It’s a wild story involving bitter waters, oaths, and divine judgment. But what happens if the woman is innocent? What's her reward for enduring such a trial?
That’s what Bamidbar Rabbah 9 grapples with, specifically focusing on Numbers 5:28: “And if the woman was not defiled, and she is pure, she will be absolved and will conceive offspring.” The Rabbis see so much more than a simple statement of innocence here. They see layers of meaning, promises, and even a bit of controversy.
The text breaks down the verse: “And if the woman was not defiled” – meaning, in the past, she was innocent. “And she is pure” – meaning, she will remain so in the future. It’s a double assurance, a guarantee of her ongoing fidelity. According to the text, at that moment, after drinking the water and remaining unharmed, "she is absolved from the curses and the oath."
But then comes the really interesting part: “And will conceive offspring.” What does this mean? Rabbi Eliezer has a powerful idea. He suggests that the suffering the woman endured is enough to warrant a reward: if she was barren, she will now conceive! Think about that – a trial by ordeal leading to the fulfillment of a lifelong dream.
However, Rabbi Yehoshua isn't so sure. He raises a crucial objection: If that’s the case, wouldn’t all barren women try to game the system? As he puts it, they might "engineer a situation where their husbands will warn them and then they would enter into seclusion," hoping for a miraculous pregnancy. He worries that "the one who sits idle loses," suggesting that the ritual would become a manipulative tool.
So, if it’s not a guaranteed cure for barrenness, what does the verse mean? Rabbi Yehoshua proposes a different understanding: "So that if she would give birth in pain, from then on she will give birth with ease; if females, she will give birth to males; if black, she will give birth to white children; if short, she will give birth to tall; if she would give birth every two years, she will give birth each year; if she would give birth to one, she will give birth to two." In other words, her future pregnancies will be blessed with ease, health, and abundance. It’s not just about conceiving, but about the quality of her future children and her experience giving birth.
Then comes Rabbi Shimon, offering yet another perspective. He states firmly, "One does not give reward for transgression." You can't reward someone for potentially committing adultery, even if they were ultimately proven innocent. Instead, he suggests that the blessing addresses a temporary prohibition. Perhaps she was forbidden to her husband from the time of her seclusion until she drank the bitter water. So the verse, "She will be absolved and will conceive offspring" simply means that from now on, marital relations are permitted, and conception is possible again.
Each Rabbi offers a different understanding of the verse, reflecting the complexity of the sotah ritual and the questions it raises about justice, reward, and divine intervention. We see them wrestling with the implications of the text, trying to reconcile its literal meaning with their understanding of God's ways.
Ultimately, the passage in Bamidbar Rabbah invites us to consider: What does it mean to be absolved? Is it merely the absence of punishment, or does it also entail a blessing, a restoration, a chance for a better future? And how do we reconcile the idea of divine reward with the reality of human transgression? These are questions that continue to resonate, prompting us to delve deeper into the nuances of Jewish tradition and its enduring wisdom.