Leviticus 4:16-17

4:16 Then the high priest ¹  must bring some of the blood of the bull to the Meeting Tent, 4:17 and that priest must dip his finger in the blood ²  and sprinkle ³  some of the blood seven times ⁴  before the Lord toward ⁵  the front of the veil-canopy. ⁶ 

Leviticus 16:14

16:14 Then he is to take some of the blood of the bull and sprinkle it with his finger on the eastern face of the atonement plate, ⁷  and in front of the atonement plate he is to sprinkle some of the blood seven times with his finger. ⁸ 

Leviticus 16:19

16:19 Then he is to sprinkle on it some of the blood with his finger seven times, and cleanse and consecrate it ⁹  from the impurities of the Israelites.

Numbers 19:4

19:4 Eleazar the priest is to take ¹⁰  some of its blood with his finger, and sprinkle some of the blood seven times ¹¹  directly in front of the tent of meeting.

Numbers 19:1

The Red Heifer Ritual

19:1 ¹² The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron:

Numbers 1:7

1:7 from Judah, Nahshon ¹³  son of Amminadab;

¹ tn Heb “the anointed priest” (so ASV, NAB, NASB, NIV, NRSV). This refers to the high priest (cf. TEV).

² tn The words “in the blood” are not repeated in the Hebrew text at this point, but must be supplied in the English translation for clarity.

³ tn The Hebrew verb וְהִזָּה (vÿhizzah, Hiphil of נָזָה, nazah) does indeed mean “sprinkle” or “splatter.” Contrast the different Hebrew verb translated “splash” in Lev 1:5 (זָרָק, zaraq).

⁴ tc The MT reads literally, “and the priest shall dip his finger from the blood and sprinkle seven times.” This is awkward. Compare v. 6, which has literally, “and the priest shall dip his finger in the blood and sprinkle from the blood seven times.” The MT appears to be corrupt by haplography (i.e., assuming v. 6 to be the correct form, in v. 17 the scribe skipped from “his finger” to “from the blood,” thus missing “in the blood”) and metathesis (i.e., this also resulted in a text where “from the blood” stands before “sprinkle” rather than after it; J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 47).

⁵ tn See the note on v. 6 above.

⁶ tn See the note on v. 6 above.

⁷ tn Heb “on the faces of the atonement plate toward the east.” Some have taken this to mean that the ark was stationed just behind the veil-canopy on the eastern side of the most holy place. Thus, the high priest would need to enter and walk toward the west end of the most holy place and then turn eastward in order to face the ark and sprinkle the blood in an eastward direction. The rendering here, however, requires that the ark was stationed on the western end, or perhaps in the middle of the area, so that as the priest entered he was already facing the ark and would sprinkle the blood on the eastern face of the atonement plate, in a westward direction (see, e.g., J. E. Hartley, Leviticus [WBC], 239 versus J. Milgrom, Leviticus [AB], 1:1032).

⁸ sn Presumably in this case the blood was sprinkled seven times on the ground in front of the ark on which the atonement plate was mounted.

⁹ tn Heb “and he shall purify it and he shall consecrate it.”

¹⁰ tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; it functions here as the equivalent of the imperfect of instruction.

¹¹ sn Seven is a number with religious significance; it is often required in sacrificial ritual for atonement or for purification.

¹² sn In the last chapter the needs of the priests and Levites were addressed. Now the concern is for the people. This provision from the sacrifice of the red heifer is a precaution to ensure that the purity of the tabernacle was not violated by pollutions of impurity or death. This chapter has two main parts, both dealing with ceremonial purity: the ritual of the red heifer (vv. 1-10), and the purification from uncleanness (vv. 11-22). For further study see J. Milgrom, “The Paradox of the Red Cow (Num 19),” VT 31 (1981): 62-72.

¹³ sn Nahshon was an ancestor of Boaz and David, and therefore of Christ (Luke 3:32-33).