Numbers 5-10: Laws of Ritual Purity

Numbers 5

The Test for an Unfaithful Wife (11-31)

• 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."
  • It was a Jewish tradition for a married woman to cover her hair. And if a married woman committed adultery, then her veil would be removed to reveal her hair as a shaming. This is why in the story of Susanna when the two elders accuse her, and they want her face to be uncovered so they can gaze upon her beauty - her face is uncovered. But in our iconography, when we write an icon of Susanna, we always have her hair covered because she was innocent and found innocent by the wisdom of God through Daniel