Numbers 19:3

3 'You shall give it to 1Eleazar the priest, and it shall 2be brought outside * * the camp and be 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 Then the LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
2 "This is the statute of the law which the LORD has commanded, saying, 'Speak to the sons of Israel that they bring you an unblemished red heifer in which is no defect and on which a yoke has never been placed.
3 'You shall give it to Eleazar the priest, and it shall be brought outside the camp and be slaughtered in his presence.
4 'Next Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and sprinkle some of its blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times.
5 'Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight; its hide and its flesh and its blood, with its refuse, shall be burned.

Cross References 2

  • 1. Numbers 3:4
  • 2. Lev 4:11, 12, 21; Numbers 19:9
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