Numbers 19

Ashes of the Red Heifer

1 And Yahweh spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,

2 "This [is] the decree of the law that Yahweh has commanded, saying, 'Speak to the {Israelites} and let them take to you a red heifer without a physical defect, on which a yoke {has not been placed}.

3 And you will give it to Eleazar the priest, and it will be brought out to a place outside the camp, and it will be slaughtered in his presence.

4 Then Eleazar the priest will take [some of] its blood on his finger and spatter it toward the mouth of the tent of assembly seven times.

5 The heifer will be burned in his sight; its skin, its meat, and its blood, in addition to its offal, will burn.

6 The priest will take cedar wood, hyssop, and crimson thread, and he will throw them in the midst of {the burning heifer}.

7 The priest will wash his garments and his body in the water, and afterward he will come to the camp; the priest will be unclean until the evening.

8 The one who burns it will wash his garments and his body in water; he will be unclean until the evening.

9 A clean man will gather the ashes of the heifer, and he will put [them] in a clean {place outside the camp}; it will be for the community of the {Israelites} as a requirement for waters of impurity; it [is] a purification [offering].

10 The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer will wash his garments; he will be unclean until evening. It will be an eternal decree for the {Israelites} and for one who dwells as an alien in their midst.

11 " 'The one who touches a corpse of {any person} will be unclean for seven days.

12 He will purify himself on the third day, and on the seventh day he will be clean. If he does not purify himself on the third day, he will not be clean on the seventh day.

13 Anyone who touches a corpse, the person of a human being who died, and does not purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of Yahweh, and that person will be cut off from Israel because the waters of impurity were not sprinkled on him. He will still be unclean, and uncleanness [is] on him.

14 " 'This [is] the law of a person who dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent and all who [are] in the tent will be unclean seven days.

15 Every container that is opened that does not have a lid cord on it [is] unclean.

16 Anyone {in the open field} who touches {one who has been slain}, or a corpse, or a bone of a person, or a burial site, he will be unclean for seven days.

17 For the unclean [person] they will take from the powder of the {burnt purification offering}, and they will put running water into a container.

18 A clean person will take hyssop and dip [it] into the water and sprinkle [it] on the tent and on all the objects and persons who were there, and on one who touched the bone, or the one slain, or the dead, or the burial site.

19 The clean [person] will spatter the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he will purify him, and he will wash his garments; he will bathe in the waters, and in the evening he will be clean.

20 But the man who is unclean and does not purify himself, that person will be cut off from the midst of the assembly because he defiled the sanctuary of Yahweh; the water of impurity was not sprinkled on him; he [is] unclean.

21 " 'It will be an eternal decree for them. The one who spatters the waters of impurity will wash his garments, and the one who touches the waters of impurity will be unclean until the evening.

22 Anything that the unclean [person] touches will be unclean, and the person who touches [it] will be unclean until the evening.'"

Numbers 19 Commentary

Chapter 19

The ashes of a heifer. (1-10) Used to purify the unclean. (11-22)

Verses 1-10 The heifer was to be wholly burned. This typified the painful sufferings of our Lord Jesus, both in soul and body, as a sacrifice made by fire, to satisfy God's justice for man's sin. These ashes are said to be laid up as a purification for sin, because, though they were only to purify from ceremonial uncleanness, yet they were a type of that purification for sin which our Lord Jesus made by his death. The blood of Christ is laid up for us in the word and sacraments, as a fountain of merit, to which by faith we may have constant recourse, for cleansing our consciences.

Verses 11-22 Why did the law make a corpse a defiling thing? Because death is the wages of sin, which entered into the world by it, and reigns by the power of it. The law could not conquer death, nor abolish it, as the gospel does, by bringing life and immortality to light, and so introducing a better hope. As the ashes of the heifer signified the merit of Christ, so the running water signified the power and grace of the blessed Spirit, who is compared to rivers of living water; and it is by his work that the righteousness of Christ is applied to us for our cleansing. Those who promise themselves benefit by the righteousness of Christ, while they submit not to the grace and influence of the Holy Spirit, do but deceive themselves; we cannot be purified by the ashes, otherwise than in the running water. What use could there be in these appointments, if they do not refer to the doctrines concerning the sacrifice of Christ? But comparing them with the New Testament, the knowledge to be got from them is evident. The true state of fallen man is shown in these institutions. Here we learn the defiling nature of sin, and are warned to avoid evil communications.

Footnotes

• [a]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
• [b]. Literally "has not gone up"
• [c]. Or "he will bring it out"
• [d]. Or "he will slaughter it"
• [e]. Hebrew "The heifer will burn"
• [f]. Literally "the burning of the heifer"
• [g]. Literally "an outside place of the camp"
• [h]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
• [i]. Literally "sons/children of Israel"
• [j]. Literally "any human person"
• [k]. That is, "that does not have a lid tied shut"
• [l]. Literally "upon the face of a field"
• [m]. Literally "the dead of sword"
• [n]. Hebrew "he will take"
• [o]. Or "burning of the sin offering"
• [p]. Hebrew "he will put"

Chapter Summary

INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 19

This chapter contains a law for making a water for purification for sin, the ingredients of which are the ashes of a red heifer burnt, about which many things are observed, Nu 19:1-10; the use of the water made of them, to purify such as were unclean by the touch of a dead body, Nu 19:11-13; some rules are given, by which it might be known who were unclean on account of a dead body, Nu 19:14-16; the manner of purifying such persons, Nu 19:17-19; and the punishment of those that should neglect purification, Nu 19:20-22.