9 And a clean man shall gather the ashes of the heifer, and deposit them outside the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the assembly of the children of Israel for a water of separation: it is a purification for sin.
Whoever toucheth a dead person, the dead body of a man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of Jehovah; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel; for the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him: he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him.
For if the blood of goats and bulls, and a heifer's ashes sprinkling the defiled, sanctifies for the purity of the flesh,
And the man that is unclean, and doth not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from the midst of the congregation, for he hath defiled the sanctuary of Jehovah: the water of separation hath not been sprinkled on him: he is unclean. And it shall be an everlasting statute unto them. And he that sprinkleth the water of separation shall wash his garments, and he that toucheth the water of separation shall be unclean until even.
And everything that she lieth upon in her separation shall be unclean; and everything that she sitteth upon shall be unclean.
And he shall [again] consecrate to Jehovah the days of his separation, and shall bring a yearling lamb for a trespass-offering. But the first days are forfeited, for his consecration hath been defiled.
But a man that is clean, and is not on a journey, and forbeareth to hold the passover, that soul shall be cut off from among his peoples; because he presented not the offering of Jehovah at its set time: that man shall bear his sin.
and a clean man shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent, and upon all the utensils, and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that hath touched the bone, or the one slain, or the dead person, or the grave;
everything that passeth through the fire, ye shall make it go through the fire, and it shall be clean; only it shall be purified with the water of separation; and everything that cannot pass through the fire ye shall make go through the water. And ye shall wash your garments on the seventh day, and ye shall be clean; and afterwards ye may come into the camp.
In that day there shall be a fountain opened to the house of David and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem for sin and for uncleanness.
Him who knew not sin he has made sin for us, that *we* might become God's righteousness in him.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Matthew Henry Commentary » Commentary on Numbers 19
Commentary on Numbers 19 Matthew Henry Commentary
Chapter 19
This chapter is only concerning the preparing and using of the ashes which were to impregnate the water of purification. The people had complained of the strictness of the law, which forbade their near approach to the tabernacle, ch. 17:13. In answer to this complaint, they are here directed to purify themselves, so as that they might come as far as they had occasion without fear. Here is,
Num 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 and goats at the altar, but like the heifer without the camp.
Num 19:11-22
Directions are here given concerning the use and application of the ashes which were prepared for purification. they were laid up to be laid out; and therefore, though now one place would serve to keep them in, while all Israel lay so closely encamped, yet it is probable that afterwards, when they came to Canaan, some of these ashes were kept in every town, for there would be daily use for them. Observe,