Jealousy

Boyd’s Bible Dictionary:

The jealous husband brought his suspected wife before the priest, with her offering of barley meal, without oil or frankincense, in her hand

The priest took holy water in an earthen vessel in his hand and sprinkled it with the dust of the floor. Then the priest administered the oath to her. If she confessed to guilt she was compelled to drink the water, and stood accursed. If otherwise, she was allowed to go free (Num. 5:12-31¹²Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man's wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him, ¹³And a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept close, and she be defiled, and there be no witness against her, neither she be taken with the manner; ¹⁴And 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: ¹⁵Then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest, and he shall bring her offering for her, the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense thereon; for it is an offering of jealousy, an offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance. ¹⁶And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the Lord: ¹⁷And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water: ¹⁸And the priest shall set the woman before the Lord, and uncover the woman's head, and put the offering of memorial in her hands, which is the jealousy offering: and the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that causeth the curse: ¹⁹And the priest shall charge her by an oath, and say unto the woman, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness with another instead of thy husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse: ²⁰But if thou hast gone aside to another instead of thy husband, and if thou be defiled, and some man have lain with thee beside thine husband: ²¹Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman, The Lord make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the Lord doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell; ²²And 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. ²³And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out with the bitter water: ²⁴And he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that causeth the curse: and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter. ²⁵Then the priest shall take the jealousy offering out of the woman's hand, and shall wave the offering before the Lord, and offer it upon the altar: ²⁶And the priest shall take an handful of the offering, even the memorial thereof, and burn it upon the altar, and afterward shall cause the woman to drink the water. ²⁷And 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. ²⁸And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive seed. ²⁹This is the law of jealousies, when a wife goeth aside to another instead of her husband, and is defiled; ³⁰Or when the spirit of jealousy cometh upon him, and he be jealous over his wife, and shall set the woman before the Lord, and the priest shall execute upon her all this law. ³¹Then shall the man be guiltless from iniquity, and this woman shall bear her iniquity. (Numbers 5:12‑31)).

Concise Bible Dictionary:

“To be inflamed.” The warm affection that cannot bear to see its loved one enticed by another, as a man is jealous of his wife (Num. 5:14¹⁴And 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: (Numbers 5:14)); as Paul felt for the Corinthian saints (2 Cor. 11:2²For I am jealous over you with godly jealousy: for I have espoused you to one husband, that I may present you as a chaste virgin to Christ. (2 Corinthians 11:2)); and as God regarded the people and the land which He had chosen, and upon which He had placed His name (Psa. 39:5⁵Behold, thou hast made my days as an handbreadth; and mine age is as nothing before thee: verily every man at his best state is altogether vanity. Selah. (Psalm 39:5); Ezek. 39:25²⁵Therefore thus saith the Lord God; Now will I bring again the captivity of Jacob, and have mercy upon the whole house of Israel, and will be jealous for my holy name; (Ezekiel 39:25); Joel 2:18¹⁸Then will the Lord be jealous for his land, and pity his people. (Joel 2:18); Zech. 1:14¹⁴So the angel that communed with me said unto me, Cry thou, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts; I am jealous for Jerusalem and for Zion with a great jealousy. (Zechariah 1:14); Zech. 8:2²Thus saith the Lord of hosts; I was jealous for Zion with great jealousy, and I was jealous for her with great fury. (Zechariah 8:2)). “Jehovah, whose name is jealous, is a jealous God” (Ex. 34:14¹⁴For thou shalt worship no other god: for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God: (Exodus 34:14)).

Moses speaks of Jehovah provoking Israel to jealousy by their seeing Gentiles coming into blessing. Paul also sought to do the same that they might be saved (Deut. 32:21²¹They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealousy with those which are not a people; I will provoke them to anger with a foolish nation. (Deuteronomy 32:21); Rom. 10:19¹⁹But I say, Did not Israel know? First Moses saith, I will provoke you to jealousy by them that are no people, and by a foolish nation I will anger you. (Romans 10:19); Rom. 11:11,14¹¹I say then, Have they stumbled that they should fall? God forbid: but rather through their fall salvation is come unto the Gentiles, for to provoke them to jealousy. (Romans 11:11)
¹⁴If by any means I may provoke to emulation them which are my flesh, and might save some of them. (Romans 11:14)).

THE IMAGE OF JEALOUSY, which provoketh to jealousy, was seen in a vision by the prophet, set up in the temple (Ezek. 8:3-5³And he put forth the form of an hand, and took me by a lock of mine head; and the spirit lifted me up between the earth and the heaven, and brought me in the visions of God to Jerusalem, to the door of the inner gate that looketh toward the north; where was the seat of the image of jealousy, which provoketh to jealousy. ⁴And, behold, the glory of the God of Israel was there, according to the vision that I saw in the plain. ⁵Then said he unto me, Son of man, lift up thine eyes now the way toward the north. So I lifted up mine eyes the way toward the north, and behold northward at the gate of the altar this image of jealousy in the entry. (Ezekiel 8:3‑5)), as when Manasseh set up the graven image in the house of Jehovah (2 Kings 21:7⁷And he set a graven image of the grove that he had made in the house, of which the Lord said to David, and to Solomon his son, In this house, and in Jerusalem, which I have chosen out of all tribes of Israel, will I put my name for ever: (2 Kings 21:7)); though doubtless by the scope of the prophecy reference is made to secret idolatry in connection with the service of the temple, and to secret idols in the hearts of those who were professedly the worshippers of God: such would assuredly provoke the jealousy of Jehovah.

THE LAW OF JEALOUSY, when a man suspected his wife of being unfaithful to him, is given in Numbers 5:11-31¹¹And the Lord spake unto Moses, saying, ¹²Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man's wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him, ¹³And a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept close, and she be defiled, and there be no witness against her, neither she be taken with the manner; ¹⁴And 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: ¹⁵Then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest, and he shall bring her offering for her, the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense thereon; for it is an offering of jealousy, an offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance. ¹⁶And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the Lord: ¹⁷And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water: ¹⁸And the priest shall set the woman before the Lord, and uncover the woman's head, and put the offering of memorial in her hands, which is the jealousy offering: and the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that causeth the curse: ¹⁹And the priest shall charge her by an oath, and say unto the woman, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness with another instead of thy husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse: ²⁰But if thou hast gone aside to another instead of thy husband, and if thou be defiled, and some man have lain with thee beside thine husband: ²¹Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman, The Lord make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the Lord doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell; ²²And 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. ²³And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out with the bitter water: ²⁴And he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that causeth the curse: and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter. ²⁵Then the priest shall take the jealousy offering out of the woman's hand, and shall wave the offering before the Lord, and offer it upon the altar: ²⁶And the priest shall take an handful of the offering, even the memorial thereof, and burn it upon the altar, and afterward shall cause the woman to drink the water. ²⁷And 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. ²⁸And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive seed. ²⁹This is the law of jealousies, when a wife goeth aside to another instead of her husband, and is defiled; ³⁰Or when the spirit of jealousy cometh upon him, and he be jealous over his wife, and shall set the woman before the Lord, and the priest shall execute upon her all this law. ³¹Then shall the man be guiltless from iniquity, and this woman shall bear her iniquity. (Numbers 5:11‑31). The woman was required to drink bitter water, composed of “holy water,” in which was placed dust from the floor of the tabernacle (type of the Holy Spirit applying what death is, as God’s judgment of sin, by the word to the conscience). If she had been unfaithful it would be a curse to her. It pointed figuratively to the question of Israel’s unfaithfulness to Jehovah.