnancy
2. The NIV translators
seem to be rendering it miscarriage and womb to indicate that a child
is terminated, thus "aborted" as if it is an act of God but
God would not do this. God is against abortion
3. The NIV translators
renders a word "miscarriage and womb" to indicate the
text refers to a pregnant woman but nothing in the text says she is
pregnant
4. The NIV translators
rendering it this way, gives the idea that a pregnancy should be
punished but pregnancy is "proof" that she is
innocent, not guilty of anything
5. The NIV translators
give a euphemism in the text but there is NO need for a euphemism.
The word "womb" is in the Old Testament many times with no
problems so the writers of Law would use the word "womb" if
they meant, "womb" They would have no need for euphemism.
6. The NIV
translators used a word that is not even in Hebrew. There is no
Hebrew word for miscarriage. The fruit departs from her",
means the baby died but not because it was aborted by GOD as an
act of punishment.
For further reading on
this issue in context of abortion see:
Exodus
21:22-25 King James Version (KJV)
22 If
men strive, and hurt a woman with child, so that her fruit depart
from her, and yet no mischief follow: he shall be surely punished,
according as the woman's husband will lay upon him; and he shall pay
as the judges determine.23 And if any mischief follow,
then thou shalt give life for life,24 Eye for eye, tooth
for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,25 Burning for
burning, wound for wound, stripe for stripe.
OTHER
TRANSLATIONS
Numbers
5:21 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
21 —let the
priest make the woman take the oath of the curse and say to the
woman—“the Lord make you an execration and an oath
among your people, when the Lord makes your uterus drop,
your womb discharge;
Numbers
5:27 New Revised Standard Version (NRSV)
27 When he
has made her drink the water, then, if she has defiled herself and
has been unfaithful to her husband, the water that brings the curse
shall enter into her and cause bitter pain, and her womb shall
discharge, her uterus drop, and the woman shall become an
execration among her people.
Numbers
5:21-22 The Message (MSG)
16-22 “The
priest then is to take her and have her stand in the presence of God.
He is to take some holy water in a pottery jar and put some dust from
the floor of The Dwelling in the water. After the priest has her
stand in the presence of God he is to uncover her hair and
place the exposure-offering in her hands, the Grain-Offering for
jealousy, while he holds the bitter water that delivers a curse. Then
the priest will put the woman under oath and say, ‘If no man has
slept with you and you have not had an adulterous affair and become
impure while married to your husband, may this bitter water that
delivers a curse not harm you. But if you have had an affair while
married to your husband and have defiled yourself by sleeping with a
man other than your husband’—here the priest puts the woman under
this curse—‘may God cause your people to curse and
revile you when he makes your womb shrivel and your belly swell. Let
this water that delivers a curse enter your body so that your belly
swells and your womb shrivels.’“Then the woman shall say, ‘Amen.
Amen.’
Numbers
5:21 Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)
21 then
the cohen is to make the woman swear with an oath
that includes a curse; the cohen will say to the
woman, “. . .may Adonai make you an object of
cursing and condemnation among your people by making your private
parts shrivel and your abdomen swell up!
Numbers
5:27 Complete Jewish Bible (CJB)
27 When he
has made her drink the water, then, if she is unclean and has been
unfaithful to her husband, the water that causes the curse will enter
her and become bitter, so that her abdomen swells and her private
parts shrivel up; and the woman will become an object of cursing
among her people.
Numbers
5:21 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
21 at
this point the priest must make the woman take the oath with the
sworn curse, and he is to say to her—‘May the Lord make
you into an object of your people’s cursing and swearing when He
makes your thigh[a] shrivel
and your belly swell.[b]
Numbers
5:27 Holman Christian Standard Bible (HCSB)
27 “When he
makes her drink the water, if she has defiled herself and been
unfaithful to her husband, the water that brings a curse will enter
her and cause bitter suffering; her belly will swell, and her thigh
will shrivel. She will become a curse among her people.