2,006. When the Husband Was Guilty of Unchaste Deeds

Hilchos Sotah 3:18

If a man had his wife drink the bitter water even though he had previously engaged in prohibited relations, he increases the magnitude of his sin. This is because he unnecessarily caused God’s Name to be blotted out in the water and he made people doubt the efficacy of the bitter water test. The latter is because his wife will tell others that she committed adultery and the water did nothing, unaware that it was her husband’s indiscretions that kept the water from working.

Hilchos Sotah 3:19

For this reason, when the number of known adulterers increased in the time of the second Temple, the Sanhedrin abolished the bitter water test. They based this decision on the traditional understanding of Hosea 4:14, “I won’t punish your daughters when they commit acts of immorality.”