Numbers 19:1-4

Ordinance of the Red Heifer

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 ¹unblemished red heifer in which is no defect and ²on which a yoke has never been placed.

3 'You shall give it to ³Eleazar the priest, and it shall ⁴be 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 ⁵sprinkle some of its blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times.

Numbers 19:1-4 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. Leviticus 22:20-25
• 2. Deuteronomy 21:3
• 3. Numbers 3:4
• 4. Lev 4:11, 12, 21; Numbers 19:9
• 5. Leviticus 4:6, 17; Leviticus 16:14

Footnotes

• [a]. Lit "come up"