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, Num. 19:1–10; the use of the water made of them, to purify such as were unclean by the touch of a dead body, Num.

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…

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…

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…

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 says [[0]]; 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…

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 say [[6]], 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…

And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, &c.] 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 say [[7]], when he took them he said, is this…

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 Jews [[10]] say, all that were…

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 ; and that this is one distinct from him that sprinkled the blood, (Num. 19:4, Num.

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…

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 Num.

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, ; any man, Jew or Gentile, as the same writer notes: this is instanced in, as being the principal pollution, though not the only one,…

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.

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…

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…

And every open vessel An earthen one, as the Targum of Jonathan; and so Jarchi interprets it; and Maimonides [[16]] 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…

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…

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 Num.

And a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, &c.] 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…

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 Num.

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 Num. 19:13).

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;…

And whatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean, &c.] 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…