Text: Jeremiah 2:23
OT Text Referred to: Numbers 5:11
Subject: suspected adulteress denying defilement
Source: Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Reference Type: Allusion
Connection Method(s): None
Significance: Jeremiah 2:23 confronts Israel's denial of defilement — "How can you say, 'I am not defiled' (לֹא נִטְמֵאתִי, lo nitmeiti)" — using language drawn from the jealousy ritual of Numbers 5:11-31, where a suspected adulteress is tested for whether she has been "defiled" (נִטְמְאָה, nitme'ah). The shared root טָמֵא (tame', "to be defiled") in the context of marital unfaithfulness transforms the legal procedure into prophetic metaphor: Yahweh is the jealous husband, Israel the wife who protests innocence despite evidence of spiritual adultery. While Numbers provides a legal mechanism to determine guilt, Jeremiah's rhetorical question renders the test unnecessary — the evidence in the Valley of Hinnom is visible and incontrovertible.