Numbers 5:19

Num 5:19 And the priest shall charge her by an oath, and say unto the woman, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness [with another] instead of thy husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse:

Ver. 19. Causeth the curse.] The divine justice caused it; the water discovered it.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

19. being under thy husband] i.e. under his authority; cf. Eze_23:5 ‘when she was mine’ (R.V. ), lit. ‘under me.’

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And the priest shall charge her by an oath,.... Or give her her oath:

and say unto the woman, if no man hath lain with thee: besides her husband:

and thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness with another instead of thy husband; which is but another phrase expressive of the same thing, the sin of adultery:

be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse; if this is the case, it shall produce no bitter effects, or bring any curse upon thee.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Adjure. The woman was put to her oath. (Josephus) (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

Charge her by an oath, to answer truly to his question, or to declare by oath whether she be guilty or no, and after such oath shall say as follows.

If no man, to wit, except thy husband, as is manifest from the whole context; or no other man, the word another being understood here, as it is thought to be also Gen 14:1; 36:6; Exo 22:20. With another, or, with him, i.e. the man now mentioned. So it is an ellipsis easily supplied out of the text.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

19. Instead of thy husband — Hebrew, under thy husband; that is, being in the power of thy husband. This explains the words, no man.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

If no man. The oath presupposed her innocence. With another instead of thy husband. Hebrew, "under thy husband, i.e., as a wife subject to a husband. (Eze_23:5 Hos_4:12) Upandrov ousa , Septuagint. It was only as a femme couverte that she could commit this sin.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

By an oath - To answer truly to his question, or to declare whether she be guilty or no, and after such oath shall say as follows.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

והשביע אתה וגו׳ AND [THE PRIEST] SHALL ADJURE HER etc. — and wherein does this adjuration consist? In that he says to the woman, “if no man hath lain with thee … הנקי, be thou free”, which implies: “if, however, a man hath lain with thee, חנקי, thou deservest to be suffocated”, because from a negative statement you may deduce its converse, the positive statement. It is true that in an adjuration it would be more appropriate to make this threat of punishment if guilty, and to allow the converse to be derived from it, but here it mentions first what will happen if she has not sinned, since it intends to suggest that it is a duty in capital cases to begin the proceedings with the statement of something that bears upon the innocence of the accused (Sotah 17a; Shevuot 36a; Sanhedrin 33a).

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.

IF NO ‘ISH’ (MAN) HAVE LAIN WITH THEE, AND IF THOU HAST NOT GONE ASIDE TO UNCLEANNESS. These two conditions constitute [in reality] one. Thus the verse is stating: “If no man have lain with thee, and thus thou has not gone aside to uncleanness, be thou free from the water of bitterness; ” [for you cannot say that these are two separate conditions], since her husband lay with her and he is “a man” [thus the priest could not say to her, if no man have lain with thee; therefore both conditions must be one, as explained]. It is possible that the word ish (man) lacks the definite article [making it ha’ish — “the man”], and Scripture is stating: “If ‘the man’ has not lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness at all,” and he makes her swear specifically concerning the particular man about whom he [her husband] had warned her, and in general terms about others. And so have the Rabbis said: “And the woman shall say: ‘Amen, Amen. ’ [The double utterance of the word ‘Amen’ signifies:] ‘Amen [that I have not committed adultery] with this man, and Amen [that I have not committed adultery] with any other man.’”

Ramban (Nachmanides) on the Tanakh — English translation: “Commentary on the Torah by Ramban (Nachmanides). Translated and annotated by Charles B. Chavel. New York, Shilo Pub. House, 1971-1976” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.