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Numbers 19

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The Ordinance of the Red Heifer 1–10

1
And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
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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 yoke: ​
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And ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, that he may bring her forth without the camp, and one shall slay her before his face: ​
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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: ​
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And one shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn:
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And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer. ​
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Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the even.
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And he that burneth her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the even.
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And a man that is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up without the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water of separation: it is a purification for sin. ​
10
And he that gathereth the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: and it shall be unto the children of Israel, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among them, for a statute for ever.

Purification from Contact with the Dead 11–22

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He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days. ​
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He shall purify himself with it on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean: but if he purify not himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean.
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Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him. ​
14
This is the law, when a man dieth in a tent: all that come into the tent, and all that is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days. ​
15
And every open vessel, which hath no covering bound upon it, is unclean.
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And whosoever toucheth one that is slain with a sword in the open fields, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.
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And for an unclean person they shall take of the ashes of the burnt heifer of purification for sin, and running water shall be put thereto in a vessel: ​
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And a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that touched a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave: ​
19
And the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day: and on the seventh day he shall purify himself, and wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even.
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But the man that shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from among the congregation, because he hath defiled the sanctuary of the LORD: the water of separation hath not been sprinkled upon him; he is unclean. ​
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And it shall be a perpetual statute unto them, that he that sprinkleth the water of separation shall wash his clothes; and he that toucheth the water of separation shall be unclean until even.
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And whatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean; and the soul that toucheth it shall be unclean until even.

Bible text: King James Version (1769 Blayney text) · Public domain

Study Notes for Numbers 19

Verse 2

a red heifer without spot — 'Ordinance of the law' is chuqqat hattorah, the phrase Eleazar uses again in Num 31:21. Tamim, 'without spot', means whole or perfect, and the heifer must also be one 'upon which never came yoke'. Heb 9:13–14 sets 'the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean' beside 'the blood of Christ'.

Verse 3

unto Eleazar the priest — The heifer goes to Eleazar, Aaron's son, who took up the censers in 16:39. It is brought 'without the camp' and slain 'before his face'. The bullock of the sin offering is carried there too (Lev 4:12), and Heb 13:12 notes that Jesus 'suffered without the gate'.

Verse 4

seven times — The priest takes the blood 'with his finger' and sprinkles it 'directly before the tabernacle of the congregation'. Seven sprinklings toward the sanctuary are also commanded for the sin offering of the priest in Lev 4:6, 'before the LORD, before the vail of the sanctuary'.

Verse 6

cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet — The same three materials are taken to cleanse the leper (Lev 14:4). 'Scarlet' here is two words, tola'at shani. Hyssop is what David asks for, 'Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean' (Ps 51:7). They are cast into the fire of the heifer.

Verse 9

a water of separation — The ashes are kept by a clean man 'without the camp in a clean place' (mishmereth, a charge, as in 18:5). Niddah, 'separation', is also the word for uncleanness in Lev 15:19–26 and Ezek 36:17. The ashes are called 'a purification for sin' (chatta'th), the usual word for a sin offering.

Verse 11

the dead body of any man — The Hebrew says 'the dead of any soul of man', with nephesh, soul, the word that v.13 uses of the person cut off. The same seven days apply to those who killed or touched the slain (Num 31:19). Unclean men could not keep the passover (Num 9:6), and John 11:55 says many went up to Jerusalem 'to purify themselves'.

Verse 13

defileth the tabernacle of the LORD — 'Purifieth' is chata, in the form meaning to cleanse from sin. 'Sprinkled' here is zaraq, the verb of Ezek 36:25, 'Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you'. The person 'cut off' is the nephesh of v.11. Lev 15:31 gives the reason: uncleanness reaches 'my tabernacle that is among them'.

Verse 14

when a man dieth in a tent — The uncleanness fills the tent: 'all that come into the tent, and all that is in the tent', and v.15 adds 'every open vessel, which hath no covering bound upon it'. Cleansing is on the third and the seventh day (vv.12, 19), and v.16 covers one slain in the open fields.

Verse 17

running water — The Hebrew is mayim chayyim, 'living water'. The same phrase is used of the cleansing of the leper (Lev 14:5, 'over running water'). The ashes of the 'burnt heifer of purification for sin' are put in a vessel and living water poured over them.

Verse 18

a clean person shall take hyssop — Hyssop is dipped here as it was dipped in the blood at the first Passover (Ex 12:22). The sprinkling covers the tent, the vessels, the persons there, and 'him that touched a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave'.

Verse 20

he hath defiled the sanctuary of the LORD — This repeats v.13, with 'sanctuary' (miqdash) in place of 'tabernacle' (mishkan). The one who does not purify himself 'shall be cut off from among the congregation', because 'the water of separation hath not been sprinkled upon him'.