(ו) שֹׁפֵךְ֙ דַּ֣ם הָֽאָדָ֔ם בָּֽאָדָ֖ם דָּמ֣וֹ יִשָּׁפֵ֑ךְ כִּ֚י בְּצֶ֣לֶם אֱלֹהִ֔ים עָשָׂ֖ה אֶת־הָאָדָֽם׃
(6) Whoever sheds the blood of a human
by a human shall his blood be shed;
For in God's image did
God make humanity.
(כב) וְכִֽי־יִנָּצ֣וּ אֲנָשִׁ֗ים וְנָ֨גְפ֜וּ אִשָּׁ֤ה הָרָה֙ וְיָצְא֣וּ יְלָדֶ֔יהָ וְלֹ֥א יִהְיֶ֖ה אָס֑וֹן עָנ֣וֹשׁ יֵעָנֵ֗שׁ כַּֽאֲשֶׁ֨ר יָשִׁ֤ית עָלָיו֙ בַּ֣עַל הָֽאִשָּׁ֔ה וְנָתַ֖ן בִּפְלִלִֽים׃(כג) וְאִם־אָס֖וֹן יִהְיֶ֑ה וְנָתַתָּ֥ה נֶ֖פֶשׁ תַּ֥חַת נָֽפֶשׁ׃(כד) עַ֚יִן תַּ֣חַת עַ֔יִן שֵׁ֖ן תַּ֣חַת שֵׁ֑ן יָ֚ד תַּ֣חַת יָ֔ד רֶ֖גֶל תַּ֥חַת רָֽגֶל׃(כה) כְּוִיָּה֙ תַּ֣חַת כְּוִיָּ֔ה פֶּ֖צַע תַּ֣חַת פָּ֑צַע חַבּוּרָ֕ה תַּ֖חַת חַבּוּרָֽה׃ (ס)
(22) When men fight, and one of them [accidentally] pushes a pregnant woman and a miscarriage results, but no other damage ensues, the one responsible shall be fined according as the woman’s husband may exact from him, the payment to be based on reckoning.(23) But if other damage ensues, the penalty shall be life for life,(24) eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot,(25) burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise.
Assault Causing Miscarriage Can Be Murder Case
BY MAURA DOLAN
MAY 17, 1994 12 AM PT
TIMES LEGAL AFFAIRS WRITER
SAN FRANCISCO —
In a landmark ruling, the California Supreme Court held Monday that a person can be convicted of murder for causing the death of a fetus that could have been legally aborted.
The 6-to-1 decision will allow prosecutors to charge a defendant with murder for causing a pregnant woman to miscarry, even if her fetus had been only seven to eight weeks old and incapable of surviving outside her womb.
“This is a victory of sorts because it is giving the identity of humanity to an unborn child,” said Anne Kindt, executive director of the Right to Life League of Southern California. “This type of ruling says, hey, what is in the womb is a human being, a baby.”
Abby Leibman, executive director of California Woman’s Law Center, said the California Supreme Court has moved the law in a “very troubling direction” by paving the way for regulating the behavior of pregnant women.
If the fetus is considered a person, she said, lawmakers may eventually try to punish a pregnant woman for behavior that could injure her fetus.
“If I smoke while pregnant,” she asked rhetorically, “am I going to be subject to criminal sanctions?”
Justice Stanley Mosk, in a lengthy and graphic dissent, complained that the court has defined as murder the killing of a creature “roughly the size of a peanut,” with webbed hands and feet and a vestigial tail.
“If this tiny creature is examined under a magnifying glass,” he wrote, “its appearance remains less than human. Its bulbous head takes up almost half of its body and is bent sharply downward; its eye sockets are widely spaced; its pug-like nostrils open forward.”
Under the majority’s decision, Mosk said, an unarmed shoplifter who accidentally knocks down a woman who is seven weeks pregnant, causing her to miscarry, could face death or life in prison without the possibility of parol
Check In
How do you feel about these texts so far?
Let's start with some more source texts
(ד) הָאִשָּׁה שֶׁהִיא יוֹצְאָה לֵהָרֵג, אֵין מַמְתִּינִין לָהּ עַד שֶׁתֵּלֵד. יָשְׁבָה עַל הַמַּשְׁבֵּר, מַמְתִּינִין לָהּ עַד שֶׁתֵּלֵד.
(4) If a woman is about to be executed, they do not wait for her until she gives birth. But if she had already sat on the birthstool, they wait for her until she gives birth.
(יב) מַכֵּ֥ה אִ֛ישׁ וָמֵ֖ת מ֥וֹת יוּמָֽת׃
(12) Whoever fatally strikes a person shall be put to death.
הַנְּשָׁמָה לָךְ, וְהַגּוּף פָּעֳלָךָ חוּסָה עַל עֲמָלָךְ: הַנְּשָׁמָה לָךְ, וְהַגּוּף שֶׁלָּךְ.
The soul is Yours, and the body is Your creation. Have compassion on your handiwork. The soul is Yours, the body is Yours...
Midrash Mishlei 31
Bruria, the wife of Rabbi Meir, adopted the same attitude when her two sons died suddenly on a Shabbat. She laid their bodies in the bedroom, and when her husband came home, she posed to him what appeared to be a question in Jewish law: “A while ago, someone entrusted an object stone to me for safekeeping. Now the owner has come back to reclaim. Should I return it to him?”
Rabbi Meir immediately replied that she must return the precious stone without hesitation. Bruria then led him into the bedroom.
In his book, Rabbi Vorst concludes that this is how he and his wife must look at the tragic loss of their own son: “that we have not been deprived of Boruch; we ‘only’ gave him back.”
Check In
Have your views changed? Why/why not?
If you were making a ruling, what would it be?
Now let's check some traditional/ancient rabbinic views
משום רבי ישמעאל: אמרו אף על העוברין. מאי טעמיה דרבי ישמעאל? דכתיב (בראשית ט, ו): שופך דם האדם באדם דמו ישפך. איזהו אדם שהוא באדם? הוי אומר זה עובר שבמעי אמו.
In the name of Rabbi Yishmael it was said: [unlike a Jew, a Noachide is subject to the death penalty] even for the killing of a fetus. What is Rabbi Yishmael’s source? For it is written, “One who spills the blood of a person shall have his own blood spilled by another person [literally read: one who spills the blood of a person inside another person etc.].” (Bereishit 9:6). Which person is inside another person? This is referring to the fetus in the mother’s womb.
(ד) הָאִשָּׁה שֶׁהִיא יוֹצְאָה לֵהָרֵג, אֵין מַמְתִּינִין לָהּ עַד שֶׁתֵּלֵד. יָשְׁבָה עַל הַמַּשְׁבֵּר, מַמְתִּינִין לָהּ עַד שֶׁתֵּלֵד.
(4) If a woman is about to be executed, they do not wait for her until she gives birth. But if she had already sat on the birthstool, they wait for her until she gives birth.
מכה איש ומת.... וְעוֹד כִּי יַכֶּה כָּל נֶפֶשׁ אָדָם אֲפִלּוּ נְפָלִים בְּמַשְׁמָע, תַּ"לֹ מַכֵּה אִישׁ, אֵינוֹ חַיָּב עַד שֶׁיַּכֶּה בֶן קַיָּמָא הָרָאוּי לִהְיוֹת אִישׁ (מכילתא):
מכה איש ומת ... Scripture states “Whoever strikes a person” to indicate that one is not subject to the death penalty unless one kills a viable child — one which is fully able to become a person (Mekhilta d'Rabbi Yishmael 21:12:2).
יבמות ס״ט ב:ל״ו
ואי מיעברא עד ארבעים מיא בעלמא היא
If she is found pregnant, until the fortieth day it is only a mere fluid.
מתני׳ המפלת ליום מ' אינה חוששת לולד ליום מ"א תשב לזכר ולנקבה ולנדה
Mishna. If a woman miscarries on day 40 (from conception) – she need not concern herself with the impurity of childbirth (lit., with a child). On day 41 – she must observe [the impure days] for a male child, a female child, and for being a niddah.
(ו) הָאִשָּׁה שֶׁהִיא מַקְשָׁה לֵילֵד, מְחַתְּכִין אֶת הַוָּלָד בְּמֵעֶיהָ וּמוֹצִיאִין אוֹתוֹ אֵבָרִים אֵבָרִים, מִפְּנֵי שֶׁחַיֶּיהָ קוֹדְמִין לְחַיָּיו. יָצָא רֻבּוֹ, אֵין נוֹגְעִין בּוֹ, שֶׁאֵין דּוֹחִין נֶפֶשׁ מִפְּנֵי נָפֶשׁ:
(6) A woman who was having trouble giving birth, they cut up the fetus inside her and take it out limb by limb, because her life comes before its life. If most of it had come out already they do not touch it because we do not push off one life for another.
רש"י על סנהדרין ע״ב ב:ל״ח:א׳
יצא ראשו - באשה המקשה לילד ומסוכנת וקתני רישא החיה פושטת ידה וחותכתו ומוציאתו לאברים, דכל זמן שלא יצא לאויר העולם, לאו נפש הוא, וניתן להורגו ולהציל את אמו. אבל יצא ראשו, אין נוגעים בו להורגו, דהוה ליה כילוד, ואין דוחין נפש מפני נפש.
its head came out: With a women that is experiencing difficulty giving birth and is in danger. And it is taught in the first section [of this teaching], "the midwife extends her hand and cuts it up and extracts [the pieces];" as the entire time that that it has not gone out into the environment of the world, it is not a nefesh (life), and [so] it is possible to kill it and to save its mother. But when its head came out, we cannot touch it to kill it, as it is like a newborn; and we do not push off one nefesh (life) for the sake of another.
האשה שישבה על המשבר ומתה בשבת, מביאין סכין ומקרעים את כריסה ומוציאין את הוולד... מהו דתימא התם הוא דהוה ליה חזקה דחיותא אבל הכא דלא הוה ליה חזקה דחיותא מעיקרא אימא לא קמ"ל:
A woman who dies while sitting on the birthing stool on Shabbos, we bring a knife to tear open her abdomen and remove the fetus…You might have said: There [in cases of violating Shabbat to save someone, permission was given] because [the person in question] had at least presumption of having been alive, but here where it [the embryo] did not have such original presumption of life, one might say no [desecration of Shabbat shall be permitted], therefore we are informed [that it is].
(ט) אַף זוֹ מִצְוַת לֹא תַּעֲשֶׂה שֶׁלֹּא לָחוּס עַל נֶפֶשׁ הָרוֹדֵף. לְפִיכָךְ הוֹרוּ חֲכָמִים שֶׁהָעֻבָּרָה שֶׁהִיא מַקְשָׁה לֵילֵד מֻתָּר לַחְתֹּךְ הָעֵבָּר בְּמֵעֶיהָ בֵּין בְּסַם בֵּין בְּיָד מִפְּנֵי שֶׁהוּא כְּרוֹדֵף אַחֲרֶיהָ לְהָרְגָהּ. וְאִם מִשֶּׁהוֹצִיא רֹאשׁוֹ אֵין נוֹגְעִין בּוֹ שֶׁאֵין דּוֹחִין נֶפֶשׁ מִפְּנֵי נֶפֶשׁ וְזֶהוּ טִבְעוֹ שֶׁל עוֹלָם:
(9) ... It is a negative commandment that one should not protect the life of a rodef (pursuer). For this reason, the sages ruled that in the case of a pregnant woman in a dangerous labor, it is permissible to dismember the fetus in her womb - whether with a drug or by hand because it is like a rodef pursuing her to kill her. However, once the head has emerged one may not touch him, as we do not set aside one nefesh [life] for another, and this is the natural way of the world.
These are generally the texts from which our modern day rabbis have ruled on abortion, when it is and isn't allowed, and when it is a feotus/ rodef/ fluid versus when it is a newborn/life. Based on this, what do you believe the Jewish view should be?
Let's check out some of the more influential Modern Day Orthodox Rabbinic views
Excerpts from Igrot Moshe (Reb Moshe Feinstein, 1895 – 1986)
It would be forbidden to kill it [the fetus] even to save someone’s life. The exception would be to save the life of the mother during childbirth, not for any other need of the mother, which would definitely be forbidden.
Even for children for whom the doctors predict a very short life span, such as those children who are born with the disease called Tay-Sachs, which through newly developed tests can be diagnosed prenatally, it would be forbidden since there is no danger to the mother and the infant is not a rodef. One cannot permit an abortion even though there is very great suffering involved … It is incontrovertible and clear as I have written, a straightforward halachah according to the words of our Masters, the traditional commentaries and halachic authorities, that abortion would be forbidden as bona-fide murder, for any fetus; legitimate or a mamzer, genetically normal or afflicted with Tay-Sachs, are all included in the prohibition according to Jewish law.
Excerpts from Tzitz Eliezer (R. Eliezer Waldenberg, Jerusalem, 1915 – 2006)
If there is a danger to the mother from continuing the pregnancy, one should permit abortion without hesitation. Also, if her health is poor and to cure her or to relieve her from great pain it is necessary to abort the fetus, even if she is not in actual danger, there is room to permit it, based on the halachic authority’s evaluation of the situation.
In the case of a baby who will have Tay-Sachs, "One should permit...abortion as soon as it becomes evident without doubt from the test that, indeed such a baby shall be born...if, indeed, we may permit an abortion according to the halachah because of 'a great need' and because of pain and suffering, it seems that this is the classic case for such permission. And it is irrelevant in what way the pain and suffering is expressed, whether it is physical or psychological. Indeed, psychological suffering is in many ays much greater than the suffering of the flesh.
R'Soloveitchik (1903-1993), The Emergence of Ethical Man, p.27
Turning to the beginning of life, even the embryo in the womb is considered under many aspects a person endowed with juridic prerogatives. The murder of an unborn child is classified as a crime, which is punishable with mitah biydei shamayim (death at the hands of Heaven); indeed, even a non-Jew is executed for killing fetuses (Sanhedrin 57b; Maimonides, Hilchot Melakhim 9:4). Whenever the life of the unborn child is endangered, the law of pikuah nefesh (saving life) is applicable according to the opinion on of many Rishonim (Nachmanides disagrees). Even in case of an abnormal birth, when the physician is allowed to sacrifice the unborn baby for the well-being of the mother, Maimonides introduces the motif of rodef (pursuer). The physcian is instructed to save the mother because the child is classified as a rodef. Otherwise it would be prohibited to prefer the life of the mother to his.
A final interesting tangentially related biblical source commonly known as "The Sotah" or "The Ordeal of the Bitter Waters"
(יב) דַּבֵּר֙ אֶל־בְּנֵ֣י יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל וְאָמַרְתָּ֖ אֲלֵהֶ֑ם אִ֥ישׁ אִישׁ֙ כִּֽי־תִשְׂטֶ֣ה אִשְׁתּ֔וֹ וּמָעֲלָ֥ה ב֖וֹ מָֽעַל׃(יג) וְשָׁכַ֨ב אִ֣ישׁ אֹתָהּ֮ שִׁכְבַת־זֶ֒רַע֒ וְנֶעְלַם֙ מֵעֵינֵ֣י אִישָׁ֔הּ וְנִסְתְּרָ֖ה וְהִ֣יא נִטְמָ֑אָה וְעֵד֙ אֵ֣ין בָּ֔הּ וְהִ֖וא לֹ֥א נִתְפָּֽשָׂה׃(יד) וְעָבַ֨ר עָלָ֧יו רֽוּחַ־קִנְאָ֛ה וְקִנֵּ֥א אֶת־אִשְׁתּ֖וֹ וְהִ֣וא נִטְמָ֑אָה אוֹ־עָבַ֨ר עָלָ֤יו רֽוּחַ־קִנְאָה֙ וְקִנֵּ֣א אֶת־אִשְׁתּ֔וֹ וְהִ֖יא לֹ֥א נִטְמָֽאָה׃(טו) וְהֵבִ֨יא הָאִ֣ישׁ אֶת־אִשְׁתּוֹ֮ אֶל־הַכֹּהֵן֒ וְהֵבִ֤יא אֶת־קׇרְבָּנָהּ֙ עָלֶ֔יהָ עֲשִׂירִ֥ת הָאֵיפָ֖ה קֶ֣מַח שְׂעֹרִ֑ים לֹֽא־יִצֹ֨ק עָלָ֜יו שֶׁ֗מֶן וְלֹֽא־יִתֵּ֤ן עָלָיו֙ לְבֹנָ֔ה כִּֽי־מִנְחַ֤ת קְנָאֹת֙ ה֔וּא מִנְחַ֥ת זִכָּר֖וֹן מַזְכֶּ֥רֶת עָוֺֽן׃(טז) וְהִקְרִ֥יב אֹתָ֖הּ הַכֹּהֵ֑ן וְהֶֽעֱמִדָ֖הּ לִפְנֵ֥י יהוה׃(יז) וְלָקַ֧ח הַכֹּהֵ֛ן מַ֥יִם קְדֹשִׁ֖ים בִּכְלִי־חָ֑רֶשׂ וּמִן־הֶֽעָפָ֗ר אֲשֶׁ֤ר יִהְיֶה֙ בְּקַרְקַ֣ע הַמִּשְׁכָּ֔ן יִקַּ֥ח הַכֹּהֵ֖ן וְנָתַ֥ן אֶל־הַמָּֽיִם׃(יח) וְהֶעֱמִ֨יד הַכֹּהֵ֥ן אֶֽת־הָאִשָּׁה֮ לִפְנֵ֣י יהוה וּפָרַע֙ אֶת־רֹ֣אשׁ הָֽאִשָּׁ֔ה וְנָתַ֣ן עַל־כַּפֶּ֗יהָ אֵ֚ת מִנְחַ֣ת הַזִּכָּר֔וֹן מִנְחַ֥ת קְנָאֹ֖ת הִ֑וא וּבְיַ֤ד הַכֹּהֵן֙ יִהְי֔וּ מֵ֥י הַמָּרִ֖ים הַמְאָֽרְרִֽים׃(יט) וְהִשְׁבִּ֨יעַ אֹתָ֜הּ הַכֹּהֵ֗ן וְאָמַ֤ר אֶל־הָֽאִשָּׁה֙ אִם־לֹ֨א שָׁכַ֥ב אִישׁ֙ אֹתָ֔ךְ וְאִם־לֹ֥א שָׂטִ֛ית טֻמְאָ֖ה תַּ֣חַת אִישֵׁ֑ךְ הִנָּקִ֕י מִמֵּ֛י הַמָּרִ֥ים הַֽמְאָרְרִ֖ים הָאֵֽלֶּה׃(כ) וְאַ֗תְּ כִּ֥י שָׂטִ֛ית תַּ֥חַת אִישֵׁ֖ךְ וְכִ֣י נִטְמֵ֑את וַיִּתֵּ֨ן אִ֥ישׁ בָּךְ֙ אֶת־שְׁכׇבְתּ֔וֹ מִֽבַּלְעֲדֵ֖י אִישֵֽׁךְ׃(כא) וְהִשְׁבִּ֨יעַ הַכֹּהֵ֥ן אֶֽת־הָאִשָּׁה֮ בִּשְׁבֻעַ֣ת הָאָלָה֒ וְאָמַ֤ר הַכֹּהֵן֙ לָֽאִשָּׁ֔ה יִתֵּ֨ן יהוה אוֹתָ֛ךְ לְאָלָ֥ה וְלִשְׁבֻעָ֖ה בְּת֣וֹךְ עַמֵּ֑ךְ בְּתֵ֨ת יהוה אֶת־יְרֵכֵךְ֙ נֹפֶ֔לֶת וְאֶת־בִּטְנֵ֖ךְ צָבָֽה׃(כב) וּ֠בָ֠אוּ הַמַּ֨יִם הַמְאָרְרִ֤ים הָאֵ֙לֶּה֙ בְּֽמֵעַ֔יִךְ לַצְבּ֥וֹת בֶּ֖טֶן וְלַנְפִּ֣ל יָרֵ֑ךְ וְאָמְרָ֥ה הָאִשָּׁ֖ה אָמֵ֥ן ׀ אָמֵֽן׃(כג) וְ֠כָתַ֠ב אֶת־הָאָלֹ֥ת הָאֵ֛לֶּה הַכֹּהֵ֖ן בַּסֵּ֑פֶר וּמָחָ֖ה אֶל־מֵ֥י הַמָּרִֽים׃(כד) וְהִשְׁקָה֙ אֶת־הָ֣אִשָּׁ֔ה אֶת־מֵ֥י הַמָּרִ֖ים הַמְאָֽרְרִ֑ים וּבָ֥אוּ בָ֛הּ הַמַּ֥יִם הַֽמְאָרְרִ֖ים לְמָרִֽים׃(כה) וְלָקַ֤ח הַכֹּהֵן֙ מִיַּ֣ד הָֽאִשָּׁ֔ה אֵ֖ת מִנְחַ֣ת הַקְּנָאֹ֑ת וְהֵנִ֤יף אֶת־הַמִּנְחָה֙ לִפְנֵ֣י יהוה וְהִקְרִ֥יב אֹתָ֖הּ אֶל־הַמִּזְבֵּֽחַ׃(כו) וְקָמַ֨ץ הַכֹּהֵ֤ן מִן־הַמִּנְחָה֙ אֶת־אַזְכָּ֣רָתָ֔הּ וְהִקְטִ֖יר הַמִּזְבֵּ֑חָה וְאַחַ֛ר יַשְׁקֶ֥ה אֶת־הָאִשָּׁ֖ה אֶת־הַמָּֽיִם׃(כז) וְהִשְׁקָ֣הּ אֶת־הַמַּ֗יִם וְהָיְתָ֣ה אִֽם־נִטְמְאָה֮ וַתִּמְעֹ֣ל מַ֣עַל בְּאִישָׁהּ֒ וּבָ֨אוּ בָ֜הּ הַמַּ֤יִם הַמְאָֽרְרִים֙ לְמָרִ֔ים וְצָבְתָ֣ה בִטְנָ֔הּ וְנָפְלָ֖ה יְרֵכָ֑הּ וְהָיְתָ֧ה הָאִשָּׁ֛ה לְאָלָ֖ה בְּקֶ֥רֶב עַמָּֽהּ׃(כח) וְאִם־לֹ֤א נִטְמְאָה֙ הָֽאִשָּׁ֔ה וּטְהֹרָ֖ה הִ֑וא וְנִקְּתָ֖ה וְנִזְרְעָ֥ה זָֽרַע׃(כט) זֹ֥את תּוֹרַ֖ת הַקְּנָאֹ֑ת אֲשֶׁ֨ר תִּשְׂטֶ֥ה אִשָּׁ֛ה תַּ֥חַת אִישָׁ֖הּ וְנִטְמָֽאָה׃(ל) א֣וֹ אִ֗ישׁ אֲשֶׁ֨ר תַּעֲבֹ֥ר עָלָ֛יו ר֥וּחַ קִנְאָ֖ה וְקִנֵּ֣א אֶת־אִשְׁתּ֑וֹ וְהֶעֱמִ֤יד אֶת־הָֽאִשָּׁה֙ לִפְנֵ֣י יהוה וְעָ֤שָׂה לָהּ֙ הַכֹּהֵ֔ן אֵ֥ת כׇּל־הַתּוֹרָ֖ה הַזֹּֽאת׃(לא) וְנִקָּ֥ה הָאִ֖ישׁ מֵעָוֺ֑ן וְהָאִשָּׁ֣ה הַהִ֔וא תִּשָּׂ֖א אֶת־עֲוֺנָֽהּ׃ {פ}
(12) Speak to the Israelite people and say to them: Any party whose wife has gone astray and broken faith with him,(13) in that another man has had carnal relations with her unbeknown to her husband, and she keeps secret the fact that she has defiled herself without being forced, and there is no witness against her,(14) but a fit of jealousy comes over him and he is wrought up about the wife who has defiled herself—or if a fit of jealousy comes over him and he is wrought up about his wife although she has not defiled herself—(15) that party shall bring his wife to the priest. And he shall bring as an offering for her one-tenth of an ephah of barley flour. No oil shall be poured upon it and no frankincense shall be laid on it, for it is a meal offering of jealousy, a meal offering of remembrance which recalls wrongdoing.(16) The priest shall bring her forward and have her stand before יהוה.(17) The priest shall take sacral water in an earthen vessel and, taking some of the earth that is on the floor of the Tabernacle, the priest shall put it into the water.(18) After he has made the woman stand before יהוה, the priest shall bare the woman’s head and place upon her hands the meal offering of remembrance, which is a meal offering of jealousy. And in the priest’s hands shall be the water of bitterness that induces the spell.(19) The priest shall adjure the woman, saying to her, “If no other party has lain with you, if you have not gone astray in defilement while living in your husband’s household, be immune to harm from this water of bitterness that induces the spell.(20) But if you have gone astray while living in your husband’s household and have defiled yourself, if any party other than your husband has had carnal relations with you”—(21) here the priest shall administer the curse of adjuration to the woman, as the priest goes on to say to the woman—“may יהוה make you a curse and an imprecation among your people, as יהוה causes your thigh to sag and your belly to distend; (22) may this water that induces the spell enter your body, causing the belly to distend and the thigh to sag.” And the woman shall say, “Amen, amen!”(23) The priest shall put these curses down in writing and rub it off into the water of bitterness.(24) He is to make the woman drink the water of bitterness that induces the spell, so that the spell-inducing water may enter into her to bring on bitterness.(25) Then the priest shall take from the woman’s hand the meal offering of jealousy, elevate the meal offering before יהוה, and present it on the altar.(26) The priest shall scoop out of the meal offering a token part of it and turn it into smoke on the altar. Last, he shall make the woman drink the water.(27) Once he has made her drink the water—if she has defiled herself by breaking faith with her husband, the spell-inducing water shall enter into her to bring on bitterness, so that her belly shall distend and her thigh shall sag; and the wife shall become a curse among her people.(28) But if the woman has not defiled herself and is pure, she shall be unharmed and able to retain seed.(29) This is the ritual in cases of jealousy, when a woman goes astray while living in her husband’s household, and defiles herself,(30) or when a fit of jealousy comes over a husband and he is wrought up over his wife: the woman shall be made to stand before יהוה and the priest shall carry out all this ritual with her.(31) The man shall be clear of guilt; but that woman shall suffer for her guilt.