Numbers 5: Group Study Handout

How to use: read Numbers 5 aloud together, then take the questions in order. One page is enough for an evening.

Overview

Yahweh commands Moses to have the Israelites remove lepers and those unclean due to issues or the dead from the camp (vv. 1-4). This action is to prevent defilement in the camp where Yahweh dwells.

Key verse

“If the woman isn’t defiled, but is clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive offspring.”
Numbers 5:28 (WEB)

Outline

Numbers 5:1–4 Cleansing the Camp
Numbers 5:5–10 Restitution for Sin
Numbers 5:11–31 The Ordeal of Bitter Water

Discussion questions

What does Yahweh command in v2 regarding those who are 'unclean'?
What does the priest do with the 'water of bitterness' in v24?
In vv. 19-20, why does the priest first address the woman's purity before the curse?
What is the implication of the phrase 'amen, amen' in v22 spoken by the woman?
When have you faced a situation where trust was tested, like the jealousy described in v14?

Go deeper

Passages that echo Numbers 5: Leviticus 5, Leviticus 6, Leviticus 15.

Before next time: read Numbers 6.