Numbers 19:9

And 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.

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Word by word — the Hebrew

Word	Hebrew	Strong’s	Meaning
man	אִ֣ישׁ 'ish	H376	a man as an individual or a male person · noun, common masculine singular absolute
clean	טָה֗וֹר ta.Hor	H2889	pure (in a physical · adjective, masculine singular absolute
gather	וְאָסַ֣ף ve.'a.Saf	H622	to gather for any purpose · conjunction + verb, qal sequential perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
ashes	אֵ֣פֶר 'E.fer	H665	ashes · noun, common masculine singular construct
heifer	הַפָּרָ֔ה ha.pa.Rah	H6510	a heifer · definite article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
up	יָנַח yânach	H3240	to deposit
without	מִח֥וּץ mi.Chutz	H2351	properly · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct
camp	לַֽמַּחֲנֶ֖ה la.ma.cha.Neh	H4264	an encampment (of travellers or troops) · preposition with the article + noun, common feminine singular absolute
clean	טָה֑וֹר ta.Hor	H2889	pure (in a physical · adjective, masculine singular absolute
place	בְּמָק֣וֹם be.ma.Kom	H4725	properly · preposition + noun, common masculine singular absolute
kept	לְמִשְׁמֶ֛רֶת le.mish.Me.ret	H4931	watch · preposition + noun, common feminine singular absolute
congregation	לַעֲדַ֨ת la.'a.Dat	H5712	a stated assemblage (specifically · preposition + noun, common feminine singular construct
children	בְּנֵֽי be.nei-	H1121	a son (as a builder of the family name) · noun, common masculine plural construct
Israel	יִשְׂרָאֵ֧ל Yis.ra.'El	H3478	Jisrael · proper noun, a place name
water	לְמֵ֥י le.Mei	H4325	water · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
separation	נִדָּ֖ה ni.Dah	H5079	properly · noun, common feminine singular absolute
sin	חַטָּ֥את cha.Tat	H2403	an offence (sometimes habitual sinfulness) · noun, common feminine singular absolute

Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).

Cross-references

Numbers 19:13 Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of the LORD; and that soul shal…
Hebrews 9:13 For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of an heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifieth to the purifying of the flesh:
Numbers 19:20-21 But the man that shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from among the congregation, because he hath def…
Leviticus 15:20 And every thing that she lieth upon in her separation shall be unclean: every thing also that she sitteth upon shall be unclean.
Numbers 6:12 And he shall consecrate unto the LORD the days of his separation, and shall bring a lamb of the first year for a trespass offering: but the…
Numbers 8:7 And thus shalt thou do unto them, to cleanse them: Sprinkle water of purifying upon them, and let them shave all their flesh, and let them w…
Numbers 9:13 But the man that is clean, and is not in a journey, and forbeareth to keep the passover, even the same soul shall be cut off from among his…
Numbers 19:18 And 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…

Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Numbers 19:1-10

We have here the divine appointment concerning the solemn burning of a red heifer to ashes, and the preserving of the ashes, that of them might be made, not a beautifying, but a purifying, water, for that was the utmost the law reached to; it offered not to adorn as the gospel does, but to cleanse only. This burning of the heifer, though it was not properly a sacrifice of expiation, being not performed at the altar, yet was typical of the death and sufferings of Christ, by which he intended, not only to satisfy God's justice, but to purify and pacify our consciences, that we may have peace with God and also peace in our own bosoms, to prepare for which Christ died, not only like the bulls an…

Read the whole note in the console

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Numbers 19:7

the priest shall be unclean until the even--The ceremonies prescribed show the imperfection of the Levitical priesthood, while they typify the condition of Christ when expiating our sins (Co2 5:21).

John Gill on Numbers 19:9

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…

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John Calvin on Numbers 19:7-10

Then the priest shall wash his clothes. At first sight there seems to be a discrepancy in the facts, that the heifer was sacred to God, and pure, and still that the priest was polluted by touching it; yet they accord very well with each other. But that both the priest as well as the minister who made the burning, were unclean until the evening, ought to have forcibly struck the people, and taught them the more to abominate sin. And, since it was not permitted to any but a man that was clean to gather the ashes, not that they should be laid anywhere but in a clean place, it was manifested by this sign that there was no impurity in the sacrifice itself, but that from an extraneous and adventit…

The Church Fathers

And again: "The water of sprinkling is a purification." Whence it appears that the sprinkling also of water prevails equally with the washing of salvation; and that when this is done in the Church, where the faith both of receiver and giver is sound, all things hold and may be consummated and perfected by the majesty of the Lord and by the truth of faith.
— Cyprian, Epistle LXXV.12

The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).

Dictionary and topics

Ashes — The ashes of a red heifer burned entire (Num. 19:5) when sprinkled on the unclean made them ceremonially clean (Heb. 9:13). To cover the head with ashes was a token of self-abhorrence and humiliation…
Bath, Bathing — This was a prescribed part of the Jewish ritual of purification in cases of accident, or of leprous or ordinary uncleanness, (Leviticus 15; 16:28; 22:6; Numbers 19:7; 19; 2 Samuel 11:2,4; 2 Kings…
Clean — The various forms of uncleanness according to the Mosaic law are enumerated in Lev. 11-15; Num. 19. The division of animals into clean and unclean was probably founded on the practice of sacrifice.…
Heifer — Heb. ‘eglah, (Deut. 21:4, 6; Jer. 46:20). Untrained to the yoke (Hos. 10:11); giving milk (Isa. 7:21); ploughing (Judg. 14:18); treading out grain (Jer. 50:11); unsubdued to the yoke an emblem of…
Law of Moses — Is the whole body of the Mosaic legislation (1 Kings 2:3; 2 Kings 23:25; Ezra 3:2). It is called by way of eminence simply “the Law” (Heb. Torah, Deut. 1:5; 4:8, 44; 17:18, 19; 27:3, 8). As a written…
Water of separation — Used along with the ashes of a red heifer for the ceremonial cleansing of persons defiled by contact with a dead body (Num. 19).
Ablution · Of priests — Of priests
Ashes · Uses of, in purifi — Uses of, in purifi
Defilement · Of priests — Of priests
Offerings · .Ordinances concerning — .Ordinances concerning
Purifications · Of individuals who were ceremonially unclean — Of individuals who were ceremonially unclean

Numbers 19:9

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Numbers 19:1-10

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Numbers 19:7

John Gill on Numbers 19:9

John Calvin on Numbers 19:7-10

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Numbers 19:9

Word by word — the Hebrew

Cross-references

Commentary

Matthew Henry on Numbers 19:1-10

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown on Numbers 19:7

John Gill on Numbers 19:9

John Calvin on Numbers 19:7-10

The Church Fathers

Dictionary and topics

Keil & Delitzsch on Numbers 19:2-9

Tyndale Open Study Notes on Numbers 19:9

Rashi on Numbers 19:9