Women’s thighs falling away - new Bible diet?
6th March 2006
My wife and I had a discussion about a verse in our daily reading today. She asked me what it meant and I thought it was a good blog entry.
…her thigh shall fall away…
Hmmm…that sounds like it could be a good thing doesn’t it? Perhaps some Bible diet that causes women to lose weight in their thighs/leg area (worded in old english of course “shall fall away”).
Here is a bit more of the verse, …her belly (stomach) will swell, and her thigh will shrivel…
Ok so maybe it doesn’t sound all that great when you read more of the verse. Below is the full verse:
Numbers 5:27 NET
(27) When he has made her drink the water, then, if she has defiled herself and behaved unfaithfully toward her husband, the water that brings a curse will enter her to produce bitterness — her abdomen will swell, her thigh will fall away, and the woman will become a curse among her people.
I wanted to point out that sometimes “literal” translations become counter productive when we have no idea what the meaning is. What in the world does “her thigh will fall away” mean? It sounds to me like some sort of weight loss program that is actually working. When you read the whole verse it obviously doesn’t have to do with weight loss but some people still may take it as her leg falling off or something similar. If you read it in context with other verses around it you may get a better picture of what it truly means. However, you may not. Why not tranlsate the idiom so that people can understand it?
Hebrew experts please correct me here if need be. It should read something along the lines of…her womb will (fall away, shrivel, dry up, stop functioning) and she will be unable to have children.
I found it interesting that the NET Bible didn’t translate it to be more understandable. Below is a sample of different translations.
(CEV) If the woman has been unfaithful, the water will immediately make her unable to have children, and she will be a curse among her people.
(GNB) If she has committed adultery, the water will cause bitter pain; her stomach will swell up and her genital organs will shrink. Her name will become a curse among her people.
(GW) If she has become unclean by being unfaithful to her husband, the water that can bring the curse will go into her and become bitter. Her stomach will swell, her uterus will drop, and she will become cursed among her people.
(KJV) And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, that, if she be defiled, and have done trespass against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot: and the woman shall be a curse among her people.
(MSG) If she has defiled herself in being unfaithful to her husband, when she drinks the water that delivers a curse, it will enter her body and cause acute pain; her belly will swell and her womb shrivel. She will be cursed among her people.
(NASB) ‘When he has made her drink the water, then it shall come about, if she has defiled herself and has been unfaithful to her husband, that the water which brings a curse will go into her and cause bitterness, and her abdomen will swell and her thigh will waste away, and the woman will become a curse among her people.
(Webster) And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, that, if she is defiled, and hath done trespass against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall perish: and the woman shall be a curse among her people.
AMDG
Addendum 3/7: In regards to my statement about the NET Bible above…to their credit, on a verse prior to this one (with the same phrase) they do have a translation note and a study note. I have reproduced the notes below. Just another reason why I like the NET Bible so much. In addition, it is mentioned on one of the comments below that the NET Bible translation philosophy is to translate more literal in the case of something questionable like this. I like that philosophy as long as there is a note to go along with it.
TEV takes the expression “your thigh” as a euphemism for the genitals: “cause your genital organs to shrink.”
Most commentators take the expressions to be euphemisms of miscarriage or stillbirth, meaning that there would be no fruit from an illegitimate union. The idea of the abdomen swelling has been reinterpreted by NEB to mean “fall away.” If this interpretation stands, then the idea is that the woman has become pregnant, and that has aroused the suspicion of the husband for some reason. R. K. Harrison (Numbers [WEC], 111-13) discusses a variety of other explanations for diseases and conditions that might be described by these terms. He translates it with “miscarriage,” but leaves open what the description might actually be. Cf. NRSV “makes your uterus drop, your womb discharge.”
March 6th, 2006 at 12:36
Is there a new Bible diet in Num. 5:27?…
Today’s post on Christendom Blogosis asks if the NET Bible translation of Num. 5:27 is about a new Bible diet. The conclusion is that the NET Bible wording is … (well, go read it for yourself; it’s interesting and has important comments for making …
March 6th, 2006 at 13:46
RAbbi R.E.Friedman in his Commentary on the Torah suggests that the swelling belly and what he translates as her sagging thigh, describe pregnancy. He says that what is happening here is that the woman’s pregnancy is evidence of her adultery. Drinking the mixture will bring God’s curse on her. And she will carry through with the pregnancy.
If I’m reading him correctly, he is saying that the purpose is to curse the woman because she cannot be executed for adultery (the punishment under the law) without witnesses. The only witness to the crime is her pregnancy.
It’s kind of a different spin on the subject. And I like his translation of “sag”. The Hebrew word is n-ph-l, fall or collapse.
March 6th, 2006 at 17:36
ESV:
“And when he has made her drink the water, then, if she has defiled herself and has broken faith with her husband, the water that brings the curse shall enter into her and cause bitter pain, and her womb shall swell, and her thigh shall fall away, and the woman shall become a curse among her people.”
HCSB:
“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.”
March 6th, 2006 at 19:36
Good comments on Wayne’s blog about this as well.
http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11875966&postID=114166622750724723&isPopup=true
AMDG
March 7th, 2006 at 11:09
My understanding of the translation philosophy of the NET Bible is that where meaning was ambiguous they picked a more literal translation rather than choosing from one of the possible meanings. I think that this is a wise idea. In my opinion it is better to be obscure than to make a passage say something that it doesn’t necessarily say. I think, however, in the case that a translation note would help clarify the various possible meanings.
March 7th, 2006 at 11:19
I agree with that philosophy as well, which is why I like the NET Bible so much. However, most translations don’t give you any clue as to what it means.
AMDG
March 7th, 2006 at 11:28
Just FYI, the NET Bible does have a couple notes on Numbers 5:21. One interesting thing to note is either a typo or very poor grammar “will say to the her”.
Num 5:21 Then the priest will put the woman under the oath of the curse40 and will say41 to the her, “The LORD make you an attested curse42 among your people,43 if the LORD makes44 your thigh fall away45 and your abdomen swell;46
45 tn TEV takes the expression “your thigh” as a euphemism for the genitals: “cause your genital organs to shrink.”
46 sn Most commentators take the expressions to be euphemisms of miscarriage or stillbirth, meaning that there would be no fruit from an illegitimate union. The idea of the abdomen swelling has been reinterpreted by NEB to mean “fall away.” If this interpretation stands, then the idea is that the woman has become pregnant, and that has aroused the suspicion of the husband for some reason. R. K. Harrison (Numbers [WEC], 111-13) discusses a variety of other explanations for diseases and conditions that might be described by these terms. He translates it with “miscarriage,” but leaves open what the description might actually be. Cf. NRSV “makes your uterus drop, your womb discharge.”
AMDG