The prescription administered to the woman suspected of adultery (Num. 5.11–31) remains an enigma as long as רפע, the essential component of the potion, is understood as dust or earth. The whole procedure is clarified, however, once רפע is identified as copper ore, given that the symptoms of copper intoxication fit the main and side effects of the potion precisely as evoked in this text. The Sotah prescription therefore has nothing to do with ordeal, magic practices or psychosomatic effects. It is a set of instructions administered during the early stages of pregnancy when doubts arise around paternity. The presence of copper ore in the sanctuary, together with the discrepancy between this practice and the Israelite laws and ethics addressing adultery, suggests that the Sotah prescription was borrowed from the Kenite metalworking religious context. Furthermore, its incongruence with the Israelite way of life reveals that this prescription was inserted ‘as is' in the book of Numbers.
AmzallagN.2013‘Copper Metallurgy: A Hidden Fundament of the Theology of Ancient Israel?’, SJOT27: 155–80.
3.
AmzallagN.2014‘Some Implication of the Volcanic Theophany of YHWH on his Primeval Identity’, Antiguo Oriente12: 11–38.
4.
AmzallagN.2015a ‘The Material Nature of the Divine Radiance and its Theologal Implications’, SJOT29: 80–96.
5.
AmzallagN.2015b ‘Furnace Re-melting as Expression of YHWH's Holiness: Evidence from the Meaning of qanna (אנק) in Divine Context’, JBL134: 233–52.
6.
AmzallagN.2015c Esau in Jerusalem—The Rise of a Seirite Religious Elite in Jerusalem at the Persian Period (Paris: J. Gabalda, 2015).
7.
in press ‘The Forgotten Meaning of ʿāpār in Biblical Hebrew’, JAOS.
8.
AshleyT.R.1993The Book of Numbers (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans)
9.
AvalosH.1995Illness and Health Care in the Ancient Near East: The Role of the Temple in Greece, Mesopotamia and Israel (Atlanta, GA: Scholar Press).
10.
BabaeiH., RoshangarL., SakhaeeE., AbshenasJ., KheirandishR., and DehghaniR.2012‘Ultrastructural and Morphometrical Changes of Mice Ovaries Following Experimentally Induced Copper Poisoning’, Iran Red Crescent Medical Journal14: 558–68.
11.
BachA.1993‘Good to the Last Drop: Viewing the Sotah (Numbers 5.11–31) as the Glass Half Empty and Wondering How to View It Half Full’, in ExumJ.C., and ClinesD.J.A. (eds.), The New Literary Criticism and the Hebrew Bible (Sheffield: JSOT Press): 26–54.
12.
BanerjeeS.2009‘Acute Copper Toxicity in Garole Sheep—A Case Study’, World Applied Sciences Journal7: 1547–51.
13.
BlenkinsoppJ.2008‘The Midianite—Kenite Hypothesis Revisited and the Origin of Judah’, JSOT33: 131–53.
14.
BohakG.2008Ancient Jewish Magic: A History (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press).
15.
BrichtoH.C.1975‘The Case of Sota and a Reconsideration of Biblical Law’, HUCA46: 55–70.
16.
BriggsR.S.2009‘Reading the Sotah Text (Number 5:11–31): Holiness and a Hermeneutic Fit for Suspicion’, BibInt17: 288–319.
17.
BrimC.J.1936Medicine in the Bible—The Pentateuch (New York: Forben Press).
18.
BrittB.2007‘Male Jealousy and the Suspected Sotah: Toward a Counter-Reading of Numbers 5:11–31’, Bible and Critical Theory3.5: 1–19.
19.
BuddP.J.1984Numbers (WBC, 5; Waco, TX: Word Books).
20.
ChavelC.B.1975Ramban: Commentary on the Torah, IV (New York: Shilo Press).
21.
De VauxJ.1972Les Nombres (Paris: J. Gabalda).
22.
DijkstraM.2001‘El, the God of Israel—Israel, the People of YHWH: On the Origin of Ancient Israelite Yahwism’, in BeckingB., DijkstraM., KorpelM.C.A., and VriezenK.J.H. (eds.), Only One God? Monotheism in Ancient Israel and the Veneration of the Goddess Asherah (Sheffield: Sheffield Academic Press): 81–126.
23.
DowsingS.1999‘Contraception and Abortion in the Early Roman Empire: A Critical Examination of Ancient Sources and Modern Interpretations’ (MSc thesis, University of Ottawa).
24.
DozemanT.B.2008‘The Midianites in the Formation of the Book of Numbers’, in RömerT. (ed.), The Books of Leviticus and Numbers (Leuven: Peeters): 261–84.
25.
DriverG.R.1956‘Two Problems in the Old Testament Examined in the Light of Assyriology’, Syria33: 70–78.
26.
EidelbergS.1980‘Trial by Ordeal in Medieval Jewish History: Laws, Customs and Attitudes’, Proceedings of the American Academy for Jewish Research46/47: 105–20.
27.
FarrerF.2011‘Contraception: A Review’, Professional Nursing Today15: 22–26.
28.
FeinsteinE.L.2012‘The “Bitter Waters” of Numbers 5:11–31’, VT62: 300–306.
29.
FermV.H., and HanlonD.P., 1974‘Toxicity of Copper Salts in Hamster Embryonic Development’, Biology of Reproduction11: 97–101.
30.
FishbaneM.1974‘Accusations of Adultery: A Study of Law and Scribal Practice in Numbers 5:11–31’, HUCA45: 25–45.
31.
Frymer-KenskyT.1984‘The Strange Case of the Suspected Sotah (Numbers V 11–31)’, VT34: 11–26.
HabermanB.D.2000‘The Suspected Adulteress: A Study of Textual Embodiment’, Prooftexts20: 12–42.
35.
HeidebrechtN.H.1993‘A Lexicon of Metal Terminology in the Hebrew Scriptures with Special Reference to the Excavations of the Metal Industry at Tel Dan, Israel’ (PhD diss., University of California, Los Angeles).
36.
HerreroP.1984La thérapeutique mésopotamienne (Paris: Éditions Recherches sur les civilisations).
37.
JeonJ.2007‘Two Laws in the Sotah Passage (Num. V 11–31)’, VT57: 181–207.
38.
Juvenal1918‘Satires’, in Juvenal and Persius (trans. G.G. Ramsay; LCL; Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press [repr. 1969]).
39.
KellermannD.1970Die Priesterschrift von Numeri 1.1 bis 10.10: Literarkritisch und Traditionsgeschichtlich Untersucht (Berlin: W. de Gruyter).
40.
KleinI.1972The Code of Maimonides, IV (New Haven: Yale University Press).
41.
KnierimR.P., and CoatsG.W.1995Numbers (Grand Rapids, MI: Eerdmans).
42.
LevineB.A.1993Numbers 1–20: A New Translation with Introduction and Commentary (AB, 4; New York: Doubleday).
43.
McCarterP.K.1973‘The River Ordeal in Israelite Literature’, HTR66: 403–12.
44.
McKaneW.1980‘Poison, Trial by Ordeal and the Cup of Wrath’, VT30: 474–92.
45.
McNuttP.1990The Forging of Israel (Sheffield: Almond Press).
46.
MichalukA., and KochmanK.2007‘Involvement of Copper in Female Reproduction’, Reproductive Biology7: 193–205.
47.
MilgromJ.1990Numbers (New York: The Jewish Publication Society).
48.
MilgromJ.1999‘The Case of the Suspected Adulteress, Number 5:11–31: Redaction and Meaning’, in BachA. (ed.), Women in the Bible (New York: Routledge): 475–82.
49.
MillerD.2010‘Another Look at the Magical Ritual for a Suspected Adulteress in Numbers 5:11–31’, Magic, Ritual and Witchcraft5: 1–16.
50.
MondriaanM.A.2011‘Who Were the Kenites?’, OTE24: 414–30.
51.
MorgensternJ.1925‘Trial by Ordeal among the Semites and in Ancient Israel’, HUCA Jubilee volume: 113–43.
52.
MotlhatlhediK., FirthJ.A., SethlareV., KaguambaJ.K., and MmolaatshepeM.2014‘A Novel and Fatal Method of Copper Sulphate Poisoning’, African Journal of Emergency Medicine4: e23–e25.
53.
NeetiK., and PrakashT.2013‘Effects of Heavy Metal Poisoning during Pregnancy’, International Research Journal of Environmental Sciences2: 88–92.
54.
NothM.1968Numbers: A Commentary (OTL; London: SCM Press).
55.
NunnJ.F.1996Ancient Egyptian Medicine (Norman, OK: University of Oklahoma Press).
56.
PardeeD.1985‘mārîm in Numbers V’, VT35: 112–15.
57.
PressR.1933‘Das Ordeal im alten Israel’, ZAW51: 121–40, 227–55.
58.
PreussJ.1978Biblical and Talmudic Medicine (trans. F. Rosner; New York: Sanhedrin Press).
59.
RiddleJ.M.1992Contraception and Abortion from the Ancient World to the Renaissance (Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press).
60.
RömerT.2015‘The Revelation of the Divine Name to Moses and the Construction of a Memory about the Origins of the Encounter between YHWH and Israel’, in LevyT.E., SchneiderT., and ProppW.H.C. (eds.), Israel's Exodus in Transdisciplinary Perspective—Text, Archaeology, Culture and Geoscience (Berlin: Springer Verlag): 305–15.
61.
RosnerF.1984‘The Ordeal of the Wayward Woman (Sotah): Miracle or Natural Phenomenon?’, Koroth8: 396–406.
62.
RothenbergB.1988The Egyptian Mining Temple at Timna (London: IAMS).
63.
RoychoudhuryS., NathS., MassanyiP., StawarzR., KacaniovaM., and KolesarovaA.2016‘Copper-Induced Changes in Reproductive Functions: In Vivo and In Vitro Effects’, Physiological Research65: 11–22.
64.
SarnaJ.R.2000‘Contraception in the Ancient Times’, in WhitelawW.A. (ed.), Proceedings of the 9th Annual History of Medicine Days (Calgary: University of Calgary): 18–22.
65.
SassonJ.1999‘Numbers 5 and the Waters of Judgment’, in BachA. (ed.), Women in the Bible (New York: Routledge): 483–86.
66.
SavaruK., JoseJ., BhatM.N., JimmyB., and ShastryB.A.2007‘Acute Ingestion of Copper Sulphate: A Review on its Clinical Manifestations and Management’, Indian Journal Critical Care Medicine11: 74–80.
67.
SawyerJ.F.A.1986‘Cain and Hephaestus. Possible Relics of Metalworking Traditions in Genesis 4’, Abr-Nahrain24: 155–66.
68.
SchäferP.1997‘Magic and Religion in Ancient Judaism’, in SchäferP., and KippenbergH.G. (eds.), Envisioning Magic: A Princeton Seminar and Symposium (Leiden: E.J. Brill): 19–43.
69.
SchmittR.2004Magie im Alten Testament (AOAT, 313; Munster: Ugarit Verlag).
70.
ShemeshY.2005‘Punishment of the Offending Organ in Biblical Literature’, VT55: 343–65.
71.
StadeD.B.1895‘Beiträge zur Pentateuchkritic’, ZAW15: 166–78.
72.
TowersS.C.2014‘An Analysis of Philo's Exegesis of the Sotah Ritual’, Women in Judaism11: 1–20.
73.
Van der ToornK.1988‘Ordeal Procedures in the Psalms and the Passover Meal’, VT38: 427–45.
74.
WeinfeldM.1988‘The Tradition of Moses and Jethro at the Mountain of God’, Tarbiz56: 449–60 (Hebrew).
