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Numbers 19 – Skeptic's Annotated Bible answered

A response and reply to the notes on Numbers 19 in the Skeptic's Annotated Bible (SAB).

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King James Version

SAB comment

My comment


1 And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,

(19:1-22) These absurd rituals, cruel sacrifices, and unjust punishments are vitally important to God. They are to be "a perpetual statute" for everyone on earth.
I do not understand why the author of the SAB calls these sacrifices absurd as they clearly have a deep meaning. I also do not understand why he calls them cruel: no animal cruelty was involved, unless the author of the SAB believes one should be completely vegetarian.

2 This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came yoke:

3 And ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, that he may bring her forth without the camp, and one shall slay her before his face:

4 And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle of the congregation seven times:

(19:4-5) "Take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle ... seven times."
God's instructions for putting blood on fingers, sprinkling it around, and then burning the dung of sacrificial animals. This is something that everyone needs to know about. (That's why it's in the Bible!).
The sprinkling of blood signified that without blood there is no forgiveness of sins. On the burning of the dung: the entire heifer was burnt as this verse says, nothing excluded, not even the inside of its bowels.

5 And one shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn:

6 And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer.

7 Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterward he shall come into the camp, and the priest shall be unclean until the even.

(19:7-8) "Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe ... and shall be unclean until the even." (The guy who burns the dung also has to take a bath, which sounds like a pretty good idea to me.)

8 And he that burneth her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the even.

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.

10 And he that gathereth the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: and it shall be unto the children of Israel, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among them, for a statute for ever.

(19:10) "He that gathereth the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even; and it shall be ... a statute forever."

11 He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days.

(19:11) "He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days." (Bad news for understakers.)
Very sensible health advice. If only medical science had listened.

12 He shall purify himself with it on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean: but if he purify not himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean.

(19:12) "He shall purify himself with it on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean: but if he purify not himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean."
(Use the "water of separation" made from the ashes of the dung of the red heifer. See v. 9.)

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 shall be cut off from Israel: because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him.

(19:13) "Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself ... shall be cut off from Israel: because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him."

14 This is the law, when a man dieth in a tent: all that come into the tent, and all that is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days.

(19:14) "When a man dieth in a tent: all that come into the tent, and all that is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days."
Again, very sensible rules of hygiene.

15 And every open vessel, which hath no covering bound upon it, is unclean.

(19:15) "And every open vessel, which hath no covering bound upon it, is unclean." (Don't you just hate it when people leave the lid off containers?)
What is meant any open vessel inside the tent where this person had died. The person might have been a carrier of airborne viruses.

16 And whosoever toucheth one that is slain with a sword in the open fields, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.

(19:16) "And whosoever toucheth one that is slain with a sword ... or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days."
Very sensible rules of hygiene.

17 And for an unclean person they shall take of the ashes of the burnt heifer of purification for sin, and running water shall be put thereto in a vessel:

(19:17-19) "And for an unclean person they shall take of the ashes of the burnt heifer ... And a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it ... upon him that touched a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave. And the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day: and on the seventh day he shall purify himself, and wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even." (Well that sounds simple enough!)
Indeed. Washing with water is very effective to do away with carriers of diseases, soap is nice to have, but not essential.

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 that were there, and upon him that touched a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave:

19 And the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day: and on the seventh day he shall purify himself, and wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even.

20 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 defiled the sanctuary of the LORD: the water of separation hath not been sprinkled upon him; he is unclean.

(19:20) "But the man that shall be unclean ... shall be cut off ... the water of separation hath not been sprinkled upon him; he is unclean."
Cut off is he shall be removed from Israel as a person who did not want to live by the rules, so he would be banished to a country where he did not have to live by these rules.

21 And it shall be a perpetual statute unto them, that he that sprinkleth the water of separation shall wash his clothes; and he that toucheth the water of separation shall be unclean until even.

(19:21) "It shall be a perpetual statute ... that he that sprinkleth the water of separation shall wash his clothes; and he that toucheth the water of separation shall be unclean until even."
The Hebrew word that is translated as perpetual means an indefinite amount of time: valid till repealed.

22 And whatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean; and the soul that toucheth it shall be unclean until even.

(19:22) "And whatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean; and the soul that toucheth it shall be unclean until even."
Very sensible sanitary advice which would have checked the spread of infectious diseases greatly.

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