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 hath commanded, saying: `Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without spot, wherein is no blemish and upon which never came a yoke.

3 And ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, that he may bring her forth outside the camp, and one shall slay her before his face.

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

5 And one shall burn the heifer in his sight: her skin and her flesh and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn.

6 And 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.