What Does Numbers 5:14 Mean?
And the breath of jealousy passes over him, and he is jealous of his wife, and she is soiled; or if the breath of jealousy passes over him, and he is jealous of his wife, and she is not soiled.
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
And the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled:THE KEY
The same jealous force rises whether she is defiled or not, so jealousy itself does not establish what is true.
THE MEANING
Jealousy can come over you as a powerful inner force, yet its force alone does not reveal whether the accusation is true. The verse holds both possibilities open: she is defiled, or she is not.
WHAT THIS UNDOES
The lie that the strength of your suspicion proves its truth.
THE ROOT
קִנֵּא
qinnēʾ
GROWS FROM
קנא
q-n-ʾ
To be jealous or zealous; to hold an intense attachment.
The same root names jealousy and zeal: it describes the intensity of the feeling, not the accuracy of its conclusion. Here that intensity accompanies either outcome, whether she is defiled or not.
ALSO GROWS
qinʾāh: Jealousy or zeal.
קִנְאָה
This noun names the force that comes over the husband, without deciding whether his suspicion is true.
qannāʾ: Jealous or zealous.
קַנָּא
The related adjective shows the same root can describe a quality of intense attachment, not proof of what another person has done.
רוּחַ
ruach
GROWS FROM
רוח
r-w-ḥ
To blow or breathe; moving air.
Ruach is the same Hebrew word for breath, wind, and spirit. In this verse, jealousy is pictured as a force that passes over him, while the repeated phrase leaves the truth of his suspicion unresolved.
ALSO GROWS
ruach: Wind or moving air.
רוּחַ
The wind sense makes vivid the force that passes over him.
ruach: Breath.
רוּחַ
The breath sense keeps the verse connected to an inner, animating force.
THE PATTERN
A strong impression or inward conviction does not by itself settle what is true.
There is a way straight before a man, but its latter end is the ways of death.Do not judge by what the eye sees, but judge the judgment of alignment.Therefore, judge nothing before its season, until the Lord comes, who will light up the hidden things of darkness, and will make visible the plans of the hearts. And then the praise will come to each one from God.THE THREAD
For jealousy is the heat of a man, and he does not spare in the day of vengeance.The same root, קנא (q-n-ʾ), names the jealousy in both verses. Proverbs exposes the danger carried by that force, while Numbers makes clear that its presence does not determine whether the suspicion is true.
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