From: n5ppm264 (Charlie Board)
Subject: Re: The sin of shaving? (was Homosexuals anywhere...)
Organization: bnr
Date: Wed, 29 Jul 1992 17:33:34 GMT

In article <64598@hydra.gatech.EDU>, rpitts@emperor.gatech.edu (Richard Pitts) writes:
> 
> In article <1992Jul29.134833.28005@brtph560.bnr.ca> n5ppm264 (Charlie Board) writes:
> >
> >[Examples of laws Christians conveniently ignore deleted]
> >And let's not forget Numbers 5:12-31, where god not only approves of but
> >COMMANDS that abortions be performed on women suspected of adultery. This
> >is the ONLY place the Bible directly addresses the subject of abortion...
> >have you ever heard a fundie anti-choice preacher address it?
> 
> COULD YOU QUOTE some of these specific verses, for I read them and
> do not see at all what you are talking about.
> 
> The offerings mentioned are for the jealousy (founded or unfounded) that
> the husband had about his wife, who may or may not have committed adultery.
> 
> The concluding verse Numbers 5:31 says that "Then shall the man be free
> from iniquity and the woman shall bear her guilt."   The point is that
> the offerings were made for the man's actions/thoughts of jealousy and
> the curse was for the woman's act of adultery, but if she had not
> committed adultery, then she would not have to bear any guilt and if
> she had no guilt, then she bore none.
> 
OK. In my (NIV) Bible this whole section is given the heading "Test For An 
"Unfaithful Wife".  

Verse 11 states that this a commandment of God.

Verses 12-25 basically say that if a man suspects his wife of sleeping with 
another man he is to bring her (along with an offering to cover his
jealousy) before the priest. The priest will concoct a
potion, "the water that brings a curse", and utter certain spells (I'd rather
use a less perjorative word but cant think of one) over the potion. We pick
up the action in the latter half of verse 26

v26  ....after that, he is to have the woman drink the water.
v27  If she has defiled herself and been unfaithful to her husband, then 
     when she is made to DRINK THE WATER THAT BRINGS A CURSE, it will go into
     her and cause bitter suffering; SHE WILL HAVE BARRENNESS AND A 
     MISCARRYING WOMB, and she will become accursed among her people.
v28  If, however, the woman has not defiled herself and is free from impurity,
     she will be cleared of guilt and will be able to have children.

v30  .....The priest is to have her stand before the LORD and is to apply
     this entire law to her.

[Capital emhasis is mine]

So what do we have. The woman ingests "water that brings a curse" [remember
that the "curse of woman" is menstruation and a miscarraige is similiar]. If
guilty she has a(n) (induced) miscarraige. Now what is an induced miscarraige?
Why, an abortion of course!  The "water" is clearly an abortificient...sort
of a primitive version of RU-486.  

Note that I DID not have to stretch anything to reach the conclusion that
this is about abortion - as far as I can see it is the most natural and 
literal sense of the text.  (BTW, I do not have exact references, but have
been told that the crucial Hebrew word here - the one translated miscarraige
- is routinely translated as miscarraige in the rest of the OT)

A side-issue in this passage is the gross inequity of this whole procedure.
If the man has a SUSPICION (note no evidence required) the wife MUST undergo
a test which could cause her great suffering and barrenness. Yet more
evidence that this god fellow is a pretty malignant being.

> Sincerely,
> Richard Pitts
> -- 
> rpitts@cerl.gatech.edu       |    
> Atlanta, GA                --|-- 
>                         -|-  |  -|-
>                          |   |   |
> 
> 
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