Numbers19
New King James Version
1Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying,
2“This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord has commanded, saying: ‘Speak to the children of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer without blemish, in which there is no defect and on which a yoke has never come.
3You shall give it to Eleazar the priest, that he may take it outside the camp, and it shall be slaughtered before him;
4and Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood with his finger, and sprinkle some of its blood seven times directly in front of the tabernacle of meeting.
5Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight: its hide, its flesh, its blood, and its offal shall be burned.
6And the priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and scarlet, and cast them into the midst of the fire burning the heifer.
7Then the priest shall wash his clothes, he shall bathe in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp; the priest shall be unclean until evening.
8And the one who burns it shall wash his clothes in water, bathe in water, and shall be unclean until evening.
9Then a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and store them outside the camp in a clean place; and they shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for the water of purification; it is for purifying from sin.
10And the one who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until evening. It shall be a statute forever to the children of Israel and to the stranger who dwells among them.
11‘He who touches the dead body of anyone shall be unclean seven days.
12He shall purify himself with the water on the third day and on the seventh day; 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.
13Whoever touches the body of anyone who has died, and does not purify himself, defiles the tabernacle of the Lord. That person shall be cut off from Israel. He shall be unclean, because the water of purification was not sprinkled on him; his uncleanness is still on him.
14‘This is the law when a man dies in a tent: All who come into the tent and all who are in the tent shall be unclean seven days;
15and every open vessel, which has no cover fastened on it, is unclean.
16Whoever in the open field touches one who is slain by a sword or who has died, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.
17‘And for an unclean person they shall take some of the ashes of the heifer burnt for purification from sin, and running water shall be put on them in a vessel.
18A clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in the water, sprinkle it on the tent, on all the vessels, on the persons who were there, or on the one who touched a bone, the slain, the dead, or a grave.
19The clean person shall sprinkle the unclean on the third day and on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he shall purify himself, wash his clothes, and bathe in water; and at evening he shall be clean.
20‘But the man who is unclean and does not purify himself, that person shall be cut off from among the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. The water of purification has not been sprinkled on him; he is unclean.
21It shall be a perpetual statute for them. He who sprinkles the water of purification shall wash his clothes; and he who touches the water of purification shall be unclean until evening.
22Whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean; and the person who touches it shall 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.