Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man's wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him,
If man's wife go aside. This law was given both as a strong discouragement to conjugal infidelity on the part of a wife, and a sufficient protection of her from the consequences of a hasty and groundless suspicion on the part of the husband. His suspicions, however, were sufficient, in the absence of witnesses (Leviticus 20:10), to warrant the trial described; and the course of proceeding to be followed was for the jealous husband to bring his wife unto the priest with an offering of barley meal because none were allowed to approach the sanctuary empty-handed (Exodus 23:15), and barley being the food of horses (1 Kings 4:28), as well as the symbol of what was low, was used in the offering of jealousy-which related to a matter of a sensual, animal character. On other occasions there were mingled with the offering, oil, which signified joy, and frankincense, which denoted acceptance (Psalms 141:2). But on the occasion referred to, both these ingredients were to be excluded, partly because it was a solemn appeal to God in distressing circumstances, and partly because it was a sin offering on the part of the wife, who came before God in the character of a real or suspected offender.