Numbers19
New American Standard
1Then the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
2“This is the statute of the law which the Lord has commanded, saying, ‘Speak to the sons of Israel that they bring you an unblemished red heifer in which there is no defect and on which a yoke has never been mounted.
3And you shall give it to Eleazar the priest, and it shall be brought outside the camp and be slaughtered in his presence.
4And Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger and sprinkle some of its blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times.
5Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight; its hide, its flesh, and its blood, with its refuse, shall be burned.
6And the priest shall take cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet material, and throw it into the midst of the burning heifer.
7The priest shall then wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterward come into the camp; but the priest will be unclean until evening.
8The one who burns the heifer shall also wash his clothes in water and bathe his body in water, and will be unclean until evening.
9Now a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer and put them outside the camp in a clean place, and the congregation of the sons of Israel shall keep them for water to remove impurity; it is purification from sin.
10And the one who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes and will be unclean until evening; and it shall be a permanent statute for the sons of Israel and for the stranger who resides among them.
11‘The one who touches the dead body of any person will also be unclean for seven days.
12That one shall purify himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day, and then he will be clean; but if he does not purify himself on the third day and on the seventh day, he will not be clean.
13Anyone who touches a dead body, the body of a person who has died, and does not purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of the Lord; and that person shall be cut off from Israel. Since the water for impurity was not sprinkled on him, he will be unclean; his uncleanness is still on him.
14‘This is the law when a person dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent and everyone who is in the tent will be unclean for seven days.
15And every open container, which has no cover tied down on it, will be unclean.
16Also, anyone who in the open field touches one who has been killed with a sword or one who has died naturally, or touches a human bone or a grave, will be unclean for seven days.
17Then for the unclean person they shall take some of the ashes of the burnt purification from sin and running water shall be added to them in a container.
18And a clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent, on all the furnishings, on the persons who were there, and on the one who touched the bone or the one who was killed or the one who died naturally, or the grave.
19Then the clean person shall sprinkle on 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 will be clean by evening.
20‘But the person who is unclean and does not purify himself, that person shall be cut off from the midst of the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the Lord; the water for impurity has not been sprinkled on him, so he is unclean.
21So it shall be a permanent statute for them. And the one who sprinkles the water for impurity shall wash his clothes, and the one who touches the water for impurity will be unclean until evening.
22Furthermore, anything that the unclean person touches will be unclean; and the person who touches it will be unclean until evening.’”
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.