Numbers 19:3

3 And you shall give her to Elea'zar the priest, and she shall be taken outside the camp and slaughtered before him;

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 Now the LORD said to Moses and to Aaron,
2 "This is the statute of the law which the LORD has commanded: Tell the people of Israel to bring you a red heifer without defect, in which there is no blemish, and upon which a yoke has never come.
3 And you shall give her to Elea'zar the priest, and she shall be taken outside the camp and slaughtered before him;
4 and Elea'zar the priest shall take some of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle some of her blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times.
5 And the heifer shall be burned in his sight; her skin, her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall be burned;
Revised Standard Version of the Bible, copyright 1952 [2nd edition, 1971] by the 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.