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Numbers Chapter
Nineteen
New King James Version (NKJV)
INTRODUCTION TO NUMBERS 19
This
chapter contains a law for making a water for purification for sin
the
ingredients of which are the ashes of a red heifer burnt
about which many
things are observed
Numbers 19:1; the
use of the water made of them
to purify such as were unclean by the touch of a
dead body
Numbers 19:11; some
rules are given
by which it might be known who were unclean on account of a
dead body
Numbers 19:14; the
manner of purifying such persons
Numbers 19:17; and
the punishment of those that should neglect purification
Numbers 19:20.
Numbers 19:1 Now the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron
saying
YLT
1And Jehovah speaketh unto
Moses
and unto Aaron
saying
And the Lord spake unto
Moses
and unto Aaron
.... Not at this time
after the business of the spies
and the
affair of Korah
but before the children of Israel departed from Sinai; and so
Aben Ezra observes
that this was spoken in the wilderness of Sinai
when the
Lord commanded to put unclean persons out of the camp
and when some were
defiled with a dead body
and unfit for the passover
Numbers 5:2; and
mention is made of the "water of purifying"
Numbers 8:7
saying; as follows.
Numbers 19:2 2 “This is the ordinance of the law which the Lord has commanded
saying: ‘Speak to the children of Israel
that they
bring you a red heifer without blemish
in which there is no defect and
on which a yoke has never come.
YLT
2`This [is] a statute of the
law which Jehovah hath commanded
saying
Speak unto the sons of Israel
and
they bring unto thee a red cow
a perfect one
in which there is no blemish
on
which no yoke hath gone up;
This is the
ordinance of the law which the Lord hath commanded
.... By which
it appears
that this law was not of the moral
but of the ceremonial kind
being called an ordinance
a statute
a decree of God
the King of kings; and
which was founded not on any clear plain reason in the thing itself
but in the
will of God
who intended it as a type and shadow of the blood and sacrifice of
Christ
and of the efficacy of that to cleanse from sin; and it also appears by
this
that it was not a new law now made
but which had been made already: "which
the Lord hath commanded": as is plain from what has been observed; see
Gill on Numbers 19:1; and
the JewsF17Seder Olam Rabba
c. 7. p. 22. say
that the red heifer
was slain by Eleazar the day after the tabernacle was erected
even on the
second day of the first month of Israel's coming out of Egypt; and it was now
repeated both on account of the priests and people
because of the priest to
whom it belonged
as Aben Ezra observes
Aaron being now established in the
priesthood; and because of the people
who were afraid they should die if they
came near the tabernacle; now hereby they are put in mind of a provision made
for the purification of them
when under any uncleanness
which made them unfit
for coming to it:
saying
speak unto the children of Israel; whom this law
concerned
and for whose purification it was designed; and it was at the
expense not of a private person
but of the whole congregation
that the water
of purifying was made; and that
as the Jews sayF18Misn. Shekalim
c. 7. sect. 7. & Maimon
in ib.
that the priests might have no personal
profit from it:
that they bring thee a red heifer; or "young
cow"
for so the word properly signifies; one of two years old
as the
Targum of Jonathan
and so says the MisnahF19Misn. Parah
c. 1.
sect. 1. ; though some of the Rabbins say one of three years
or of four years
or even one of five years old
would do. This instance
with others
where
females are ordered to be slain
see Leviticus 3:1;
confutes the notion of such
who think the laws of Moses were made in
conformity to the customs of the Egyptians
this being directly contrary to
them; if they were the same in the times of Moses
they were in the times of
Herodotus
who expressly saysF20Euterpe
sive
l. 2. c. 41.
male
oxen the Egyptians sacrifice; but it is not lawful for them to sacrifice
females
for they are sacred to Isis. Indeed
according to PlutarchF21De
lside. and Diodorus SiculusF23Bibliothec. l. 1. p. 79.
the
Egyptians in their times sacrificed red bullocks to Typhon
who they supposed
was of the same colour
and to whom they had an aversion
accounting him the
god of evil; and because red oxen were odious to them
they offered them to
him; as red-haired men also were slain by them for the same reason
at the tomb
of Osiris
who they say was murdered by the red-haired Typhon; but these were
superstitions that obtained among them after the times of Moses
and could not
be retorted to by him; a better reason is to be given why this heifer or cow
was to be of a red colour:
without spot
wherein is no blemish; the first of
these
without spot
the Jews understand of colour
that it should have no
spots in it of any other colour
black or white
nor indeed so much as an hair
at least not two of another colour; and so the Targum of Jonathan
in which
there is no spot or mark of a white hair; and Jarchi more
particularly
"which is perfect in redness; for if there were in it (he
says) two black hairs
it was unfit;'and so Ben Gersom
with which agrees the
MisnahF24Parah
c. 2. sect. 5. ; if there were in it two hairs
black or white
in one part
it was rejected; if there was one in the head
and
another in the tail
it was rejected; if there were two hairs in it
the root
or bottom of which were black
and the head or top red
and so on the contrary;
all depended on the sight: and it must be owned
the same exactness was
observed in the red oxen sacrificed by the Egyptians
as Plutarch relatesF25Ut
supra. (Bibliothec. l. 1. p. 79.) ; for if the ox had but one hair black or
white
they reckoned it was not fit to be sacrificed; in which perhaps they imitated
the Jews: it being without blemish was what was common to all sacrifices
such
as are described in Leviticus 22:22
and upon which never came
yoke; and so among the Heathens in later times
very probably in
imitation of this
they used to offer to their deities oxen that never had bore
any yoke; as appears from Homer
Horace
Virgil
Ovid
and Seneca
out of whom
instances are produced by BochartF26Hierozoic. par. 1. l. 2. c. 33.
vol. 322. . Now
though this red cow was not properly a sacrifice for sin
yet
it was analogous to one
and was a type of our Lord Jesus Christ
in whom all
these characters meet
and are significant. It being a female may denote the
infirmities of Christ's human nature
to which it was subject
though sinless
ones; he was encompassed with
and took on him
our infirmities; and may have
some respect to the woman
by whom the transgression came
which brought
impurity on all human nature
which made a purification for sin necessary; and
the red colour of it may point at the flesh and blood of Christ he partook of
and the sins of his people
which were laid upon him
and were as crimson and
as scarlet
and the bloody sufferings he endured to make satisfaction for them;
and its being without spot and blemish may denote the perfection of Christ in
his person
obedience
and sufferings
and the purity and holiness of his
nature; and having never had any yoke upon it may signify
that though he was
made under the law
and had commands enjoined him by his father as man
yet was
free from the yoke of human traditions
and from the servitude of sin
and most
willingly engaged
and not by force and compulsion
in the business of our
redemption and salvation.
Numbers 19:3 3 You shall give it to Eleazar the priest
that he may
take it outside the camp
and it shall be slaughtered before him;
YLT
3and ye have given it unto
Eleazar the priest
and he hath brought it out unto the outside of the camp
and hath slaughtered it before him.
And ye shall give her unto
Eleazar the priest
.... The son of Aaron; the Sagan of the priests
as the Targum of
Jonathan calls him
the second or deputy priest; it was not to be given to
Aaron
that he might not be defiled
though but for a small time
that so he
might not be hindered in his office at all; but to Eleazar
to inure him to his
office
and to confirm him in it:
that he may bring her forth without the camp; without the
camp of Israel; Jarchi says
without the three camps
as afterwards without
Jerusalem; it used in later times to be burnt on the mount of Olives; it was
brought forth as impure
and was a type of Christ
having the sins of his
people on him
and who in conformity to this type suffered without the gates of
Jerusalem
see Hebrews 13:11
and one shall slay her before his face; the Targum of
Jonathan says
another priest; but it was not necessary that it should be slain
by a priest
any man might do it. Jarchi says
a stranger slew
and Eleazar
looked on; though it was not slain by him
yet it was slain before him
that it
might look like a sacrifice
though not offered on the altar; and slaying of it
denotes the putting of Christ to death
which was done in the presence
and
with the approbation
of the priests and elders of the people.
Numbers 19:4 4 and Eleazar the priest shall take some of its blood
with his finger
and sprinkle some of its blood seven times directly in front
of the tabernacle of meeting.
YLT
4`And Eleazar the priest
hath taken of its blood with his finger
and hath sprinkled over-against the
front of the tent of meeting of her blood seven times;
And Eleazar the priest
shall take of her blood with his finger
.... He took the blood in
his left hand
and sprinkled it with the finger of his right hand
as
Maimonides saysF1Hilchot Parah Adumah
c. 3. sect. 2. ; and so the
Targum of Jonathan
which says
he did not receive it into a vessel
but into
the palm of his hand
and from thence sprinkled it with his fingerF2Vid.
Misn. Parah
c. 3. sect. 7. : which Ainsworth thinks signified the Spirit of
Christ
our high priest
called "the finger of God"
Luke 11:20; who
takes the blood of Christ
and sprinkles it on the hearts of his people
whereby they are freed from an evil conscience:
and sprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle of the
congregation seven times; or "towards the tabernacle"
so NoldiusF3P.
81. No. 379. ; as sprinkling of the blood was the principal action in
sacrifices
this was to be done directly before the tabernacle
from whence its
purifying virtue was expected
though it was not shed in it
that it might have
all the appearance of a sacrifice it could have; and being done seven times
denotes the perfection of it: the priest
when he sprinkled
stood on the east
side
with his face to the west. When the temple was built at Jerusalem
this
affair was transacted on the mount of Olives
which was east of Jerusalem.
Jarchi says
the priest stood in the east of Jerusalem
and placed himself so
that he might see the door of the temple at the time of sprinkling the blood.
Now it appears
as Maimonides saysF4Hilchot Beth Habechirah
c. 6.
sect. 2.
that the floor of the temple was higher than the floor of the
eastern gate of the mountain of the house twenty two cubits
and the height of
the gate of the mountain of the house was twenty cubits; wherefore one that
stood over against the eastern gate could not see the door of the temple
therefore they made the wall
which was over the top of this gate (the
battlement of it)
low
so that he (the priest)
that stood on the mount of
Olives
might see the door of the temple
at the time he sprinkled the blood of
the cow over against the temple; otherwise he could only have seen the eighth
step of the porch of the temple
as the same writer observesF5In
Misn
Middot
c. 2. sect. 4.
with which agrees the MisnahF6Misn.
ib.
that all the walls there (about the mountain of the house) were high
except the eastern wall
that so the priest that burnt the cow might stand on
the top of the mount of Olives
and look and behold the door of the temple
when he sprinkled the blood.
Numbers 19:5 5 Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight: its hide
its flesh
its blood
and its offal shall be burned.
YLT
5and [one] hath burnt the
cow before his eyes; her skin
and her flesh
and her blood
besides her dung
he doth burn;
And one shall burn
the heifer in his sight
.... Another priest
as the Targum of Jonathan
Eleazar looking
on
as that expresses it; the Jews sayF7Misn. Parah
c. 3. sect.
7
8
9.
that when the priest came to the mount of Olives
accompanied by the
elders of Israel
before he burnt the cow
he dipped himself in a dipping place
there; and the wood being laid there in order
wood of cedar
ash
fir
and fig
trees
made in the form of a tower
with holes opened in it (to put in the
fire
and that it might burn the quicker)
and its aspect being to the west
he
bound the cow
and laid her upon the pile
with her head to the south
and her
face to the west; and then having slain it
and sprinkled its blood
as before
related
he set fire to it by the help of some small wood: the burning of it
may signify the dolorous sufferings of Christ
when the wrath of God was poured
forth like fire upon him; the same was signified by roasting the passover lamb:
her skin
and her flesh
and her blood
with her dung
shall he
burn; which may denote the extent of Christ's sufferings
reaching to
all parts of his body
skin
flesh
and blood
and the shame and reproach that
attended them
signified by dung; as well as how impure and accursed he was
accounted when he was made sin for his people
bore their sins and suffered for
them
even not in body only
but in his soul also; for his soul as well as his
body were made an offering for sin.
Verse 5
And one shall burn the heifer in his sight
.... Another
priest
as the Targum of Jonathan
Eleazar looking on
as that expresses it;
the Jews sayF7Misn. Parah
c. 3. sect. 7
8
9.
that when the priest
came to the mount of Olives
accompanied by the elders of Israel
before he
burnt the cow
he dipped himself in a dipping place there; and the wood being
laid there in order
wood of cedar
ash
fir
and fig trees
made in the form
of a tower
with holes opened in it (to put in the fire
and that it might burn
the quicker)
and its aspect being to the west
he bound the cow
and laid her
upon the pile
with her head to the south
and her face to the west; and then
having slain it
and sprinkled its blood
as before related
he set fire to it
by the help of some small wood: the burning of it may signify the dolorous
sufferings of Christ
when the wrath of God was poured forth like fire upon
him; the same was signified by roasting the passover lamb:
her skin
and her flesh
and her blood
with her dung
shall he
burn; which may denote the extent of Christ's sufferings
reaching to
all parts of his body
skin
flesh
and blood
and the shame and reproach that
attended them
signified by dung; as well as how impure and accursed he was
accounted when he was made sin for his people
bore their sins and suffered for
them
even not in body only
but in his soul also; for his soul as well as his
body were made an offering for sin.
Numbers 19:6 6 And the priest shall take cedar wood and hyssop and
scarlet
and cast them into the midst of the fire burning the heifer.
YLT
6and the priest hath taken
cedar wood
and hyssop
and scarlet
and hath cast unto the midst of the
burning of the cow;
And the priest shall take
cedar wood
and hyssop
and scarlet
.... Another priest
according to the Targum of Jonathan; but it seems to design Eleazar the priest
and so
in later times
the same priest that burnt the cow took these things;
the Jews sayF8Misn. Parah
c. 3. sect. 10.
when he took them he
said
is this cedar wood? is this hyssop? is this scarlet? so he said three
times for everyone of them
and he was answered
yes
three times to each of
them: these were the same that were used at the cleansing of the leper
Leviticus 14:4
and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer; these were
rolled or bound up together
as the Jews sayF9Misn. Parah
c. 3.
sect. 11. & Maimon. & Bartenora in ib.
and made one bundle of
that
they might the more easily be cast into the fire; the hyssop was wrapped about
the cedar wood with the scarlet wool: the true reason of the use of these
Maimonides saysF11Moreh Nevochim
par. 3. c. 47.
was never clear
to him; but the cedar wood
being durable
may denote the continued efficacy of
Christ's sufferings; the hyssop
being purgative and of a good smell
the
purging nature of Christ's sacrifice
who by himself purged away our sins
and
the sweet odour thereof ascended to the Lord; and the scarlet
the sins of his
people destroyed thereby.
Numbers 19:7 7 Then the priest shall wash his clothes
he shall bathe
in water
and afterward he shall come into the camp; the priest shall be
unclean until evening.
YLT
7and the priest hath washed
his garments
and hath bathed his flesh with water
and afterwards doth come in
unto the camp
and the priest is unclean till the evening;
Then the priest shall wash
his clothes
.... The Targum of Jonathan has it
"he that slew the
cow
'and Aben Ezra
the priest that burnt it; but it seems to mean Eleazar
the
priest that sprinkled the blood
and by touching that was defiled and needed
washing; and so the JewsF12Misn. Parah
c. 4. sect. 4. say
all that
were employed about it
from the beginning to the end
were defiled in their
garments; not only he that slew it
and burnt it
and sprinkled its blood
but
he that took and cast in the cedar wood
&c. as we find also he that
gathered the ashes of it as well as burnt it: this creature was reckoned so
impure
though its ashes were for purifying
that whoever had anything to do
with it was unclean
as the scapegoat
which had the sins of all Israel on it;
and this as that was typical of Christ
made sin for his people
that he might
cleanse them from sin: it may point at the sin of the priests and people of
Israel
in putting Christ to death
and yet there was cleansing from that sin
in the precious blood of Christ
as well as from all others:
and he shall bathe his flesh in water; in forty
seahs of water
as the Targum of Jonathan; not his clothes only
but his body
was to be dipped in water:
and afterward he shall come into the camp: when his
clothes and flesh are washed
but not before:
and the priest shall be unclean until the even; though
washed
and therefore
though he is said to go into the camp upon washing
this
is to be understood
after the evening is come: so Jarchi directs to interpret
the passage
transpose it
says he
and so explain it; and he shall be unclean
until the evening
and after that he may come into the camp
not only the camp
of Israel
but the camp of the Shechinah
as the same writer.
Numbers 19:8 8 And the one who burns it shall wash his clothes in
water
bathe in water
and shall be unclean until evening.
YLT
8and he who is burning it
doth wash his garments with water
and hath bathed his flesh with water
and is
unclean till the evening.
And he that burneth her
shall wash his clothes in water
.... In forty seahs of water
as the Targum
of Jonathan: this shows that one different from this is designed in Numbers 19:7; and
that this is one distinct from him that sprinkled the blood
Numbers 19:4
and bathe his flesh in water: in a like quantity
as
the above Targum:
and shall be unclean until the even: and
though washed
might not go into the camp until that time: this may signify
as before
that
though the crucifixion of Christ was a very great sin
and done by wicked
hands
yet was pardonable through the very blood that was shed by them
Acts 2:23.
Numbers 19:9 9 Then a man who is clean shall gather up the
ashes of the heifer
and store them outside the camp in a clean place;
and they shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for the
water of purification;[a] it is
for purifying from sin.
YLT
9`And a clean man hath
gathered the ashes of the cow
and hath placed at the outside of the camp
in a
clean place
and it hath become to the company of the sons of Israel a charge
for waters of separation -- it [is] a [cleansing];
And a man that is
clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer
.... A man
a clean
priest
as the Targum of Jonathan; in later times great care was taken that the
priest concerned in the burning of the red cow should be pure; he was separated
from his own house seven days before the time
and every day he was sprinkled
with the blood of all sin offerings then offered
that it might be sure he was
free from any pollution by a grave
or a dead body; and for the same reason
they made a causeway on double arches from the temple to the mount of Olives
over the valley of Kidron
lest any unseen grave should be in the way; and when
he came thither he was obliged to wash or dip himself
as before observedF13Misn.
Parah
c. 3. sect. 1. 6. 7. ; and so he that gathered up the ashes was to be
clean from all ceremonial pollution: the Jews sayF14Ib. sect. 11.
that they pounded the ashes; if there were any black coal in them or bone
they
did not leave it in them
but sifted them in stone sieves; and not the ashes of
the heifer only they took
but the ashes of the cedar wood
&c. mixed with
them; and these they put
as the Targum of Jonathan says
into an earthen
vessel enclosed in a covering of clay:
and lay them up without the camp in a clean place; they were
divided into three parts
according to the Targum of Jonathan
one part was put
in the Chel (or the enclosure of the court of the tabernacle)
another in the
mount of Olives
and the third part was divided among all the wards of the
Levites
with which the MisnahF15lbid. agrees; Jarchi makes mention
of the same division
and of the use of each; that the wards had was without
the court
that the citizens might take of it
and all that needed to be
purified; that in the mount of Olives was for the priests
to sanctify other
heifers with it; and that in the Chel was for a reserve:
and it shall be kept for a reserve for the congregation of
Israel; as ashes may be kept a long time
if well taken care of
because
they are not subject to any corruption or putrefaction; and so was
as Bishop
Patrick observes from Dr. Jackson
a figure of the everlasting efficacy of
Christ's blood: and
according to the Jews
these ashes of the first heifer must
last more than a thousand years; for they sayF16Ib. sect. 5. the
second that was burnt was in the time of Ezra
though they reckon seven more
afterwards before the destruction of the second temple
in all nine; and the
tenth they expect in the days of the Messiah
which are past; he
being come
has put an end to this type by fulfilling it in himself: and the use of them
was
for a water of separation; being put into water
and mixed with it
was for the cleansing of such as were separated from others for
their uncleanness
and was a purification of them for it
as follows:
it is a purification for sin: or "it is
sin"F17חטאת היא
"peccatum ipsa"
Montanus; "peccatum enim est"
Tigurine
version.
not an offering for sin
properly speaking; the heifer
whose ashes
they were
not being sacrificed in the tabernacle
nor on the altar
and wanted
other rites; yet it answered the purposes of a sin offering
and its ashes in
water were typical of the blood of Christ
which purges the conscience from
dead works
when this only purified to the sanctifying of the flesh
Hebrews 9:13; and
is the fountain set open for sin and uncleanness
Zechariah 13:1;
where both the words are used which are here
and in the preceding clause:
ashes are known to be of a cleansing nature
and so a fit emblem of spiritual
purification by Christ; and the duration of them of the perpetuity of it.
Numbers 19:10 10 And the one who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall
wash his clothes
and be unclean until evening. It shall be a statute forever
to the children of Israel and to the stranger who dwells among them.
YLT
10and he who is gathering the
ashes of the heifer hath washed his garments
and is unclean till the evening;
and it hath been to the sons of Israel
and to the sojourner who is sojourning
in their midst
for a statute age-during.
And he that gathereth the
ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes
.... Whom the Targum of
Jonathan calls a priest
though it does not seem necessary he should be one:
and be unclean until the even; See Gill on Numbers 19:7
and it shall be unto the children of Israel
and unto the stranger
that sojourneth among them
for a statute for ever; until the
Messiah came
whose sufferings and death are for the expiation of
and
purification for the sins of Jews and Gentiles
of all the people of God
throughout the world
signified by the burning of this heifer; see 1 John 2:2.
Numbers 19:11 11 ‘He who touches the dead body of anyone shall be
unclean seven days.
YLT
11`He who is coming against
the dead body of any man -- is unclean seven days;
He that toucheth the dead
body of any man
.... A man and not a beast
as Aben Ezra observes; for he that
touched the dead body of a beast was unclean only until evening
Leviticus 11:24;
any man
Jew or Gentile
as the same writer notes: this is instanced in
as
being the principal pollution
though not the only one
yet so some think
for
which the water of purification made of the ashes of the burnt heifer was
appointed:
shall be unclean seven days; the reason of which is
because death is the fruit of sin
which is of a defiling nature
and to show
that all that are dead in sins are defiled and defiling
and are not to be
touched
or to have communion and fellowship held with them but to be abstained
from.
Numbers 19:12 12 He shall purify himself with the water on the third
day and on the seventh day; then he will be clean. But if he does not
purify himself on the third day and on the seventh day
he will not be clean.
YLT
12he doth cleanse himself for
it on the third day
and on the seventh day he is clean; and if he cleanse not
himself on the third day
then on the seventh day he is not clean.
He shall purify himself
with it
.... That is
with the ashes of the water of purification made of
them: and this was to be done first
on the third day; from the time of his touching the dead
body. Aben Ezra intimates
that there is a secret or mystery in this and the
following number seven; it may respect the third day of Christ's resurrection
who
as he shed his blood for the expiation and purification of sinners
so he
rose again the third day for the justification of them:
and on the seventh day he shall be clean; which may
denote the perfect state
or sabbath of rest
which remains for the people of
God
when all Christ's purified and justified ones shall be clear of all sin
and be the spirits of just men made perfect:
but if he purify not himself the third day
then the seventh day
he shall not be clean; whoever is not cleansed from his sins by the blood of Christ
shed for the remission of them
and is not justified from them by him that rose
from the dead the third day
will never be cleansed in the world to come
or in
the eternal sabbath; but it will then be said
"let him that is filthy be
filthy still"
Revelation 22:11.
Numbers 19:13 13 Whoever touches the body of anyone who has died
and
does not purify himself
defiles the tabernacle of the Lord. That person shall be cut off from Israel. He shall be unclean
because the water of purification was not sprinkled on him; his uncleanness is
still on him.
YLT
13Any one who is coming
against the dead
against the body of man who dieth
and cleanseth not himself
-- the tabernacle of Jehovah he hath defiled
and that person hath been cut off
from Israel
for water of separation is not sprinkled upon him; he is unclean;
his uncleanness [is] still upon him.
Whosoever toucheth the
dead body of any man that is dead
and purifieth not himself
.... With the
ashes of the heifer
or water of purification
and so neglects the means which
God has appointed for his cleansing:
defileth the tabernacle of the Lord; that is
if he goes into
it in his uncleanness
which it was not lawful for him to do: from the Jews the
Assyrians seem to have borrowed some customs of theirs
as related by LucianF18De
Dea Syria.
who upon burying a dead cock reckoned seven days
see Numbers 19:11; and
then went into the temple
for before they might not go in
nor perform holy
service; such laws they use
that if anyone sees a dead carcass
he may not go
that day into the temple; but he goes in the day following
after he has
purified himself:
and that soul shall be cut off from Israel; either be
excommunicated from the church
or die by the hand of the civil magistrate
or
by the immediate hand of God; that is
if he knew he had touched a dead body
and wilfully neglected the means of his purification
and so sinned
presumptuously; otherwise
if all this was done ignorantly
an atonement was made
for it
Leviticus 5:3.
because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him
he
shall be unclean; as all are who are not sprinkled with the blood of Christ:
his uncleanness is yet upon him; and will remain
nothing
can remove it; as nothing can remove the stain and blot of sin but the blood of
Christ; and where that is not applied it will remain marked before God
and
will lie upon the sinner to his utter condemnation and ruin; see Jeremiah 2:22.
Numbers 19:14 14 ‘This is the law when a man dies in a tent: All
who come into the tent and all who are in the tent shall be unclean
seven days;
YLT
14`This [is] the law
when a
man dieth in a tent: every one who is coming in unto the tent
and all that
[is] in the tent
is unclean seven days;
This is the law when a man
dieth in a tent
.... A tent is only mentioned
because the Israelites now dwelt
in tents
as Aben Ezra remarks; otherwise the law holds equally good of an
house as of a tent:
all that come into the tent
and all that is in the tent
shall be
unclean seven days; the meaning of which is
that all persons that come into a tent
or house where a dead body is are equally unclean as those that were in it when
it died; and the same is to be supposed of all vessels brought into it
as well
as those that are in it
that is
open ones
as appears by what follows.
Numbers 19:15 15 and every open vessel
which has no cover fastened on
it
is unclean.
YLT
15and every open vessel which
hath no covering of thread upon it is unclean.
And every open vessel
.... An
earthen one
as the Targum of Jonathan; and so Jarchi interprets it; and
MaimonidesF18In Misn. Cholin
c. 1. sect. 6. observes
that this is
only to be understood of an earthen vessel:
which hath no covering bound upon it; a linen or a
woollen cloth wrapped and tied about it:
is unclean; the air of
the house getting into it by its being uncovered.
Numbers 19:16 16 Whoever in the open field touches one who is slain by
a sword or who has died
or a bone of a man
or a grave
shall be unclean seven
days.
YLT
16`And every one who cometh
on the face of the field
against the pierced of a sword
or against the dead
or against a bone of man
or against a grave
is unclean seven days;
And whosoever toucheth one
that is slain with a sword in the open fields
.... That is killed by
another
that dies a violent death
either by the sword or other means; one
that touched such an one was unclean
or that touched the sword with which he
was slain
as the Targum of Jonathan adds: "or a dead body": that
dies a natural death
or suddenly
or in any way:
or a bone off a man; dug out of a grave
and
lying by itself:
or a grave; the Targum adds
either the covering or side of a grave:
shall be unclean seven days; all which has respect to
the defiling nature of sin
which is the cause of death and the grave.
Numbers 19:17 17 ‘And for an unclean person they shall take some
of the ashes of the heifer burnt for purification from sin
and running water
shall be put on them in a vessel.
YLT
17and they have taken for the
unclean person of the ashes of the burning of the [cleansing]
and he hath put
upon it running water unto a vessel;
And for an unclean person
.... Defiled
by any of the above means:
they shall take of the ashes of the burnt heifer of purification
for sin; from the place where they were laid up for this use; See Gill on
Numbers 19:9 and
some have thought that they were laid up in various cities and places in the
country
as well as at Jerusalem
that they might be come at easily upon
occasion; otherwise they could not be had without great trouble and expense
and in some places not so soon as the law required for their purification
namely
on the third day after their defilement:
and running water shall be put thereto in a vessel; the Targum
Jonathan is
"fountain water in the midst of earthen vessel;'for no water
but fountain
spring
or river water
was made use of; and it should seem by
what is said that ashes were first put into the vessel
and then the running
water was put to them; and yet the Jewish writers sayF19Maimon.
Milchot
Parah Adumah
c. 9. sect. 1.
that if the ashes were put in first
and then the water
it was not right; and the meaning of what is said here is
that the water and ashes should be mixed together; for it is urged from the
words: "running water in a vessel"
that it is plain
that the water
is put in the vessel and not to the ashes; and therefore that which is said
"shall be put thereto"
is to caution the person
that after he has
put the ashes upon the water
that he mixes them well with his finger
and
cause the water below to rise aboveF20Bartenora in Misn. Temurah
c.
1. sect. 5. .
Numbers 19:18 18 A clean person shall take hyssop and dip it in
the water
sprinkle it on the tent
on all the vessels
on the persons
who were there
or on the one who touched a bone
the slain
the dead
or a
grave.
YLT
18and a clean person hath
taken hyssop
and hath dipped [it] in water
and hath sprinkled on the tent
and on all the vessels
and on the persons who have been there
and on him who
is coming against a bone
or against one pierced
or against the dead
or
against a grave.
And a clean person shall
take hyssop
and dip it in the water
.... Three stalks of
hyssop bound together
as the Targum of Jonathan
and this man was to be a
clean priest
according to the same; but it does not seem necessary that he
should be a priest
but that anyone free from ceremonial pollution might do it:
and sprinkle it upon the tent; where there was a dead
body: but this
we are told
is to be understood not of a tent made of wood
or
stone
or clay
but made of anything woven
as linen: or of skinsF21Maimon.
in Misn. Sabbat
c. 2. sect. 3. :
and upon all the vessels; in such a tent
that is
open ones
as before observed:
and upon the persons that were there: when the man
died in it
or came into it since
and while the dead body was in it:
and upon him that touched a bone; of a dead man
or
as
the Targum of Jonathan
the bone of a living man that is separated from him:
or one slain
or one dead; slain with a sword
or
dead of the pestilence
as the same Targum
or of any other disease
or in any
other way:
or a grave; or the covering or side of one
as the same Targum adds.
Numbers 19:19 19 The clean person shall sprinkle the unclean on
the third day and on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he shall purify
himself
wash his clothes
and bathe in water; and at evening he shall be
clean.
YLT
19`And the clean hath
sprinkled [it] on the unclean on the third day
and on the seventh day
and
hath cleansed him on the seventh day
and he hath washed his garments
and hath
bathed with water
and hath been clean in the evening.
And the clean person shall
sprinkle upon the unclean
.... The clean priest shall sprinkle upon
the unclean man
as the Targum of Jonathan; that is
he shall sprinkle the
water of purification upon him that is unclean in any of the above ways:
on the third day
and on the seventh day; See Gill on Numbers 19:12
and on the seventh day he shall purify himself; either the
unclean person
who shall perfect his purification
as Jarchi interprets it
that is
by doing what follows; or else the clean person
who becomes in some
measure unclean
by sprinkling and touching the water of separation
as appears
from Numbers 19:21 as
the priest that sprinkled the blood of the heifer
and the man that burnt it
and gathered its ashes
Numbers 19:7.
and wash his clothes
and bathe himself in water
and shall be
clean at even; in like manner as the man that let go the goat into the
wilderness
Leviticus 16:26.
Numbers 19:20 20 ‘But the man who is unclean and does not purify
himself
that person shall be cut off from among the assembly
because he has
defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. The water
of purification has not been sprinkled on him; he is unclean.
YLT
20`And the man who is
unclean
and doth not cleanse himself
even that person hath been cut off from
the midst of the assembly; for the sanctuary of Jehovah he hath defiled; water
of separation is not sprinkled upon him; he [is] unclean.
But the man that shall be
unclean
.... By touching any dead body
bone
or grave:
and shall not purify himself; with the water of
purification:
that soul shall be cut off from among the congregation: See Gill on Numbers 19:13.
because he hath defiled the sanctuary of the Lord: by going into
it in his uncleanness:
the water of separation hath not been sprinkled upon him
he is
unclean; and will remain so
for nothing else could purify him
see Numbers 19:13.
Numbers 19:21 21 It shall be a perpetual statute for them. He who
sprinkles the water of purification shall wash his clothes; and he who touches
the water of purification shall be unclean until evening.
YLT
21`And it hath been to them
for a statute age-during
that he who is sprinkling the water of separation
doth wash his garments
and he who is coming against the water of separation is
unclean till the evening
And it shall be a
perpetual statute unto them
.... To the children of Israel
throughout
their generations
unto the coming of the Messiah
when the ceremonial law
which stood in divers washings and purifications
was abolished:
that he that sprinkleth the water of separation shall wash his
clothes; the priest that sprinkled
according to the Targum of Jonathan
or any other person that did it; so that the same purifying water
which made
an unclean person clean
defiled a clean one; for though it was purifying
it
had uncleanness in it; having the ashes not only of the cow itself
but of its
skin
blood
and dung; and so a lye made of ashes is impure in itself
and yet
serves to scour cloth: Ainsworth thinks this signifies the imperfection and
insufficiency of legal rites
which
in their greatest virtue
only sanctified
to the purifying of the flesh
and left the purifier himself in uncleanness he
had not before; by consideration of which
the people might be led to Christ
and his Spirit
for cleansing
Hebrews 9:13 but it
rather signifies
that the blood of Christ
which cleanses from all sin
and
answers to this purifying water
that its cleansing virtue is owing to Christ
being made sin for his people; and that some may be instruments of directing
souls to the blood of Christ for cleansing
and yet be defiled themselves: it
does not appear that this man
thus unclean
was to have the water of
purification sprinkled on him
but was only to wash his clothes; see Revelation 7:14.
and he that toucheth the water of separation shall be unclean
until even: but was not clean until he had washed
as Aben Ezra observes
though not expressed; for if one that only sprinkled it had need to be washed
much more one that touched it
and which was unavoidable
if
when he mixed the
water and ashes together
he stirred them with his finger; see Gill on Numbers 19:17
though MaimonidesF20Hilchot Parah Adumah
c. 15. sect. 1.
understands this of sprinkling and touching the water when there was no
necessity for it
when a person was not employed in doing the duty of this law.
Numbers 19:22 22 Whatever the unclean person touches shall be
unclean; and the person who touches it shall be unclean until evening.’”
YLT
22and all against which the
unclean person cometh is unclean
and the person who is coming against [it] is
unclean till the evening.'
And whatsoever the unclean
person toucheth shall be unclean
.... Not the person
unclean by sprinkling
or touching the water of purification
but the unclean
person spoken of throughout the chapter
that was unclean by touching a dead
body
bone
or grave; whatever that man touched
any vessel or thing
that was
unclean also; or "whomsoever"
any person
man or woman
for it
respects both persons and things:
and the soul that toucheth it; that which the unclean
person hath touched; or "him"
the unclean person
whether the
unclean person touched him
or he the unclean person
or touched anything he
had touched
he was unclean; denoting the spreading and infectious nature of
sin
and how much sin and sinners are to be avoided; see Leviticus 15:4.
──《John Gill’s
Exposition of the Bible》
New King James
Version (NKJV)