Numbers 5:22

 Numbers 5:22

And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, to make thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot: And the woman shall say, Amen, amen.

a. NLT: Now may this water that brings the curse enter your body and cause your abdomen to swell and your womb to shrivel. [Hebrew and your thigh to waste away.] And the woman will be required to say, ‘Yes, let it be so.’  [Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2007. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers Inc., Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.]

b. ASV: aAd this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, and make thy body to swell, and thy thigh to fall away. And the woman shall say, Amen, Amen.  [Thomas Nelson & Sons first published the American Standard Version in 1901. This translation of the Bible is in the public domain.]

c. YLT: And these waters which cause the curse have gone into thy bowels, to cause the belly to swell, and the thigh to fall; and the woman hath said, Amen, Amen.  [The Young's Literal Translation was translated by Robert Young, who believed in a strictly literal translation of God's word. This version of the Bible is in the public domain.]

d. Classic Amplified: May this water that brings the curse go into your bowels and make your body swell and your thigh fall away. And the woman shall say, So let it be, so let it be.  [Amplified Bible, Classic Edition (AMPC) Copyright © 1954, 1958, 1962, 1964, 1965, 1987 by The Lockman Foundation]

e. Stone Edition THE CHUMASH, Rabbinic Commentary:  These waters that cause curse shall enter your innards to cause stomach to distend and thigh to collapse! And the woman shall respond, Amen, amen.  [The Artscroll Series/Stone Edition, THE CHUMASH Copyright 1998, 2000 by MESORAH PUBLICATIONS, Ldt.]

f. The Israel Bible: May this water that induces the spell enter you body, causing the belly to distend and the thigh to sag.” And the woman shall say, “Amen, amen!”  [The English Translation was adapted by Israel 365 from the JPS Tanakh. Copyright Ⓒ 1985 by the Jewish Publication Society. All rights reserved.]

g. NIV:  May this water that brings a curse enter your body so that your abdomen swells or your womb miscarries.” “ ‘Then the woman is to say, “Amen. So be it.” [THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by Permission of Biblica, Inc.® All rights reserved worldwide.]

h. CEB: And may the water that brings these curses enter your stomach and make your womb discharge and make you miscarry.” And the woman will say, “I agree, I agree.”

1. “And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels…”

a. [And] this [Strong: 428 'el-leh ale'-leh prolonged from 411; these or those:--an- (the) other; one sort, so, some, such, them, these (same), they, this, those, thus, which, who(-m).]

b. water [Strong: 4325 mayim mah'-yim dual of a primitive noun (but used in a singular sense); water; figuratively, juice; by euphemism, urine, semen:--+ piss, wasting, water(-ing, (-course, -flood, -spring)).]

c. [that causeth the] curse [Strong: 779 'arar aw-rar' a primitive root; to execrate:--X bitterly curse.]

d. [shall] go [Strong: 935 bow' bo a primitive root; to go or come (in a wide variety of applications):--abide, apply, attain, X be, befall, + besiege, bring (forth, in, into, to pass), call, carry, X certainly, (cause, let, thing for) to come (against, in, out, upon, to pass), depart, X doubtless again, + eat, + employ, (cause to) enter (in, into, -tering, -trance, -try), be fallen, fetch, + follow, get, give, go (down, in, to war), grant, + have, X indeed, (in-)vade, lead, lift (up), mention, pull in, put, resort, run (down), send, set, X (well) stricken (in age), X surely, take (in), way.]

e. [into they] bowels [Strong: 4578 me`ah may-aw' from an unused root probably meaning to be soft; used only in plural the intestines, or (collectively) the abdomen, figuratively, sympathy; by implication, a vest; by extens. the stomach, the uterus (or of men, the seat of generation), the heart (figuratively):--belly, bowels, X heart, womb.]

2. “...to make thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot: And the woman shall say, Amen, amen.”

a. [to make thy] belly [Strong:  990 beten beh'-ten from an unused root probably meaning to be hollow; the belly, especially the womb; also the bosom or body of anything:-- belly, body, + as they be born, + within, womb.]

1). There is no doubt that this many times refers to the womb. 

a). Genesis 25:23, 24 And the LORD said unto her, Two nations are in thy womb, and two manner of people shall be separated from thy bowels; and the one people shall be stronger than the other people; and the elder shall serve the younger.

25:24 And when her days to be delivered were fulfilled, behold, there were twins in her womb.

b). Deuteronomy 7:13 And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee.

c). Judges 13:5 For, lo, thou shalt conceive, and bear a son; and no razor shall come on his head: for the child shall be a Nazarite unto God from the womb: and he shall begin to deliver Israel out of the hand of the Philistines.

b. [to] swell [Strong: 6638 tsabah tsaw-baw' a primitive root; to amass, i.e. grow turgid; specifically, to array an army against:--fight swell.]

c. [Strong: 5307 naphal naw-fal' a primitive root; to fall, in a great variety of applications (intransitive or causative, literal or figurative):--be accepted, cast (down, self, (lots), out), cease, die, divide (by lot), (let) fail, (cause to, let, make, ready to) fall (away, down, -en, -ing), fell(-ing), fugitive, have (inheritance), inferior, be judged (by mistake for 6419), lay (along), (cause to) lie down, light (down), be (X hast) lost, lying, overthrow, overwhelm, perish, present(-ed, -ing), (make to) rot, slay, smite out, X surely, throw down.]

d. [and thy] thigh [Strong: 3409 yarek yaw-rake' from an unused root meaning to be soft; the thigh (from its fleshy softness); by euphem. the generative parts; figuratively, a shank, flank, side:--X body, loins, shaft, side, thigh.]

e. [to] rot [Strong: 5307 naphal naw-fal' a primitive root; to fall, in a great variety of applications (intransitive or causative, literal or figurative):--be accepted, cast (down, self, (lots), out), cease, die, divide (by lot), (let) fail, (cause to, let, make, ready to) fall (away, down, -en, -ing), fell(-ing), fugitive, have (inheritance), inferior, be judged (by mistake for 6419), lay (along), (cause to) lie down, light (down), be (X hast) lost, lying, overthrow, overwhelm, perish, present(-ed, -ing), (make to) rot, slay, smite out, X surely, throw down.]

1). This is not one of the at least three Hebrew words used for miscarry.

a).  shâkôl, [Strong: 7921] shaw-kole'; a primitive root; properly, to miscarry, i.e. suffer abortion; by analogy, to bereave (literally or figuratively):—bereave (of children), barren, cast calf (fruit, young), be (make) childless, deprive, destroy, × expect, lose children, miscarry, rob of children, spoil.] 

(1) Exodus 23:26 There shall nothing cast their young, nor be barren, in thy land: the number of thy days I will fulfil.

(2) Genesis 31:38 This twenty years have I been with thee; thy ewes and thy she goats have not cast their young, and the rams of thy flock have I not eaten.

(3) Job 21:10 Their bull gendereth, and faileth not; their cow calveth, and casteth not her calf.

(4) Jeremiah 15:7 And I will fan them with a fan in the gates of the land; I will bereave them of children, I will destroy my people, since they return not from their ways.

(5) Isaiah 49:21 Then shalt thou say in thine heart, Who hath begotten me these, seeing I have lost my children, and am desolate, a captive, and removing to and fro? and who hath brought up these? Behold, I was left alone; these, where had they been?

(6) Hosea 9:14 Give them, O LORD: what wilt thou give? give them a miscarrying womb and dry breasts.

b). nephel, [Strongs 5309] neh'-fel; or נֵפֶל nêphel; from H5307; something fallen, i.e. an abortion:—untimely birth.

(1) Job 3:16  Or as an hidden untimely birth I had not been; as infants which never saw light.

(2) Psalm 58:8 As a snail which melteth, let every one of them pass away: like the untimely birth of a woman, that they may not see the sun.

(3) Ecclesiastes 6:3 If a man beget an hundred children, and live many years, so that the days of his years be many, and his soul be not filled with good, and also that he have no burial; I say, that an untimely birth is better than he.

c).  sheger, [Strong: 7698] sheh'-ger from an unused root probably meaning to eject; the fetus (as finally expelled):--that cometh of, increase. 

(1) Exodus 13:12  That thou shalt set apart unto the LORD all that openeth the matrix, and every firstling that cometh of a beast which thou hast; the males shall be the LORD'S.

(2) Deuteronomy 7:13 And he will love thee, and bless thee, and multiply thee: he will also bless the fruit of thy womb, and the fruit of thy land, thy corn, and thy wine, and thine oil, the increase of thy kine, and the flocks of thy sheep, in the land which he sware unto thy fathers to give thee.

(3) The third word is “sheger” it is number 7698 in strong’s dictionary. Strong’s definition is, “to eject; the fetus (as finally expelled); But this word is never used in the association with humans, but only with animals and it never means one born dead.  It only is used for the live birth of an animal. AMG The Complete Word Study Dictionary Old Testament says it just means “the offspring of an animal.” Any of these words could have been used if the intent were to convey, “miscarry”. Instead a word was used that conveys the idea of a live birth. This internal evidence shows that Exodus 21:22, 23 is not referring to an incident involving “miscarriage” but rather a live, premature birth.

f. [And the] woman [Strong: 802 'ishshah ish-shaw' feminine of 376 or 582; irregular plural, nashiym {naw-sheem'}; a woman (used in the same wide sense as 582):--(adulter)ess, each, every, female, X many, + none, one, + together, wife, woman. Often unexpressed in English.]

g. [shall] say [Strong: 559 'amar aw-mar' a primitive root; to say (used with great latitude):--answer, appoint, avouch, bid, boast self, call, certify, challenge, charge, + (at the, give) command(-ment), commune, consider, declare, demand, X desire, determine, X expressly, X indeed, X intend, name, X plainly, promise, publish, report, require, say, speak (against, of), X still, X suppose, talk, tell, term, X that is, X think, use (speech), utter, X verily, X yet.]

h. Amen [Strong: 543 'amen aw-mane' from 539; sure; abstract, faithfulness; adverb, truly:--Amen, so be it, truth.]

i. amen [Strong: 543 'amen aw-mane' from 539; sure; abstract, faithfulness; adverb, truly:--Amen, so be it, truth.]