Numbers 19:1-11

1 And the LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying,
2 This [is] the ordinance of the law which the LORD hath commanded, saying, Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without spot, in which [is] no blemish, [and] upon which never came a yoke:
3 And ye shall give her to Eleazar the priest, that he may bring her forth without the camp, and [one] shall slay her before his face:
4 And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle of the congregation seven times:
5 And [one] shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn:
6 And the priest shall take cedar-wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast [it] into the midst of the burning of the heifer.
7 Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the evening.
8 And he that burneth her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the evening.
9 And a man [that is] clean shall gather the ashes of the heifer, and lay [them] without the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel, for a water of separation: it [is] a purification for sin.
10 And he that gathereth the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening: and it shall be to the children of Israel, and to the stranger that sojourneth among them, for a statute for ever.
11 He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days.

Numbers 19:1-11 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.

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