Comments on: Women’s thighs falling away - new Bible diet?

By: BA

BA — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 16:28:02 +0000

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

By: BA

BA — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 16:19:34 +0000

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

By: thehararite

thehararite — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 16:09:49 +0000

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.

By: BA

BA — Tue, 07 Mar 2006 00:36:30 +0000

Good comments on Wayne’s blog about this as well.

http://www.blogger.com/comment.g?blogID=11875966&postID=114166622750724723&isPopup=true

AMDG

By: matthew

matthew — Mon, 06 Mar 2006 22:36:45 +0000

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.”

By: Talmida

Talmida — Mon, 06 Mar 2006 18:46:41 +0000

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.

By: Better Bibles Blog

Better Bibles Blog — Mon, 06 Mar 2006 17:36:05 +0000

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 …