Numbers 19:1-22

The Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: “This is a statute of the law that the Lord has commanded: Tell the Israelites to bring you a red heifer¹ without defect, in which there is no blemish² and on which no yoke has been laid.³ You shall give it to the priest Eleazar,⁴ and it shall be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence.⁵ The priest Eleazar shall take some of its blood with his finger and sprinkle it seven times towards the front of the tent of meeting. Then the heifer shall be burned in his sight; its skin, its flesh, and its blood, with its dung,⁶ shall be burned. The priest shall take cedar wood, hyssop, and crimson material, and throw them into the fire in which the heifer is burning.⁷ Then the priest shall wash his clothes and bathe his body in water, and afterwards he may come into the camp; but the priest shall remain unclean until evening.⁸ The one who burns the heifer shall wash his clothes in water and bathe his body in water; he shall remain unclean until evening.⁹ Then someone who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place; and they shall be kept for the congregation of the Israelites for the water for cleansing.¹⁰ It is a purification-offering. The one who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening.”¹¹

“This shall be a perpetual statute for the Israelites and for the alien residing among them.¹² Those who touch the dead body of any human being shall be unclean for seven days. They shall purify themselves with the water on the third day and on the seventh day, and so be clean; but if they do not purify themselves on the third day and on the seventh day, they will not become clean.¹³ All who touch a corpse, the body of a human being who has died, and do not purify themselves, defile the tabernacle of the Lord; such persons shall be cut off from Israel.¹⁴ Since water for cleansing was not dashed on them, they remain unclean; their uncleanness is still on them.”¹⁵

“This is the law when someone dies in a tent: everyone who comes into the tent, and everyone who is in the tent, shall be unclean for seven days.¹⁶ And every open vessel with no cover fastened on it is unclean. Whoever in the open field touches one who has been killed by a sword, or who has died naturally, or a human bone, or a grave, shall be unclean for seven days. For the unclean they shall take some ashes of the burnt purification-offering, and running water shall be added in a vessel; then a clean person shall take hyssop, dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent, on all the furnishings, on the persons who were there, and on whoever touched the bone, the slain, the corpse, or the grave.¹⁷ The clean person shall sprinkle the unclean ones on the third day and on the seventh day,¹⁸ thus purifying them on the seventh day. Then they shall wash their clothes and bathe themselves in water, and at evening they shall be clean. Any who are unclean but do not purify themselves, those persons shall be cut off from the assembly,¹⁹ for they have defiled the sanctuary of the Lord. Since the water for cleansing has not been dashed on them, they are unclean.”

“It shall be a perpetual statute for them.²⁰ The one who sprinkles the water for cleansing shall wash his clothes, and whoever touches the water for cleansing shall be unclean until evening. Whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean, and anyone who touches it shall be unclean until evening.”

1 Specifically red cow is an interesting twist.

2 The typical “no blemish” of the significant sacrifice.

3 “no yoke” is another new twist.

4 First time that a sacrifice is assigned to a specific son?

5 “in his presence” continues the unusual twists.

6 Dung? First time for that too?

7 Yet another new ceremonial twist.

8 The priest is unclean from a sacrifice...how strange.

9 And this one is unclean for bringing the sacrifice.

10 That is quite new.

11 Even the gatherer of the ashes is unclean? Strange, considering that the ashes will bring cleanliness.

12 But will not be practiced by Christians.

13 Specific and a bit odd.

14 Strict punishment for something which we would not consider a moral wrong.

15 Is the error fixable at that point or not?

16 It is possible that this would help to prevent disease. Though people who had entered the tent before the death might be more likely to spread disease than those who came after.

17 The purpose of the ashes is finally described.

18 First time that a layman is responsible for cleansing an unclean person.

19 Again the quite strict punishment.

20 The perpetual nature is made clear again.


Take-home: Those who contact dead bodies are unclean, and a unique ritual is described to cleanse them.