Numbers 19

The LORD spoke to Moses and Aaron. He said:

1And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

2"This is a rule from the law that the LORD has commanded. Tell the people of Israel to bring you a red cow that has nothing wrong with it. It must have no flaw at all, and it must never have worn a yoke for work.

2This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came yoke:

NoteA heifer is a young cow that has not yet borne a calf. "Red" translates a word used for reddish-brown, the common color of cattle in the region; the point is a uniform color, not a rare one. A yoke is the wooden beam fastened across an animal's neck to harness it to a plow or cart, so an animal that has never worn one has never been put to ordinary farm work.

3Give the cow to Eleazar the priest. He will have it taken outside the camp, and someone will kill it there while he watches.

3And ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, that he may bring her forth without the camp, and one shall slay her before his face:

NoteIsrael is pictured as an encampment in the desert with the sanctuary at the center, so "outside the camp" means beyond the area where people live, the place where anything that would make the camp unclean is dealt with. Eleazar was Aaron's son and second to him among the priests; the ritual is deliberately assigned to him rather than to the chief priest, who was kept clear of contact with the dead.

4Then Eleazar the priest will dip his finger in some of its blood. He will sprinkle the blood seven times toward the front of the tent where the people meet with God.

4And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle of the congregation seven times:

NoteThe tent where the people meet with God is the tabernacle, the portable tent-sanctuary at the center of the camp. Because the cow is killed outside the camp, the blood is flicked from a distance in the direction of the tent rather than brought inside it.

5Then someone will burn the cow while Eleazar watches. Its hide, its meat, and its blood are to be burned, along with its dung.

5And one shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn:

NoteBurning the whole animal, blood and dung included, is unusual. In ordinary sacrifices the blood was drained and handled separately and the dung was discarded; here everything goes into the fire because the ashes themselves are the product being made.

6The priest is to take cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet wool, and throw them into the middle of the fire where the cow is burning.

6And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer.

NoteHyssop is a small bushy herb, probably the plant we call marjoram, whose stems make a natural brush for sprinkling. "Scarlet" is wool dyed crimson with a dye made from an insect. These same three items (cedar, hyssop and crimson wool) appear together in other cleansing rites.

7Then the priest must wash his clothes and wash his body in water. After that he may come back into the camp, but he will still be unclean until evening.

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.

Note"Unclean" here is a ritual status, not dirt and not sin. An unclean person has simply come into contact with something (a corpse, certain illnesses, certain fluids) that bars him from the sanctuary and from touching holy things until the set time has passed and the set washing has been done. Being unclean was normal and unavoidable; it was only a problem if left uncleansed.

8The man who burned the cow must also wash his clothes in water and wash his body in water, and he will be unclean until evening.

8And he that burneth her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the even.

9A man who is clean will gather up the ashes of the cow and put them in a clean place outside the camp. The people of Israel will keep them for making the water used for cleansing. It is for taking away sin.

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 kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water of separation: it is a purification for sin.

NoteThe King James "water of separation" is a literal rendering of a Hebrew phrase meaning water for removing impurity, the ashes were stored dry and mixed with water as needed. "A purification for sin" translates a single Hebrew word that covers both "sin" and "the offering that removes impurity," which is why translations differ here between "sin offering" and "purification offering."

10The man who gathers up the ashes of the cow must also wash his clothes, and he will be unclean until evening. This is a lasting rule for the people of Israel and for any foreigner living among them.

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.

11Anyone who touches the dead body of a person will be unclean for seven days.

11He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days.

NoteContact with a human corpse was regarded as the most severe source of ritual uncleanness, and seven days is the longest standard period of exclusion.

12He must clean himself with that water on the third day and on the seventh day. Then he will be clean. But if he does not clean himself on the third day, he will not be clean on the seventh day.

12He shall purify himself with 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.

13Anyone who touches the dead body of a person and does not clean himself makes the LORD's tabernacle unclean. That person must be cut off from Israel. Because the water for cleansing was not sprinkled on him, he stays unclean, and his uncleanness is still on him.

13Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him.

Note"That soul" simply means that person; the Hebrew word for soul is regularly used for a living human being. To be "cut off" is a set legal formula whose exact force is disputed: it may mean expulsion from the community, or death at God's hand, or the ending of a person's family line. The text does not spell out which.

14Here is the law for when a person dies inside a tent. Everyone who comes into the tent and everyone already inside it will be unclean for seven days.

14This is the law, when a man dieth in a tent: all that come into the tent, and all that is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days.

15And every open container that does not have a lid tied on it is unclean.

15And every open vessel, which hath no covering bound upon it, is unclean.

NoteUnfired clay and other porous containers were thought to absorb impurity from the air of the room and could not be scrubbed clean, so an open jar left uncovered was ruined, while a sealed one was protected.

16Anyone out in the open country who touches someone killed by a sword, or any dead body, or a human bone, or a grave, will be unclean for seven days.

16And whosoever toucheth one that is slain with a sword in the open fields, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.

NoteIn the open country there is no tent to contain the impurity, so it passes by touch alone. A grave counts because a body lies inside it; graves were sometimes marked or whitewashed so that passers-by would not touch one unawares.

17For a person who is unclean, they will take some of the ashes from the burned cow that takes away sin. They will put the ashes in a container and pour fresh running water over them.

17And for an unclean person they shall take of the ashes of the burnt heifer of purification for sin, and running water shall be put thereto in a vessel:

Note"Running water" is literally "living water", fresh water flowing from a spring or stream, as opposed to standing water drawn from a cistern.

18Then a man who is clean will take hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle the tent, all the containers in it, and the people who were there. He will also sprinkle anyone who touched a bone, or a person who was killed, or a dead body, or a grave.

18And a clean person shall take hyssop, 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:

19The clean man will sprinkle the unclean person on the third day and on the seventh day. On the seventh day the unclean person will be made clean. Then he must wash his clothes and wash himself in water, and that evening he will be clean.

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 if a person is unclean and will not clean himself, he must be cut off from the community, because he has made the LORD's holy place unclean. The water for cleansing was not sprinkled on him. He is unclean.

20But the man that shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from among the congregation, because he hath defiled the sanctuary of the LORD: the water of separation hath not been sprinkled upon him; he is unclean.

21This is a lasting rule for them. The man who sprinkles the water for cleansing must wash his clothes, and anyone who touches that water will be unclean until evening.

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.

NoteThe rule works in both directions at once: the water removes uncleanness from the person sprinkled, yet leaves the man who handles it unclean until evening. The text states both effects without explaining them, and ancient readers already noted the oddity.

22Anything the unclean person touches becomes unclean, and anyone who touches that thing will be unclean until evening."

22And whatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean; and the soul that toucheth it shall be unclean until even.