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. (Numbers 5:15)
The Hebrew word here is plural in number, “jealousies,” inasmuch as the offense, if the woman was guilty, was against both God and her husband. Also, more than one person was guilty.
Pour no oil.
This was a most unhappy occasion, so oil, a symbol of joy and happiness, was excluded. Oil and frankincense, although included with a meal offering of first fruits, were not allowed with a poor man’s sin offering (Lev. 2:15; 5:11).
Barley meal.
A cheaper kind of flour, a coarse food used only by the very poor (Judges 7:13; John 6:9, 13), and as fodder for animals (1 Kings 4:28). The “fine flour” commanded for other offerings (Eze. 46:14) was not allowed in a case of this kind, where moral corruption and dishonor were the issues. The coarse elements of this oblation were indicative of the coarseness and grossness of the sinful act.