And he shall make the woman drink the water of bitterness that brings the curse, and the water that brings the curse shall enter into her and cause bitter pain. And …: For the water of bitterness that brings the curse, see verse 18. And cause bitter pain is literally “for bitter things” (see verse 18). Verse 24 explains that the woman has to drink the bitter water in order to take the potential curse into her body. But this is not yet the moment that she drinks the water. That comes only at the end of verse 26, after the grain offering. Good News Translation makes this clear by rendering verse 24 as “Before he makes the woman drink the water, which may then cause her bitter pain.” This rendering reflects that verse 24 is not the next step, but a summary preview of what is to follow. If such a model cannot be used in some receptor languages, at least New Revised Standard Version‘s small correction of Revised Standard Version here is helpful. New Revised Standard Version does not begin verses 24 and 25 with the connectors and and And respectively, keeping each verse separate from the other. Verse 25 could begin with a conjunction which indicates that it is not in temporal continuity with verse 24, for example, “So,” “Thus,” or “To be specific.”

The priest shall take the cereal offering of jealousy out of the woman’s hand: See the comments on verses 15 and 18. There is a shift from “hands” in verse 18 to hand here, with no apparent distinction in meaning. Whatever sounds more natural in translation for “hands” and hand may be used in both verses.

And shall wave the cereal offering before the LORD: The verb wave refers to a particular gesture associated with sacrifices that required something extra. This verb is better rendered “elevate” (New Revised Standard Version, New Jewish Publication Society’s Tanakh), “hold … out” (Good News Translation), or “lift … up” (Contemporary English Version. New Living Translation). The priest must dedicate the grain offering to the LORD by holding it up.

And bring it to the altar: The altar refers to the altar on which sacrifices were burned in front of the Tabernacle (see 3.26).

And the priest shall take a handful of the cereal offering, as its memorial portion: The priest must only take a handful of the grain offering to burn on the altar. As its memorial portion may mean that the sacrifice reminded God of the person who brought it to him, or it may mean it represented the whole offering. Bijbel in Gewone Taal follows the second sense by saying “as a token of the whole offering” (similarly Good News Translation).

And burn it upon the altar: The Hebrew verb for burn means “cause to go up in smoke.” New Revised Standard Version translates burn it more literally by saying “turn it into smoke.” However, a literal rendering may sound rather mystical or magical.

And afterward shall make the woman drink the water: After the memorial portion of the grain offering is burned on the altar, the woman must drink the bitter water.

Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .