Question: Our local paper published an op-ed piece trying to support the idea that the Bible ...

Question: Our local paper published an op-ed piece trying to support the idea that the Bible doesn’t recognize that a baby is a living being until it is born and takes its first breath. They make the following points: “In Genesis:2:7And the LORD God formed man of the dust of the ground, and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life; and man became a living soul.
See All..., God ‘breathed into his nostrils the breath of life and it was then that the man became a living being.’ Although the man was fully formed by God, he was not a living being until after taking his first breath.” And, “In Job:33:4The spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.
See All..., it states: ‘The spirit of God has made me, and the breath of the Almighty gives me life.’” Also, “Ezekiel:37:5-6 [5] Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: [6] And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
See All..., ‘Thus says the Lord God to these bones: Behold, I will cause breath to enter you, and you shall live. And I will lay sinews upon you, and will cause flesh to come upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and you shall live....’”

Finally [the article stated], “Most people don’t know (or want to know) that the Bible contains an abortion ritual. In Numbers:5:11-31 [11] And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, [12] Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man's wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him, [13] And a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept close, and she be defiled, and there be no witness against her, neither she be taken with the manner; [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: [15] Then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest, and he shall bring her offering for her, the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense thereon; for it is an offering of jealousy, an offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance. [16] And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD: [17] And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water: [18] And the priest shall set the woman before the LORD, and uncover the woman's head, and put the offering of memorial in her hands, which is the jealousy offering: and the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that causeth the curse: [19] And the priest shall charge her by an oath, and say unto the woman, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness with another instead of thy husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse: [20] But if thou hast gone aside to another instead of thy husband, and if thou be defiled, and some man have lain with thee beside thine husband: [21] Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman, The LORD make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the LORD doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell; [22] And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, to make thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot: And the woman shall say, Amen, amen. [23] And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out with the bitter water: [24] And he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that causeth the curse: and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter. [25] Then the priest shall take the jealousy offering out of the woman's hand, and shall wave the offering before the LORD, and offer it upon the altar: [26] And the priest shall take an handful of the offering, even the memorial thereof, and burn it upon the altar, and afterward shall cause the woman to drink the water. [27] And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, that, if she be defiled, and have done trespass against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot: and the woman shall be a curse among her people. [28] And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive seed. [29] This is the law of jealousies, when a wife goeth aside to another instead of her husband, and is defiled; [30] Or when the spirit of jealousy cometh upon him, and he be jealous over his wife, and shall set the woman before the LORD, and the priest shall execute upon her all this law. [31] Then shall the man be guiltless from iniquity, and this woman shall bear her iniquity.
See All..., it involves forcing a woman accused of adultery to drink ‘bitter water’ designed to cause a miscarriage. ‘Her belly will swell, and her thigh will rot’….It can be said with absolute certainty that ancient scripture does not consider a zygote or a fetus even to be alive, because it has not yet drawn breath.”

Response: If “taking a breath,” i.e, ingesting oxygen into one’s system, is the criteria for when life begins, then the fetus clearly qualifies as a living being. There is no doubt that the fetus in the womb is ingesting oxygen (and other essential elements) through the blood circulating in its body, filtered from the mother’s blood system. Indeed, the writer’s citation of Ezekiel:37:5-6 [5] Thus saith the Lord GOD unto these bones; Behold, I will cause breath to enter into you, and ye shall live: [6] And I will lay sinews upon you, and will bring up flesh upon you, and cover you with skin, and put breath in you, and ye shall live; and ye shall know that I am the LORD.
See All... undermines the premise they advance. In truth, the Lord has caused “breath to enter into you [even a fetus], and ye shall live.” Clearly that process begins in the womb. We must consider these things carefully and thus avoid the confused opinions generated by political positions. A similar idea is expressed in Job:33:4The spirit of God hath made me, and the breath of the Almighty hath given me life.
See All...b: “The...breath of the Almighty hath given me life.”

In Jeremiah:1:5Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.
See All..., the Lord clearly says, “Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.” That takes us back to before conception, where, in His foreknowledge, God recognized the existence and ministry of Jeremiah, and it was then that God “ordained” him “a prophet.” And, it was the Lord who “formed” him (not “it”) in the womb (See also Ps:139:13-16 [13] For thou hast possessed my reins: thou hast covered me in my mother's womb. [14] I will praise thee; for I am fearfully and wonderfully made: marvellous are thy works; and that my soul knoweth right well. [15] My substance was not hid from thee, when I was made in secret, and curiously wrought in the lowest parts of the earth. [16] Thine eyes did see my substance, yet being unperfect; and in thy book all my members were written, which in continuance were fashioned, when as yet there was none of them.
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It is important to read the text in context and discern what the words are saying. Numbers:5:11-31 [11] And the LORD spake unto Moses, saying, [12] Speak unto the children of Israel, and say unto them, If any man's wife go aside, and commit a trespass against him, [13] And a man lie with her carnally, and it be hid from the eyes of her husband, and be kept close, and she be defiled, and there be no witness against her, neither she be taken with the manner; [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: [15] Then shall the man bring his wife unto the priest, and he shall bring her offering for her, the tenth part of an ephah of barley meal; he shall pour no oil upon it, nor put frankincense thereon; for it is an offering of jealousy, an offering of memorial, bringing iniquity to remembrance. [16] And the priest shall bring her near, and set her before the LORD: [17] And the priest shall take holy water in an earthen vessel; and of the dust that is in the floor of the tabernacle the priest shall take, and put it into the water: [18] And the priest shall set the woman before the LORD, and uncover the woman's head, and put the offering of memorial in her hands, which is the jealousy offering: and the priest shall have in his hand the bitter water that causeth the curse: [19] And the priest shall charge her by an oath, and say unto the woman, If no man have lain with thee, and if thou hast not gone aside to uncleanness with another instead of thy husband, be thou free from this bitter water that causeth the curse: [20] But if thou hast gone aside to another instead of thy husband, and if thou be defiled, and some man have lain with thee beside thine husband: [21] Then the priest shall charge the woman with an oath of cursing, and the priest shall say unto the woman, The LORD make thee a curse and an oath among thy people, when the LORD doth make thy thigh to rot, and thy belly to swell; [22] And this water that causeth the curse shall go into thy bowels, to make thy belly to swell, and thy thigh to rot: And the woman shall say, Amen, amen. [23] And the priest shall write these curses in a book, and he shall blot them out with the bitter water: [24] And he shall cause the woman to drink the bitter water that causeth the curse: and the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter. [25] Then the priest shall take the jealousy offering out of the woman's hand, and shall wave the offering before the LORD, and offer it upon the altar: [26] And the priest shall take an handful of the offering, even the memorial thereof, and burn it upon the altar, and afterward shall cause the woman to drink the water. [27] And when he hath made her to drink the water, then it shall come to pass, that, if she be defiled, and have done trespass against her husband, that the water that causeth the curse shall enter into her, and become bitter, and her belly shall swell, and her thigh shall rot: and the woman shall be a curse among her people. [28] And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive seed. [29] This is the law of jealousies, when a wife goeth aside to another instead of her husband, and is defiled; [30] Or when the spirit of jealousy cometh upon him, and he be jealous over his wife, and shall set the woman before the LORD, and the priest shall execute upon her all this law. [31] Then shall the man be guiltless from iniquity, and this woman shall bear her iniquity.
See All... has nothing to do with miscarriage. Nothing is said about the woman being pregnant. If the unsupported assumption that the statement, “Her belly will swell,” refers to pregnancy, then what about “her thigh will rot?” The “swelling” of the belly is not with pregnancy but is rather a symptom of the physical breakdown of her body as a result of the curse if guilty. Rather than “abortion,” the end result of the curse is infertility, and if not guilty, she is promised conception: “And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive seed” (Num:5:28And if the woman be not defiled, but be clean; then she shall be free, and shall conceive seed.
See All...).

The author is imposing his/her interpretation onto the scriptures rather than drawing out the real meaning. Such assumptions result in a misinterpretation of Scripture, leaving no leg on which to stand.