Verses 12-14 define the legal case concerning a husband who is suspicious of his wife committing adultery, while verse 15 begins the instructions concerning how to deal with the situation. Good News Bible combines verses 12-14 since it rearranges the clauses in these verses. By doing this, Good News Bible makes it clear from the beginning that there are two possibilities: either the wife has been unfaithful or she has not. And while verses 12-15 are one long sentence in the Hebrew text and Revised Standard Version, Good News Bible breaks it into several sentences. So Good News Bible is likely to be a much clearer model.

Say to the people of Israel (see verse 6) introduces a quote within a quote that continues until the end of verse 31. God tells Moses what to say to the Israelites.

If any man’s wife goes astray and acts unfaithfully against him: The Hebrew verb for goes astray implies going on the wrong path. Here it refers to a wife behaving incorrectly, in a way that it makes her husband suspicious. Acts unfaithfully against renders the same strong Hebrew expression translated breaking faith with in verse 6 (see the comments there). Here it refers to the wife’s disloyalty to her husband. Adultery violates God’s holiness and threatens the people as a whole, among whom he dwells. A forceful expression is needed in the target language; for example, Chewa has does unfaithful things to.

If a man lies with her carnally is literally and a man lies with her a laying of seed [semen], which refers to sexual intercourse. New Revised Standard Version says if a man has had intercourse with her. As much as possible, translations should take into account that the Hebrew text is even more explicit about the sexual intercourse here than in verse 19, where it says simply If no man has lain with you.

And it is hidden from the eyes of her husband and she is undetected though she has defiled herself: Her husband does not know about her adultery since it is kept a secret. She has defiled herself means she has made herself ceremonially unclean.

And there is no witness against her, since she was not taken in the act: No one saw her having sex with another man.

And if the spirit of jealousy comes upon him means the husband becomes jealous. Spirit renders the Hebrew word ruach, which can also mean wind or breath. Here it means attitude/mood/feeling, so the spirit of jealousy may be rendered a fit of jealousy (New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh) or feelings of jealousy (New International Version).

And he is jealous of his wife who has defiled herself means the husband is suspicious of his wife who has made herself ceremonially unclean by committing adultery.

Or if the spirit of jealousy comes upon him, and he is jealous of his wife, though she has not defiled herself: It is also possible that a husband becomes jealous and suspicious of his wife even though she has not been unfaithful.

Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .