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[Tryst]

I saw someone post in an online discussion on abortion that Numbers 5:11-29 shows that God approves of abortion, since He prescribes that a woman suspected of adultery take bitter water which will cause her to miscarry if she has been unfaithful.

Such an interpretation goes against my understanding of Christian, particularly Catholic, teachings against abortion and yet this passage does seem to suggest a method of determining if a woman has been unfaithful, which would lead to her miscarriage.

What are your thoughts on this and how it should be interpreted?

Thanks

[jimwalton]

No, Numbers 5.11-29 does not approve abortion. Numbers 5.11-31 isn't a step-by-step abortion guide. There is nothing in Kool-Aid : ) that will cause abortion. The text is about a woman who is accused of hooking up, and whose husband is upset, obviously, and wants her to come clean on it. First he is to take an offering to God as a way to ask the Lord's participation in the proceedings. Then the wife is to drink some water from the tabernacle mixed with some dust from the tabernacle floor, both of which would be symbols of their relationship with God and their (supposed) commitment to honor him. By drinking the water, she would in effect be agreeing to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Then when the priest asks her if the accusation is true or not, she's bound to her word. That's the point anyway. And then if it is shown that she was faithful and her husband is just suspicious, then God will bless her, and if it is shown that she was a naughty girl and did the wild thing (or if she lies about it to cover it up), that God would punish her for that breach of covenant, both with him and with her husband. But it's far from a step-by-step abortion guide.

Other cultures used a "trial by ordeal" kind of process where the accused is placed "in the hand of God" by some mechanism, generally one that will put the accused in jeopardy, such as drinking poison or being set on fire. And if the deity intervenes to protect them, then that's a declaration of acquittal. Obviously, this is a "guilty until proven innocent" scenario. Hammurabi used a "river ordeal" for trials in his court.

This process, outlined in Num. 5.11-13, involves neither magic nor danger, but simply creates a symbolic situation for the woman to tell the truth and for God to respond. The woman here is presumed innocent until circumstances (directed by the Lord) show otherwise.