Numbers 19:1-6

1 And the LORD spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

2 This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD has commanded, saying, Speak unto the sons of Israel that they bring thee a red heifer, perfect, in which there is no blemish, and upon which there has never been placed a yoke;

3 and ye shall give her unto Eleazar, the priest, that he may bring her forth outside the camp, and he shall cause her to be slain in his presence.

4 And Eleazar, the priest, shall take of her blood with his finger and sprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle of the testimony seven times;

5 and he shall cause the heifer to be burnt in his sight; her skin and her flesh and her blood with her dung shall he cause to burn.

6 Then the priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer.

Numbers 19:1-6 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.