Numbers19
English Standard Version
1Now the Lord to and to , ,
2This is the of the that the Lord has : the of to you a without , in which there is no , and which a has .
3And you shall it to the , and it shall be the and him.
4And the shall some of its with his , and some of its the of the of .
5And the shall be in his . Its , its , and its , with its , shall be .
6And the shall and and yarn, and them the burning the .
7Then the shall his and his in , and he may the . But the shall be until .
8The one who the heifer shall his in and his in and shall be until .
9And a who is shall the of the and them the in a . And they shall be for the for for the of the of ; it is a .
10And the one who the of the shall his and be until . And this shall be a for the of , and for the who them.
11Whoever the of any shall be .
12He shall himself with the water on the and on the , and so be . But if he does not himself on the and on the , he will become .
13Whoever a person, the of who has , and does not himself, the of the Lord, and that shall be from ; because the for was not on him, he shall be . His is still on him.
14This is the when in a : everyone who into the and everyone who is in the shall be .
15And every that has no on it is .
16Whoever in the someone who was with a or who , or touches a or a , shall be .
17For the they shall some of the , and shall be in a .
18Then a shall and it in the and it on the and on all the and on the who were there and on whoever the , or the or the or the .
19And the shall it on the on the and on the . Thus on the he shall him, and he shall his and himself in , and at he shall be .
20If the who is does not himself, that shall be from the of the , since he has the of the Lord. Because the for has not been on him, he is .
21And it shall be a for them. The one who the for shall his , and the one who the for shall be until .
22And whatever the person shall be , and who it shall be until .
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.