Text -- Numbers 19:3 (NET)

19:3 You must give it to Eleazar the priest so that he can take it outside the camp, and it must be slaughtered before him.

Commentary -- Verse Notes / Footnotes

NET Notes: Num 19:3

¹ tc The clause is a little ambiguous. It reads “and he shall slaughter it before him.” It sounds as if someone else will kill the heifer in the priest’s presence. Since no one is named as the subject, it may be translated as a passive. Some commentators simply interpret that Eleazar was to kill the animal personally, but that is a little forced for “before him.” The Greek text gives a third person plural sense to the verb; the Vulgate follows that reading.