Ordeal for Suspected Adultery

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How to interpret Numbers 5:11 and following?

Is there some cultural background I should be aware of? (Perhaps husbands were just killing their wives prior to this? So God is in fact saving the wives? — sorry I’m just guessing wildly)
 
There is a previous CAF thread with an answer from a priest apologist that is pretty good. I think it’s hard for us to interpret when we can’t even be sure from the translation what the effect of the water is supposed to be.
https://forums.catholic-questions.org/t/does-numbers-5-refer-to-an-abortion/

And yes, he notes that one purpose of it could have been to keep the wives from being convicted of adultery and stoned to death based on their husband just asserting with no evidence that wife had been unfaithful, which of course could have been a wrong assumption of the husband or even totally made up to get rid of his wife.
As well as also scaring the wives into confessing before God if they had indeed committed adultery.
 
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You probably would not want to be the husband who accuses your wife of this, she gingerly drinks it down then nothing happens. She will be MAD. All of her family, kids, and the mans family too will think he is being disloyal or something. So I would guess men would be reluctant to have such a public trail.
 
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