The old testament is sexist

[Nita]

How is that way of thinking any different from that behind other “trials by ordeal” ? “Floating a witch” came in two forms - among Western Christians, she was guilty if she did not sink, & innocent if she did ; whereas in ancient Mesoptamia she was guilty if she drowned (which is much more humane than the other way of interpreting what happened. What both forms of ordeal by floating share with one another, & with the passage in Numbers 5, is that God or the river-god would give the answer appropriate in the circumstances. The Church in the West condemned judgement by ordeal - surely rightly; & not because it lacked faith in God’s justice either. If one kind of ordeal is unsatisfactory, why should others be any better ?​

If you’re asking how the “trial by ordeal” in Numbers 5 differed from those in ancient Mesopotamia (or others) then the answer is the difference in the one who authored the decree. It was God who issued the order for the Jewish people. My trust in God is the basis for my personal thinking on the subject. I trust that He would ensure the just results of a decree He personally had ordered.

Obviously I do not believe that any pagan regulations came directly by God’s decree.
Regarding the Western Christians, I can speak only for Catholics. We believe God now communicates truth thru the Magisterium. It has never been an official teaching of the Catholic Church that witches were to undergo trial by ordeal (at least not to my knowledge). I’m not saying that it never occurred (I don’t know if it did or not), just that if it did, it was not because the Church had infallibly declared trial by ordeal to be the true and proper way to determine guilt, and thus was to be the method used.

Regarding the “way of thinking” that you mention: the OT regulation did not come into being because of human thinking. It was God’s decree and was instituted because of His thinking. He doesn’t tell us the “why” - hence we’re all just offering our opinions since we don’t know for sure. I don’t know whether or not any of the other groups/cultures who adopted trial by ordeal explain their reasons for adopting it.

Nita