Numbers19
American Standard Version · Public Domain
1And Jehovah spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
2This is the statute of the law which Jehovah 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.
3And ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, and he shall bring her forth without the camp, and one shall slay her before his face:
4and Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle her blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times.
5And one shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn:
6and the priest shall take cedar-wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer.
7Then 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.
8And he that burneth her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the even.
9And 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 for impurity: it is a sin-offering.
10And 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.
11He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days:
12the same shall purify himself therewith 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.
13Whosoever toucheth a dead person, the body of a man that hath died, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of Jehovah; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water for impurity was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him.
14This is the law when a man dieth in a tent: every one that cometh into the tent, and every one that is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days.
15And every open vessel, which hath no covering bound upon it, is unclean.
16And whosoever in the open field toucheth one that is slain with a sword, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.
17And for the unclean they shall take of the ashes of the burning of the sin-offering; and running water shall be put thereto in a vessel:
18and 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 the bone, or the slain, or the dead, or the grave:
19and 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 him; and he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even.
20But the man that shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from the midst of the assembly, because he hath defiled the sanctuary of Jehovah: the water for impurity hath not been sprinkled upon him; he is unclean.
21And it shall be a perpetual statute unto them: and he that sprinkleth the water for impurity shall wash his clothes, and he that toucheth the water for impurity shall be unclean until even.
22And whatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean; and the soul that toucheth it shall be unclean until even.
Study Guide
Public-domain commentary and original-language notes for Numbers 19.
Chapter Summary
In this chapter: The ashes of a heifer. (1–10). Used to purify the unclean. (11–22).
vv1-10
The heifer was to be wholly burned. This typified the painful sufferings of our Lord Jesus, both in soul and body, as a sacrifice made by fire, to satisfy God's justice for man's sin. These ashes are said to be laid up as a purification for sin, because, though they were only to purify from ceremonial uncleanness, yet they were a type of that purification for sin which our Lord Jesus made by his death. The blood of Christ is laid up for us in the word and sacraments, as a fountain of merit, to which by faith we may have constant recourse, for cleansing our consciences.
vv11-22
Why did the law make a corpse a defiling thing? Because death is the wages of sin, which entered into the world by it, and reigns by the power of it. The law could not conquer death, nor abolish it, as the gospel does, by bringing life and immortality to light, and so introducing a better hope. As the ashes of the heifer signified the merit of Christ, so the running water signified the power and grace of the blessed Spirit, who is compared to rivers of living water; and it is by his work that the righteousness of Christ is applied to us for our cleansing. Those who promise themselves benefit by the righteousness of Christ, while they submit not to the grace and influence of the Holy Spirit, do but deceive themselves; we cannot be purified by the ashes, otherwise than in the running water. What use could there be in these appointments, if they do not refer to the doctrines concerning the sacrifice of Christ? But comparing them with the New Testament, the knowledge to be got from them is evident. The true state of fallen man is shown in these institutions. Here we learn the defiling nature of sin, and are warned to avoid evil communications.
Key Words
דָבַר: perhaps properly, to arrange; but used figuratively (of words), to speak; rarely (in a destructive sense) to subdue
מֹשֶׁה: Mosheh, the Israelite lawgiver
אַהֲרוֹן: Aharon, the brother of Moses
אָמַר: to say (used with great latitude)
חֻקָּה: {an enactment; hence, an appointment (of time, space, quantity, labor or usage)}
תּוֹרָה: a precept or statute, especially the Decalogue or Pentateuch
צָוָה: (intensively) to constitute, enjoin
בֵּן: a son (as a builder of the family name), in the widest sense (of literal and figurative relationship, including grandson, subject, nation, quality or condition, etc., (like father or brother), etc.)
יִשְׂרָאֵל: Jisrael, a symbolical name of Jacob; also (typically) of his posterity
לָקַח: to take (in the widest variety of applications)
Cross References
Numbers 19Slaying the heifer outside the camp typified Christ suffering outside the gate.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Contrasts the ashes of a heifer purifying the flesh with Christ purifying the conscience.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
The blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered Himself without spot to God.
Supported by Matthew Henry, Matthew Poole
Classifies these ceremonial washings as carnal ordinances imposed until the time of reformation.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Red heifer without blemish typified Christ as a lamb without blemish or spot.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Heifer without blemish typified Christ who is holy, harmless, undefiled, separate from sinners.
Supported by Matthew Poole
Like the heifer's burning, those disposing of the scapegoat and sin offerings became temporarily unclean.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The priest's uncleanness typified Christ made sin for us, though He knew no sin.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
Parallels the red heifer upon which never came yoke, signifying freedom from human servitude.
Voluntary offering typified by the heifer never under a yoke; Christ laid down His life voluntarily.
Supported by Matthew Poole
The whole bullock of the sin offering likewise burned outside the camp.
The same purification elements (cedar wood, hyssop, scarlet) used in cleansing lepers.
Supported by Matthew Poole, JFB
David's plea to be purged with hyssop refers to these ceremonial cleansings.
Prophetic question regarding one unclean by a dead body, illustrating how defilement spreads.
Prophetic promise of clean water sprinkled to cleanse from all filthiness and idols.
Running (living) water mixed with ashes typifies Christ's gift of living water.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Our bodies washed with pure water, drawing near with sprinkled hearts.
A fountain opened to the house of David for sin and for uncleanness.
Supported by Matthew Henry
A corpse defiled because death entered the world through sin, reigning over all.
Supported by Matthew Henry
Jesus compares hypocrites to whited sepulchres, which ceremonially defiled those touching them.