1The water of separation made of the ashes of a red heifer. 11The law for the use of it in purification of the unclean.
1AND the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
2This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they 1bring thee a red heifer without spot, wherein is 2no blemish, and upon which never 3came yoke:
1 Hebr. take unto you, that is, take and bring to you. See of such use of some words, Gen. 12 on verse 15.
2 Compare Heb. 7:26; 1 Peter 1:19, etc.
3 Hebr. has come upon, has ascended upon, or, has climbed upon, that is, which has never carried a yoke, never has gone under the yoke.
3And ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, that he may bring her forth 4withouta the camp, and one shall slay her before his face:
4 See the signification hereof Heb. 13:11, 12.
a Heb. 13:11, 12.
4And Eleazar the priest shall take of her bloodb with his finger, and sprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle of the congregation seven times:
b Heb. 9:13.
5And one shall burn the heifer in his sight; herc skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn:
c Exod. 29:14; Lev. 4:11, 12.
6And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer.
7Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the even.
8And he that burneth her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the even.
9And a man that is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up without the camp in a clean place, and it shall be 5kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a 6water of separation: it is a 7purification for sin.
5 That is, these ashes shall be kept and preserved.
6 Wherewith those were to be sprinkled, who, by means of any ceremonial uncleanness, were to be separated and secluded from the tabernacle or meeting of the congregation; unto a sign of their purification.
7 Hebr. sin, that is, purification or cleansing from sins. See verses 12, 13, 19, 20. The meaning is: This water and the sprinkling thereof shall be a sign of the cleansing and purification from sins, which takes place only by the blood of the Messiah and Savior, our LORD Jesus Christ; provided being sprinkled upon (that is, imputed and appropriated unto) the souls of all true children of God, whereof the entire ceremony was but a type and figure. See Heb. 9:12, 13, 14; 10:1, 2, 3, 4, 12, 14; 1 Peter 1:2; 1 John 1:7, etc. Such is the word sin also very frequently taken for sacrifice for sin or sin-offering. See and compare Num. 8 on verse 7, where this water is called water of purifying, and in this chapter verse 17, the burnt heifer of purification for sin.
10And he that gathereth the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: and it shall be unto the children of Israel, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among them, for a statute for ever.
11¶Hed that toucheth 8the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days.
d Num. 31:19; Hag. 2:14.
8 Whether he is an Israelite or stranger. Hebr. soul. See Lev. 19 on verse 28.
12He shall purify himself 9with it on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean: but if he purify not himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean.
9 With the water of separation.
13Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, 10defileth the tabernacle of the LORD; and 11that soul shall be 12cut off from Israel: because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness 13is yet upon him.
10 Whiles being unclean yet, he nevertheless presumes and dreads not to appear in the court of God’s holy habitation, contrary to the express command of God.
11 That is, man, or person.
12 As having willfully despised, not only the ceremonial precept of the LORD, but likewise the thing signified thereby, namely, the cleansing through the blood of the Messiah; as the following words show forth, compared with the above, on verse 9. Compare likewise Heb. 10:26, 27, 28, 29. See further Gen. 17 on verse 14 and below verse 20.
13 Or, shall be further in him, or, abide in him.
14This is the law, when a man dieth 14in a tent: all that come into the tent, and all that is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days.
14 That is, in the camp, in his habitation or dwelling place.
15And every open vessel, which hath no 15covering 16bound upon it, is unclean.
15 Hebr. wrung, or, wrested work, or piece of cloth. Or, band wherewith things are bound up.
16 Hebr. joined, fastened, coupled. The sense is: Such things as are not covered, kept close, bound or wrapped up.
16And whosoever toucheth one that is slain with a sword in the open fields, or a dead body, or a bone 17of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.
17 Being dead.
17And 18for an unclean person they shall take of the 19ashes of the burnt heifer of 20purification for sin, and 21running water shall be put thereto in a vessel:
18 Here God now orders the manner of preparing and applying the water of separation.
19 That is, of the preserved ashes of the burnt red heifer. See verse 9.
20 Hebr. of sin, that is, serving for the purifying or cleansing from sin. See on verse 9.
21 That is, spring, or running water, taken from fountain or river. See Gen. 26 on verse 19; Lev. 14:5.
18And a clean person shall take hyssop,e and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that touched a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave:
e Psalm 51:7.
19And the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day: and on the seventh day he shall purify himself, and wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even.
20But the man that shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, 22that soul shall be cut off from among the congregation, because he hath defiled the 23sanctuary of the LORD: the water of separation hath not been sprinkled upon him; he is unclean.
22 That is, that man or person.
23 See on verse 13.
21And it shall be a perpetual statute unto them, that he that sprinkleth the water of separation shall wash his clothes; and he that toucheth the water of separation shall be unclean until even.
22And whatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean; and the soul that toucheth 24it shall be unclean until even.
24 Or, him.