Numbers 19:5

5 And they shall burn her to ashes before him; and her skin and her flesh and her blood, with her dung, shall be consumed.

Numbers 19:5 Meaning and Commentary

Numbers 19:5

And [one] shall burn the heifer in his sight
Another priest, as the Targum of Jonathan, Eleazar looking on, as that expresses it; the Jews say F7, that when the priest came to the mount of Olives, accompanied by the elders of Israel, before he burnt the cow, he dipped himself in a dipping place there; and the wood being laid there in order, wood of cedar, ash, fir, and fig trees, made in the form of a tower, with holes opened in it (to put in the fire, and that it might burn the quicker), and its aspect being to the west, he bound the cow, and laid her upon the pile, with her head to the south, and her face to the west; and then having slain it, and sprinkled its blood, as before related, he set fire to it by the help of some small wood: the burning of it may signify the dolorous sufferings of Christ, when the wrath of God was poured forth like fire upon him; the same was signified by roasting the passover lamb:

her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn;
which may denote the extent of Christ's sufferings, reaching to all parts of his body, skin, flesh, and blood, and the shame and reproach that attended them, signified by dung; as well as how impure and accursed he was accounted when he was made sin for his people, bore their sins and suffered for them, even not in body only, but in his soul also; for his soul as well as his body were made an offering for sin.


FOOTNOTES:

F7 Misn. Parah, c. 3. sect. 7, 8, 9.

Numbers 19:5 In-Context

3 And thou shalt give her to Eleazar the priest; and they shall bring her out of the camp into a clean place, and shall kill her before his face.
4 And Eleazar shall take of her blood, and sprinkle of her blood seven times in front of the tabernacle of witness.
5 And they shall burn her to ashes before him; and her skin and her flesh and her blood, with her dung, shall be consumed.
6 And the priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet wool, and they shall cast them into the midst of the burning of the heifer.
7 And the priest shall wash his garments, and bathe his body in water, and afterwards he shall go into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean till evening.

The Brenton translation of the Septuagint is in the public domain.