Numbers 19:3

3 You shall give it to the priest Eleazar, and it shall be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence.

Numbers 19:3 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 19:3

And ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest
The son of Aaron; the Sagan of the priests, as the Targum of Jonathan calls him, the second or deputy priest; it was not to be given to Aaron, that he might not be defiled, though but for a small time, that so he might not be hindered in his office at all; but to Eleazar, to inure him to his office, and to confirm him in it:

that he may bring her forth without the camp;
without the camp of Israel; Jarchi says, without the three camps, as afterwards without Jerusalem; it used in later times to be burnt on the mount of Olives; it was brought forth as impure, and was a type of Christ, having the sins of his people on him, and who in conformity to this type suffered without the gates of Jerusalem, see ( Hebrews 13:11-13 ) ;

and [one] shall slay her before his face;
the Targum of Jonathan says, another priest; but it was not necessary that it should be slain by a priest, any man might do it. Jarchi says, a stranger slew, and Eleazar looked on; though it was not slain by him, yet it was slain before him, that it might look like a sacrifice, though not offered on the altar; and slaying of it denotes the putting of Christ to death, which was done in the presence, and with the approbation, of the priests and elders of the people.

Numbers 19:3 In-Context

1 The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying:
2 This is a statute of the law that the Lord has commanded: Tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without defect, in which there is no blemish and on which no yoke has been laid.
3 You shall give it to the priest Eleazar, and it shall be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence.
4 The priest Eleazar shall take some of its blood with his finger and sprinkle it seven times towards the front of the tent of meeting.
5 Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight; its skin, its flesh, and its blood, with its dung, shall be burned.
New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.