Numbers 19:9-10

9 'Now a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and deposit them outside * the camp in a clean place, and the congregation of the sons of Israel shall keep it as ¹water to remove impurity; it is purification from sin.

10 'The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer ²shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening; and it shall be a perpetual statute to the sons of Israel and to the alien who sojourns among them.

Numbers 19:9-10 Meaning and Commentary

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.

Cross References

• 1. Numbers 8:7; Numbers 31:23
• 2. Numbers 19:7

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "it shall be to the congregation...Israel, for a guarding as water of impurity"
• [b]. Or "a sin offering"