Numbers 5:28

Hebrew (Westminster Leningrad Codex)

English Translation

If the woman isn't defiled, but is clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive seed.

World English Bible · Public Domain

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וְנִקְּתָ֖ה

nâqâh

H5352

“and · to be pure”

Conjunction + Verb, Niphal, Sequential Perfect, 3rd Person, Feminine, Singular

Appears 44× in the Hebrew Bible
First appears at Genesis 24:8

Full BDB Definition

Origin: a primitive root

TWOT: 1412

to be empty, be clear, be pure, be free, be innocent, be desolate, be cut off - (Qal) to be empty, be clean, be pure - (Niphal) - to be cleaned out, be purged out - to be clean, be free from guilt, be innocent - to be free, be exempt from punishment - to be free, be exempt from obligation - (Piel) - to hold innocent, acquit - to leave unpunished

About this verse

These counts appear in no published source. They are computed here, from the morphology-tagged text and Lemma’s own curated glosses. What Lemma adds →

9: words
9: distinct lemmas
Pentateuch: section

Shared distinctive vocabulary

וְנִקְּתָ֖ה to be pure H5352 occurs in 33 verses of the Hebrew Bible. Also found in:

Grammatical profile

3 verbs
2 nouns
1 adjective
1 pronoun
1 conjunction
1 particle

Verb forms

נִטְמְאָה֙ Niphal · Perfect
וְנִקְּתָ֖ה Niphal · Sequential Perfect
וְנִזְרְעָ֥ה Niphal · Sequential Perfect

Hebrew & Septuagint length

In English translation the verse runs 17 words from the Hebrew and 20 from the Septuagint (LXX English) — closely comparable.

A rough comparison of the two English renderings, which tokenize alike — not a word-level alignment.

Word counts can differ between the Hebrew and the Greek without any difference in meaning — e.g. the Hebrew direct-object marker אֵת has no separate Greek word, and Greek often adds the article ὁ.

In the original languages it is 9 Hebrew tokens and 15 Greek tokens — but the two are counted differently (Hebrew bundles its prefixes and suffixes into one token; the Greek is in lemma form), so that isn’t a like-for-like length.

Cross-references

Topical passages linked to Numbers 5:28 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge — connected by theme and wording, ordered by reader-vote popularity; previews shown in the World English Bible.

Numbers 5:19 The priest shall cause her to swear, and shall tell the woman, 'If no man has lain with you, and if you haven't gone aside to uncleanness, being under your husband, be free from this water of bitterness that brings a curse.
Psalms 113:9 He settles the barren woman in her home, As a joyful mother of children. Praise Yah!
Micah 7:7–10 But as for me, I will look to Yahweh. I will wait for the God of my salvation. My God will hear me.
2 Corinthians 4:17 For our light affliction, which is for the moment, works for us more and more exceedingly an eternal weight of glory;
1 Peter 1:7 that the proof of your faith, which is more precious than gold that perishes even though it is tested by fire, may be found to result in praise, glory, and honor at the revelation of Jesus Christ--

Cross-references courtesy of OpenBible.info (CC BY 4.0).

Hebrew and Greek witnesses Masoretic Hebrew ↔ Greek Septuagint

The same verse in the two great witnesses to the Old Testament, shown verse-for-verse.

These are two independent witnesses, not word-aligned to each other, and the Septuagint is shown in lemma (dictionary) form.

Hebrew Numbers 5:28 Masoretic · Westminster Leningrad Codex

וְאִם לֹ֤א נִטְמְאָה֙ הָֽאִשָּׁ֔ה וּטְהֹרָ֖ה הִ֑וא וְנִקְּתָ֖ה וְנִזְרְעָ֥ה זָֽרַע

If the woman isn't defiled, but is clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive seed.

World English Bible · Public Domain

Greek LXX Numbers 5:28 Septuagint · lemma form

ἐάν δέ μή μιαίνω ὁ γυνή καί καθαρός εἰμί καί ἀθῷος εἰμί καί ἐκσπερματίζω σπέρμα

But if the woman have not been polluted, and be clean, then shall she be guiltless and shall conceive seed.

LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) · Public Domain

Hebrew: Westminster Leningrad Codex (CC BY 4.0). Greek: Septuagint (public domain); English from LXX2012 (modern English Septuagint) (Public Domain). How the Septuagint differs from the Hebrew →

Targum (Aramaic paraphrase)

The Targum is the ancient Jewish Aramaic paraphrase of the Hebrew Scriptures — an interpretive translation, not the Hebrew text itself. Onkelos (literal) and Pseudo-Jonathan (expansive) render the Torah, and Jonathan the Prophets. Coverage is partial: where no permissively-licensed English translation exists for a verse, only the Aramaic is shown. This is verse-level text, not a word-by-word alignment to the Hebrew.

Targum Onkelos Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

וְאִם לָא אִסתָּאָבַת אִתְּתָא וְדַכְוָאָה הִיא וְתִפּוֹק זַכָּאָה וְתַעְדִי עִדוּי

(no public-domain English translation for this verse)

Targum Onkelos — Aramaic: “Onkelos Genesis” (public domain); “Onkelos Exodus” (public domain); “Onkelos Leviticus” (public domain); “Onkelos Numbers” (public domain); “Onkelos Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “J.W. Etheridge. The Targums of Onkelos and Jonathan Ben Uzziel on the Pentateuch. London: Longmans, Green, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.
Targum Pseudo-Jonathan Torah (Genesis–Deuteronomy)

וְאִין לָא אִסְתְּאָבַת אִנְתְּתָא בְּתַשְׁמִישׁ דְעָרִיס וּדְכִיתָא הִיא וְתִיפּוֹק זַכְיָא נְזִיוָהּ מַנְהֵר וְתִשְׁכַּח רַחְמִין קֳדָם בַּעֲלָהּ וְתִתְעַבַּר בְּבַר דְכָר

But if the woman hath not been defiled by adultery, but is innocent, they will enter without harm, and her brightness will shine forth, and she will find affection before her husband, and become the mother of a son.

Targum Pseudo-Jonathan — Aramaic: “Targum Jonathan on Genesis” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Exodus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Leviticus” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Numbers” (public domain); “Targum Jonathan on Deuteronomy” (public domain). English: “The Targum of Jonathan ben Uzziel, trans. J. W. Etheridge, London, 1862” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Commentary

Notes on Numbers 5:28 from classic Christian and Jewish commentators (each source and its license shown beneath its notes). The classic Christian expositions comment on the surrounding passage and are grouped to its opening verse, so a note may address several verses; the Jewish commentaries on the Tanakh (Rashi and others) are per-verse, so they appear only where the commentator wrote on this verse.

Lemma curates 59 commentaries, every one of them public domain or Creative Commons licensed, each selected and text-cleaned for this edition rather than reprinted as found. About our sources →

Joseph Benson's Commentary

Num 5:28. Conceive seed — That is, shall bring forth children: as the Jews say, in case of her innocence, she infallibly did, yea, though she had been barren before.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Geneva Bible (1599)

Geneva Bible translators

Or, innocent.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne

28. she shall be free] she shall be acquitted; proved innocent.

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.

John Gill's Exposition

And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean,.... If she is not guilty of adultery, but pure from that sin:

then she shall be free; from the effects of the bitter water; they shall have no such influence upon her, but she shall be as soured and healthful as ever; nay, the Jewish writers say more so, that if she had any sickness or disease upon her she would now be freed from it (n); the Targum of Jonathan has it, her splendour shall shine, the brightness and beauty of her countenance:

and shall conceive seed; a man child, as the same Targum; and the Jewish writers say, if she was barren before, now she would be fruitful; but no more is meant by it than that her husband should receive her gladly, and she should live comfortably with him hereafter, and the blessing of God would be upon her, which would still be a confirmation of her chastity.

(n) Maimon. Hilchot Sotah, c. 3. sect. 22.

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

Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary

Children, that her husband may love her the more, and she may receive some compensation, for the stain thrown upon her character. (Menochius) --- We do not read in Scripture that any was ever subjected to this trial. The method of giving a bill of divorce was more easy. (Calmet)

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).

Matthew Poole's English Annotations

She shall be free, to wit, from these bitter curses and miseries.

Shall conceive seed, i.e. shall bring forth children, as the Jews say, in case of her innocency, infallibly she did, yea, though she was barren before; or shall be as capable of bearing children as other women.

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

Whedon's Commentary on the Bible

Daniel D. Whedon

28. Then she shall be free — Exempt from the curse. This required no miracle. See the Introduction.

Shall conceive seed — As the reward of her chastity, or as the natural consequences of her restoration to her husband’s affection. If already pregnant, she should have a happy delivery, instead of an infamous death.

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

The Pulpit Commentary

And shall conceive seed. As a sign of the Divine favour; to a Jewish woman the surest and most regarded. (1Sa_2:5 Psa_127:3 Luk_1:58)

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

John Wesley's Explanatory Notes

Conceive seed - That is, shall bring forth children, as the Jews say, in case of her innocency, she infallibly did, yea though she was barren before.

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

Rashi

Rabbi Shlomo Yitzchaki (Rashi)

ואם לא נטמאה האשה AND IF THE WOMAN WAS NOT DEFILED on the occasion of this secluding herself with this man,

וטהרה הוא AND BE CLEAN (guiltless) as regards any other place,

ונקתה THEN SHE SHALL BE FREE from the effect of the water that waste the body and not only this, but ונזרעה זרע SHE SHALL CONCEIVE SEED — i.e. if until now she used to bear children in pain, she will from now bear with ease (free from pain), if up to now she used to bear black (ugly) children, from now on she will bear white (beautiful) children (Sifrei Bamidbar 19; Sotah 26a).

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.

Ibn Ezra

Rabbi Abraham ibn Ezra

And shall bear seed. Hashem will grant her children as reward for the shame she suffered.

Ibn Ezra on the Tanakh — English translations: “Sefaria Community Translation” (CC0 1.0 (public-domain dedication)); “Yalkut, Sifsei Chachomim Chumash, Metsudah Publications, 2009” (CC BY 4.0); and “Commentary of Ibn Ezra on Isaiah - trans. by M. Friedlander, 1873” (public domain). Text via Sefaria.

Lesson kit

Teaching starters — assembled from the data on this page, not authored interpretation. Every prompt links to the verse data it draws on. Edit before teaching.

Numbers, in the Pentateuch, opens this verse with 9 words (9 distinct Hebrew lemmas). Its most distinctive word is nâqâh (“to be pure”). A historical commentator’s framing appears above. Read the whole chapter for the surrounding context.

Discussion questions

The word nâqâh carries the sense “to be pure.” How does it shape the verse?
How does Genesis 24:8, which shares the word «to be pure», read alongside this verse?
These translations render this verse differently. What is at stake in choosing one wording over another?
«נִטְמְאָה֙» is a Niphal Perfect verb. How does that grammatical form shape the action described?
Compare how Joseph Benson's Commentary and Geneva Bible (1599) read this verse. Where do they agree or differ?

Things to notice

This verse counts 9 Hebrew ↔ 15 Greek words.
These translations choose different wording for 8 words in this verse.
9 distinct Hebrew lemmas span 9 words in this verse.