 The bitter waters can only be effective miraculously.The text specifies that the potion should be made from water and dust; in the masoretic text, the water used for the potion must be "holy water", and the Targum interprets it as water from the "Molten Sea", but the Septuagint instead requires "running water".The passage argues that the curse was washed into the water; it is thought that this idea derives from a belief that the words of a curse exist in their own right.