What does the Bible say about Red Heifers?
The concept of the red heifer is addressed in the Bible in the Book of Numbers, Chapter 19. This chapter describes a detailed ritual involving a red heifer, which was to be used in the purification rites of the ancient Israelites, particularly to cleanse those who had come into contact with a corpse.
According to the text, the red heifer should be completely red, without any spot of another color, and it must never have been yoked or used for labor. The heifer is to be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in the presence of the priest. Then, the priest takes some of its blood and sprinkles it toward the front of the Tent of Meeting seven times. The entire heifer—its hide, flesh, blood, and dung—is then burned in his presence.
A key part of the ritual involves the ashes of the heifer. The priest takes cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet wool and throws them into the fire as the heifer burns. The resulting ashes are collected and used to make a water solution for purification. This "water of cleansing" is used to sprinkle on persons or things that need to be purified, such as those who have touched a dead body, a bone, or a grave.
The red heifer ritual is significant in Jewish religious law and tradition as it is the only means provided in the Torah for purification from contact with death, which is considered a source of major ritual impurity. The rarity and specific requirements of the red heifer make it a unique aspect of biblical law, and the search for a qualified red heifer has implications in contemporary discussions about Jewish ritual purity and the potential rebuilding of the Temple in Jerusalem.
Red Heifers in Numbers 19
1 The Lord said to Moses and Aaron: 2 “This is a requirement of the law that the Lord has commanded: Tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer without defect or blemish and that has never been under a yoke. 3 Give it to Eleazar the priest; it is to be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence. 4 Then Eleazar the priest is to take some of its blood on his finger and sprinkle it seven times toward the front of the tent of meeting. 5 While he watches, the heifer is to be burned—its hide, flesh, blood and intestines. 6 The priest is to take some cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet wool and throw them onto the burning heifer. 7 After that, the priest must wash his clothes and bathe himself with water. He may then come into the camp, but he will be ceremonially unclean till evening. 8 The man who burns it must also wash his clothes and bathe with water, and he too will be unclean till evening.
9 “A man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and put them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They are to be kept by the Israelite community for use in the water of cleansing; it is for purification from sin. 10 The man who gathers up the ashes of the heifer must also wash his clothes, and he too will be unclean till evening. This will be a lasting ordinance both for the Israelites and for the foreigners residing among them. (Numbers 19:1-10)
Related reading: Bible verses about the Third Temple
More Bible Verses about Heifers
Hebrews 9:13 - For if the blood of goats and bulls, and the sprinkling of defiled persons with the ashes of a heifer, sanctify for the purification of the flesh,
Daniel 12:10 - Many shall purify themselves and make themselves white and be refined, but the wicked shall act wickedly. And none of the wicked shall understand, but those who are wise shall understand.
Hebrews 9:14 - How much more will the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without blemish to God, purify our conscience from dead works to serve the living God.
Hebrews 9:12 - He entered once for all into the holy places, not by means of the blood of goats and calves but by means of his own blood, thus securing an eternal redemption.
Deuteronomy 21:3 - And the elders of the city that is nearest to the slain man shall take a heifer that has never been worked and that has not pulled in a yoke.
Hosea 10:11 - Ephraim was a trained calf that loved to thresh, and I spared her fair neck; but I will put Ephraim to the yoke; Judah must plow; Jacob must harrow for himself.
Hosea 4:16 - Like a stubborn heifer, Israel is stubborn; can the Lord now feed them like a lamb in a broad pasture?
Hebrews 9:24 - For Christ has entered, not into holy places made with hands, which are copies of the true things, but into heaven itself, now to appear in the presence of God on our behalf.
Judges 14:18 - And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, “What is sweeter than honey? What is stronger than a lion?” And he said to them, “If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have found out my riddle.”
Photo: Getty/Pam Walker
Read more Bible verses about Red Heifers in the scriptures below: