Entity
Sotah Ritual: The Suspected Wife’s Ordeal
A reference page linking a name, group, or concept to the materials that discuss it.
A later name for Numbers 5:11–31, combining marital suspicion, oath and water with sanctuary dust.
Text
Numbers 5:11–31 sends a woman to a priest when her husband is jealous and witnesses are lacking. She drinks water prepared with sanctuary dust and the erased curse. The text does not state that she is pregnant, and the bodily consequence is debated. “Sotah” is a common later designation, not evidence of how often the rite was performed. [3][5][7]
References and notes
- Numbers 5:11–31 in Hebrew and JPS 1917; not a manuscript-critical collation Numbers 5:11–31, Hebrew and JPS 1917 Return to the text ↑
- Hanna Liss on the sotah rite and marital jealousy; full accessible article, not all its sources Hanna Liss, The Sotah Ritual: Permitting a Jealous Husband to Remain with His Wife (2019, updated 2026) Return to the text ↑
- Aslan Cohen Mizrahi, recent reading of the suspected-wife ordeal; accessible article and selected notes Aslan Cohen Mizrahi, The Suspected Adulteress Ordeal: A Ritual that Provokes YHWH (2026), body and selected notes Return to the text ↑
Research history
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Cite this record
IL Archive, «Sotah Ritual: The Suspected Wife’s Ordeal», Edition 2, https://ilarchive.com/en/entities/sotah-ritual