Numbers 19:3-10

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. ¹  19:4 Eleazar the priest is to take ²  some of its blood with his finger, and sprinkle some of the blood seven times ³  directly in front of the tent of meeting. 19:5 Then the heifer must be burned ⁴  in his sight – its skin, its flesh, its blood, and its offal is to be burned. ⁵  19:6 And the priest must take cedar wood, hyssop, ⁶  and scarlet wool and throw them into the midst of the fire where the heifer is burning. ⁷  19:7 Then the priest must wash ⁸  his clothes and bathe himself ⁹  in water, and afterward he may come ¹⁰  into the camp, but the priest will be ceremonially unclean until evening. 19:8 The one who burns it ¹¹  must wash his clothes in water and bathe himself in water. He will be ceremonially unclean until evening.

19:9 “‘Then a man who is ceremonially clean must gather up the ashes of the red heifer and put them in a ceremonially clean place outside the camp. They must be kept ¹²  for the community of the Israelites for use in the water of purification ¹³  – it is a purification for sin. ¹⁴  19:10 The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer must wash his clothes and be ceremonially unclean until evening. This will be a permanent ordinance both for the Israelites and the resident foreigner who lives among them.

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.

² tn The verb is the perfect tense with vav (ו) consecutive; it functions here as the equivalent of the imperfect of instruction.

³ sn Seven is a number with religious significance; it is often required in sacrificial ritual for atonement or for purification.

³ tn Again, the verb has no expressed subject, and so is given a passive translation.

⁴ tn The imperfect tense is third masculine singular, and so again the verb is to be made passive.

⁴ sn In addition to the general references, see R. K. Harrison, “The Biblical Problem of Hyssop,” EvQ 26 (1954): 218-24.

⁵ sn There is no clear explanation available as to why these items were to be burned with the heifer. N. H. Snaith suggests that in accordance with Babylonian sacrifices they would have enhanced the rites with an aroma (Leviticus and Numbers [NCB], 272). In Lev 14 the wood and the hyssop may have been bound together by the scarlet wool to make a sprinkling device. It may be that the symbolism is what is important here. Cedar wood, for example, is durable; it may have symbolized resistance to future corruption and defilement, an early acquired immunity perhaps (R. K. Harrison, Numbers [WEC], 256).

⁵ tn The sequence continues with the perfect tense and vav (ו) consecutive.

⁶ tn Heb “his flesh.”

⁷ tn This is the imperfect of permission.

⁶ sn Here the text makes clear that he had at least one assistant.

⁷ tn Heb “it will be.”

⁸ tn The expression לְמֵי נִדָּה (lÿme niddah) is “for waters of impurity.” The genitive must designate the purpose of the waters – they are for cases of impurity, and so serve for cleansing or purifying, thus “water of purification.” The word “impurity” can also mean “abhorrent” because it refers to so many kinds of impurities. It is also called a purification offering; Milgrom notes that this is fitting because the sacrificial ritual involved transfers impurity from the purified to the purifier (pp. 62-72).

⁹ sn The ashes were to be stored somewhere outside the camp to be used in a water portion for cleansing someone who was defiled. This is a ritual that was enacted in the wilderness; it is something of a restoring rite for people alienated from community.