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Are_grits_groceries

(17,111 posts)
Fri Aug 16, 2013, 06:11 AM Aug 2013

Whoa! Instructions from the Bible on how to perform an abortion:

Numbers 5:11-31
The Test for an Unfaithful Wife

11 Then the Lord said to Moses, 12 “Speak to the Israelites and say to them: ‘If a man’s wife goes astray and is unfaithful to him 13 so that another man has sexual relations with her, and this is hidden from her husband and her impurity is undetected (since there is no witness against her and she has not been caught in the act), 14 and if feelings of jealousy come over her husband and he suspects his wife and she is impure—or if he is jealous and suspects her even though she is not impure— 15 then he is to take his wife to the priest. He must also take an offering of a tenth of an ephah[a] of barley flour on her behalf. He must not pour olive oil on it or put incense on it, because it is a grain offering for jealousy, a reminder-offering to draw attention to wrongdoing.

16 “‘The priest shall bring her and have her stand before the Lord. 17 Then he shall take some holy water in a clay jar and put some dust from the tabernacle floor into the water. 18 After the priest has had the woman stand before the Lord, he shall loosen her hair and place in her hands the reminder-offering, the grain offering for jealousy, while he himself holds the bitter water that brings a curse. 19 Then the priest shall put the woman under oath and say to her, “If no other man has had sexual relations with you and you have not gone astray and become impure while married to your husband, may this bitter water that brings a curse not harm you. 20 But if you have gone astray while married to your husband and you have made yourself impure by having sexual relations with a man other than your husband”— 21 here the priest is to put the woman under this curse—“may the Lord cause you to become a curse among your people when he makes your womb miscarry and your abdomen swell. 22 May this water that brings a curse enter your body so that your abdomen swells or your womb miscarries.”

“‘Then the woman is to say, “Amen. So be it.”

23 “‘The priest is to write these curses on a scroll and then wash them off into the bitter water. 24 He shall make the woman drink the bitter water that brings a curse, and this water that brings a curse and causes bitter suffering will enter her. 25 The priest is to take from her hands the grain offering for jealousy, wave it before the Lord and bring it to the altar. 26 The priest is then to take a handful of the grain offering as a memorial offering and burn it on the altar; after that, he is to have the woman drink the water. 27 If she has made herself impure and been unfaithful to her husband, this will be the result: When she is made to drink the water that brings a curse and causes bitter suffering, it will enter her, her abdomen will swell and her womb will miscarry, and she will become a curse. 28 If, however, the woman has not made herself impure, but is clean, she will be cleared of guilt and will be able to have children.

29 “‘This, then, is the law of jealousy when a woman goes astray and makes herself impure while married to her husband, 30 or when feelings of jealousy come over a man because he suspects his wife. The priest is to have her stand before the Lord and is to apply this entire law to her. 31 The husband will be innocent of any wrongdoing, but the woman will bear the consequences of her sin.’”
http://www.biblegateway.com/passage/?search=Numbers%205:11-31&version=NIV

Never heard about or noticed this before!

28 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
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Whoa! Instructions from the Bible on how to perform an abortion: (Original Post) Are_grits_groceries Aug 2013 OP
Cheese and rice! Egnever Aug 2013 #1
Whether she has done anything wrong or not. It's punishing her if her husband is paranoid. Squinch Aug 2013 #13
It's always about the woman newfie11 Aug 2013 #2
the man probable had 100 ex marital relationships Rosa Luxemburg Aug 2013 #26
And forced abortion no less. nt Mnemosyne Aug 2013 #3
AFAIK abortion is also allowed if the health of the woman is in danger CJCRANE Aug 2013 #4
It's MANDATED if the mother's life leftynyc Aug 2013 #18
Hooray matrilinealism NuclearDem Aug 2013 #24
Good find. . B Calm Aug 2013 #5
I'd love to see this on a road side safeinOhio Aug 2013 #6
On average, christians do no know the bible as well as atheists and agnostics. Bernardo de La Paz Aug 2013 #7
many Christians seem not to know the bits about vlyons Aug 2013 #10
You can say that again! It bears repeating and rubbing Republican noses in it. nt Bernardo de La Paz Aug 2013 #19
um. what about the man she made herself unpure with? hmm. I know this is showing that the bible ejpoeta Aug 2013 #8
Well, keep in mind that when women had their periods justiceischeap Aug 2013 #15
And if men had periods they would be exalted and worshipped. Triana Aug 2013 #20
abortion was practiced by many cultures across the middle east and egypt. madrchsod Aug 2013 #9
Didn't version of the Bible that I grew up with, TxDemChem Aug 2013 #11
"I had to read the entire bible. Then I became an atheist." FiveGoodMen Aug 2013 #22
Yeah. The bible is Christianity's largest enemy. TxDemChem Aug 2013 #25
sounds a bit like a witch trial,. hokum for the hopelessly faithful. Civilization2 Aug 2013 #12
cool Puzzledtraveller Aug 2013 #14
So let's see: conservative christians don't know much about the Bible... CJCRANE Aug 2013 #16
They follow whichever personality their little subcult has gathered around. FiveGoodMen Aug 2013 #23
If they knew more of the bible... awoke_in_2003 Aug 2013 #27
It's true, many Church's pick and choose what to teach KrazyinKS Aug 2013 #17
the important thing is, "What does Hillel say about this"?... MisterP Aug 2013 #21
Ummm? davemovedave Oct 2019 #28
 

Egnever

(21,506 posts)
1. Cheese and rice!
Fri Aug 16, 2013, 06:17 AM
Aug 2013

Never heard that one before either. But of course this is really supposed to be a punishment for the woman.

newfie11

(8,159 posts)
2. It's always about the woman
Fri Aug 16, 2013, 06:21 AM
Aug 2013

Just once I would love to see something about the other party involved ( the MAN).

Very interesting though.

Rosa Luxemburg

(28,627 posts)
26. the man probable had 100 ex marital relationships
Fri Aug 16, 2013, 07:20 PM
Aug 2013

all one sided then. Republicans like that one-sidedness.

CJCRANE

(18,184 posts)
4. AFAIK abortion is also allowed if the health of the woman is in danger
Fri Aug 16, 2013, 06:35 AM
Aug 2013

according to Judaic Law (which is based on the Hebrew version of the Bible).

In that culture the life of the mother is worth more.

 

leftynyc

(26,060 posts)
18. It's MANDATED if the mother's life
Fri Aug 16, 2013, 09:15 AM
Aug 2013

is in danger. The mother's life ALWAYS comes first in Judaism.

vlyons

(10,252 posts)
10. many Christians seem not to know the bits about
Fri Aug 16, 2013, 07:52 AM
Aug 2013

feed the poor, heal the sick, practice peace, and love thy neighbor. Just saying ...

ejpoeta

(8,933 posts)
8. um. what about the man she made herself unpure with? hmm. I know this is showing that the bible
Fri Aug 16, 2013, 07:00 AM
Aug 2013

talks about making her miscarry, but all this crap about how the woman will become a curse uggh. but it is interesting that in this it seems to be perfectly fine with abortion.

justiceischeap

(14,040 posts)
15. Well, keep in mind that when women had their periods
Fri Aug 16, 2013, 08:36 AM
Aug 2013

they were (are) considered unclean and must be kept away from men so as not to taint them.

 

Triana

(22,666 posts)
20. And if men had periods they would be exalted and worshipped.
Fri Aug 16, 2013, 09:43 AM
Aug 2013

They would have been considered "blessings from Gawd" and proof that men were superior to women. I hate patriarchal religions. Well, I really aren't too impressed with any of them, I guess. Pfft.

madrchsod

(58,162 posts)
9. abortion was practiced by many cultures across the middle east and egypt.
Fri Aug 16, 2013, 07:04 AM
Aug 2013

fundies and sociopathic republicans avoid this and other parts of the bible.

TxDemChem

(1,918 posts)
11. Didn't version of the Bible that I grew up with,
Fri Aug 16, 2013, 07:53 AM
Aug 2013

But that is the gist of the procedure for cursing a woman who has been unfaithful. I hate Numbers. It's a vile book. It disturbed me to the point that I had to read the entire bible. Then I became an atheist.

FiveGoodMen

(20,018 posts)
22. "I had to read the entire bible. Then I became an atheist."
Fri Aug 16, 2013, 05:41 PM
Aug 2013

I think that's how it goes for at least half of us.

TxDemChem

(1,918 posts)
25. Yeah. The bible is Christianity's largest enemy.
Fri Aug 16, 2013, 07:14 PM
Aug 2013

Just realized what a typed. Note to self: never post text after taking Vicodin

Damn it! I did it again!

 

Civilization2

(649 posts)
12. sounds a bit like a witch trial,. hokum for the hopelessly faithful.
Fri Aug 16, 2013, 08:31 AM
Aug 2013

Religion is a terrible blight on humanity, faith is the willful suspension of critical thinking,. never a good idea.

CJCRANE

(18,184 posts)
16. So let's see: conservative christians don't know much about the Bible...
Fri Aug 16, 2013, 08:52 AM
Aug 2013

don't follow the teachings of Jesus in the New Testament, reject Reason, Logic and Science...

so who or what do they follow?

FiveGoodMen

(20,018 posts)
23. They follow whichever personality their little subcult has gathered around.
Fri Aug 16, 2013, 05:42 PM
Aug 2013

Usually the preacher at their church.

KrazyinKS

(291 posts)
17. It's true, many Church's pick and choose what to teach
Fri Aug 16, 2013, 09:01 AM
Aug 2013

I went to a Southern Baptist Church for like 10 years (I am now recovering) they always picked just a few verses from each book to teach so they could twist it any way they wanted. After 10 years I knew nothing. I was amazed, I knew little after all that time. They never taught the whole bible, just the parts they could twist for their own purposes.

davemovedave

(1 post)
28. Ummm?
Thu Oct 31, 2019, 08:01 AM
Oct 2019

I'm new here, and I see this is an older thread but I was searching for information to corroborate something I'd seen when I stumbled on this site. I read over these verses, all of them in the Bible, at least 3 times so I could be sure I understood it. As far as I could tell all the woman had to drink was the holy water with some dust in it, the priest never put any of the barley flour in it. He burnt some of the flour and I'm guessing the rest went into the synagogue's storage for making bread, the verses don't really say what he did with the rest. Anyway, I know how to make holy water, the ingredients and ritual involved. It's been awhile so I don't remember all of the ritual but that's not the important part anyway, the ingredients are. Holy water is made of water and salt, that's it and it would be bitter to drink, I'm basing that on gargling with saltwater, but it wouldn't cause a miscarriage. My bet is it's a matter of belief; if the woman had been unfaithful and really believed that drinking that water after making her oath would cause a miscarriage, it would. The mind is really powerful. But if she had been faithful and fully believed her oath would protect her child, no miscarriage because saltwater by itself won't cause one, unless you drank a lot and then it might. I don't think you could drink enough though, I think you'd probably throw up first. I'm not a doctor, however, so I might be wrong about the vomiting part.

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