Numbers 5:23

Webster's Bible (1833)

"The priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out into the water of bitterness.

📖 Grammatical Analysis

Original Text

וְ֠כָתַב אֶת־הָאָלֹ֥ת הָאֵ֛לֶּה הַכֹּהֵ֖ן בַּסֵּ֑פֶר וּמָחָ֖ה אֶל־מֵ֥י הַמָּרִֽים׃

Transliteration

And wəḵātaḇ ʾet-the-ʾālōt these the-kōhēn in-the-sēper and māḥāh into-mê the-mārîm

Grammar Details

• *wəḵātaḇ*: Qal perfect, 3rd masculine singular with waw conjunctive - and he shall write
• *ʾet*: direct object marker
• *ʾālōt*: feminine plural with definite article - the curses
• *kōhēn*: masculine singular with definite article - the priest
• *sēper*: masculine singular with definite article - the book/scroll
• *māḥāh*: Qal perfect, 3rd masculine singular with waw conjunctive - and he shall wipe/blot out
• *mê*: masculine plural construct - waters of
• *mārîm*: masculine plural with definite article - the bitter

Word Meanings

• *wəḵātaḇ*: write/record/inscribe
• *ʾālōt*: curses/imprecations
• *kōhēn*: priest/officiant
• *sēper*: book/scroll/document
• *māḥāh*: wipe/blot out/dissolve
• *mê* *mārîm*: bitter water/water of bitterness

Referenced Verses

• Exod 17:14 : 14 Yahweh said to Moses, "Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: that I will utterly blot out the memory of Amalek from under the sky."
• Deut 31:19 : 19 Now therefore write you this song for you, and teach you it the children of Israel: put it in their mouths, that this song may be a witness for me against the children of Israel.
• 2 Chr 34:24 : 24 Thus says Yahweh, Behold, I will bring evil on this place, and on the inhabitants of it, even all the curses that are written in the book which they have read before the king of Judah.
• Job 31:35 : 35 Oh that I had one to hear me! (Behold, here is my signature, let the Almighty answer me); Let the accuser write my indictment!
• Ps 51:1 : 1 > Have mercy on me, God, according to your loving kindness. According to the multitude of your tender mercies, blot out my transgressions.
• Ps 51:9 : 9 Hide your face from my sins, And blot out all of my iniquities.
• Isa 43:25 : 25 I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake; and I will not remember your sins.
• Isa 44:22 : 22 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, your transgressions, and, as a cloud, your sins: return to me; for I have redeemed you.
• Jer 51:60-64 : 60 Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come on Babylon, even all these words that are written concerning Babylon. 61 Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When you come to Babylon, then see that you read all these words, 62 and say, Yahweh, you have spoken concerning this place, to cut it off, that none shall dwell therein, neither man nor animal, but that it shall be desolate forever. 63 It shall be, when you have made an end of reading this book, that you shall bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates: 64 and you shall say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise again because of the evil that I will bring on her; and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
• Acts 3:19 : 19 "Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, so that there may come times of refreshing from the presence of the Lord,
• 1 Cor 16:21-22 : 21 This greeting is by me, Paul, with my own hand. 22 If any man doesn't love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be accursed{Greek: anathema.}. Come, Lord!{Aramaic: Maranatha!}
• Rev 20:12 : 12 I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne, and they opened books. Another book was opened, which is the book of life. The dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works.