Numbers 5:14
And the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled: And the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be defiled: or if the spirit of jealousy come upon him, and he be jealous of his wife, and she be not defiled:
The verse stands within the laws concerning jealousy set out in Numbers 5 and 6. It provides for the case of a wife accused of adultery when her husband has become jealous yet has no direct evidence against her. The word spirit there denotes a feeling or disposition, namely the feeling of jealousy coming upon a husband. That feeling may arise whether his wife has actually been unfaithful or not, and in this place spirit does not denote a separate, immortal entity dwelling within a person.
The appointed jealousy offering and the bitter water serve to expose guilt or innocence, leaving the innocent woman without harmful result. If guilty, she is brought into a diseased condition that ends in death. By this test God removes suspicion of impurity from Israel. Read rightly, the whole chapter displays God's abhorrence of sin and warns against pursuing sin's destructive course to its fearful end.