What Does Numbers 5:12 Mean?
Speak to the children of Israel, and say to them, If any man's wife turns aside, and crosses over against him,
Key words are shown with the Hebrew or Greek and what each word meant.
Selah Decoded Version The Selah Decoded Version renders what the Hebrew and Greek words meant to the people who first heard them.
King James wording
King James Version
Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man’s wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him,THE KEY
One Hebrew root describes a turn from the path, while another names a breach of trust: the verse keeps deviation and betrayal distinct.
THE MEANING
The sentence places before you a conditional: a wife turns aside and commits a breach against her husband. It joins a change in direction with a distinct act of unfaithfulness. Its frame centers the husband’s claim, while the wife’s own voice is absent.
THE ROOT
תִּשְׂטֶה
tisteh
GROWS FROM
סטה
satah
Turn aside or deviate from a path.
“turns aside” in this verse is tisteh. This root names a change of direction; by itself, it does not name betrayal. Proverbs uses the same root for turning away from evil, so the direction of the turn gives it force.
ALSO GROWS
satah: To turn aside or depart from a path.
סָטָה
This is the root verb behind the wife’s turning in the verse.
steh: Turn aside or turn away.
סְטֵה
Proverbs 4:15 uses this form to direct a turn away from evil, showing that turning aside can serve different ends.
מָעַל
ma'al
GROWS FROM
מעל
ma'al
Act unfaithfully; breach trust.
“crosses over” in this verse is ma'al. The Hebrew repeats this root in the phrase: she acts unfaithfully, a breach against him. The repetition makes disloyalty the shape of the accusation, alongside the separate image of turning aside.
ALSO GROWS
ma'al: To act unfaithfully or violate trust.
מָעַל
This verb form appears just before the noun in the verse, making the act and breach echo one another.
me'ilah: Unfaithfulness, trespass, or breach.
מְעִילָה
This noun from the same root makes clear that the breach is a named violation of trust.
THE PATTERN
A turn away from a bond becomes betrayal when it violates the trust that bond holds.
Let go of it, and leave it; do not cross over it. Turn aside from it, and pass on.Surely, as a wife has dealt treacherously away from her companion, so you have dealt treacherously with me, O house of Israel, says the LORD.And he said to them, Whoever sends away his wife and marries another commits adultery against her.THE THREAD
Let go of it, and leave it; do not cross over it. Turn aside from it, and pass on.Proverbs uses the same Hebrew root for turning aside, but directs the turn away from evil. The shared root reveals a change of direction; the word for trespass in Numbers names the breach of trust that accompanies this particular turn.
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