Numbers 5:23

American Standard Version with Strong's Numbers

And 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 And Jehovah said unto Moses, Write this for a memorial in a book, and rehearse it in the ears of Joshua: that I will utterly blot out the remembrance of Amalek from under heaven.
• Deut 31:19 : 19 Now therefore write ye this song for you, and teach thou 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 saith Jehovah, Behold, I will bring evil upon this place, and upon the inhabitants thereof, 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! (Lo, here is my signature, let the Almighty answer me); And [that I had] the indictment which mine adversary hath written!
• Ps 51:1 : 1 For the Chief Musician. A Psalm of David; when Nathan the prophet came unto him, after he had gone in to Bath-sheba. Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy lovingkindness: According to the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgressions.
• Ps 51:9 : 9 Hide thy face from my sins, And blot out all mine iniquities.
• Isa 43:25 : 25 I, even I, am he that blotteth out thy transgressions for mine own sake; and I will not remember thy sins.
• Isa 44:22 : 22 I have blotted out, as a thick cloud, thy transgressions, and, as a cloud, thy sins: return unto me; for I have redeemed thee.
• Jer 51:60-64 : 60 And Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon Babylon, even all these words that are written concerning Babylon. 61 And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to Babylon, then see that thou read all these words, 62 and say, O Jehovah, thou hast spoken concerning this place, to cut it off, that none shall dwell therein, neither man nor beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever. 63 And it shall be, when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of the Euphrates: 64 and thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and shall not rise again because of the evil that I will bring upon her; and they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah.
• Acts 3:19 : 19 Repent ye therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that so there may come seasons of refreshing from the presence of the Lord;
• 1 Cor 16:21-22 : 21 The salutation of me Paul with mine own hand. 22 If any man loveth not the Lord, let him be anathema. Maranatha.
• Rev 20:12 : 12 And I saw the dead, the great and the small, standing before the throne; and books were opened: and another book was opened, which is [the book] of life: and the dead were judged out of the things which were written in the books, according to their works.