Numbers 5:18

“And the priest shall set the woman before the Lord, etc.] In the east of the tabernacle, with her face to the west, where was the holy of holies, so Ben Gersom; but not immediately for they had her from place to place, as Jarchi says, till she was weary, and her mind disturbed, that she might confess; and if she said, I am defiled, she rent the writing of her dowry, and went out; but if she said, I am pure, they brought her to the eastern gate, the gate of Nicanor, for there they made women suspected of adultery to drink the waters f40: and uncover the woman’s head; as a token of her immodesty and nonsubjection to her husband, and that she might be seen by all, to cause shame in her:…”

“The trial of jealousy. Since the crime of adultery is especially defiling and destructive of the very foundations of social order, the whole subject is dealt with at a length proportionate to its importance. The process prescribed has lately been strikingly illustrated from an Egyptian “romance,” which refers to the time of Rameses the Great, and may therefore well serve to illustrate the manners and customs of the Mosaic times. This mode of trial, like several other ordinances, was adopted by Moses from existing and probably very ancient and widely spread institutions. Numbers 5:15 The offering was to be of the cheapest and coarsest kind, barley (compare 2 Kings 7:1, 2 Kings 7:16, 2 Kings…”

“Before the Lord - Before the tabernacle with her face towards the ark. Uncover her head - Partly that she might be made sensible how manifest she and all her ways were to God; partly in token of her sorrow for her sin, or at least for any cause of suspicion which she had given. In her hands - That she herself might offer it, and thereby call God to be witness of her innocency. Bitter - So called either from the bitter taste which the dust gave it, or from the bitter effects of it upon her, if she were guilty. That causeth the curse - Not by any natural power, but by a supernatural efficacy. Numbers 5:19”

“the priest: Heb 13:4; Rev 2:19-23 uncover: Lev 13:45; Co1 11:15; Heb 4:12, Heb 4:13 and put: Num 5:15, Num 5:25, Num 5:26 the bitter water: So called from the bitter effects which it had upon the guilty. Num 5:17, Num 5:22, Num 5:24; Deu 29:18; Sa1 15:32; Pro 5:4; Ecc 7:26; Isa 38:17; Jer 2:19; Rev 10:9, Rev 10:10 Numbers 5:19”