NUMBERS 5:12–31 DESCRIBES the ordeal of the sotah, the so-called errant wife or “woman accused of adultery.” If a man suspects that his wife has been unfaithful but lacks proof, she is brought to the priest, who puts her through a magical trial or ordeal to ascertain her innocence or guilt. We are not told what brings about the husband’s “fit of jealousy” (v. 14) nor is the spell-induced outcome for the guilty wife plainly described. The text simply states: “if she has defiled herself by breaking faith with her husband…her belly shall distend and her thigh shall sag; and the wife shall become a curse among her people” (v. 27). However, if the woman is innocent, she will be “unharmed and able to retain seed” (v. 28). This verse provides the clue to the entire passage; it helps us understand why the husband suspects his wife in the first place, and how to interpret the symptoms that the guilty woman will suffer.
Verse 28 is best understood to mean that the innocent wife will be able to maintain her pregnancy. If so, then the context of the sotah ritual can be seen as involving a pregnant woman whose husband suspects that he is not the father. It is the husband’s distrust of the origin of his wife’s pregnancy that causes the “fit of jealousy.” Therefore, the central issue is paternity: if the wife is innocent and the husband is truly the unborn child’s father, then the fetus will grow to term. It follows, therefore, that if the wife is guilty and the husband is not the father, then the wife will not be able “to retain seed.” That is, the spell of the ordeal will induce a miscarriage: “if she has defiled herself by breaking faith with her husband…her belly shall distend and her thigh shall sag” (v. 27). Ultimately, regardless of how we today might assess paternity, in the biblical context an intact pregnancy after this ritual is sufficient proof that the husband had indeed fathered this child.
—Sharon Keller