a young cow, used in sacrifice at the temple, Num. xix, 1–10.
Moses and Aaron were instructed to deliver the divine command to the
children of Israel that they should procure “a red heifer, without
spot,” that is, one that was entirely red, without one spot of any other
colour; “free from blemish, and on which the yoke had never yet come,”
that is, which had never yet been employed in ploughing the ground or in
any other work; for according to the common sense of all mankind, those
animals which had been made to serve other uses, became unfit to be
offered to God,--a sentiment which we find in Homer and other Heathen
writers. The animal was to be delivered to the priest, who was to lead
her forth out of the camp, and there to slay her: the priest was then to
take of the blood with his finger, and sprinkle it seven times before
the tabernacle, and afterward to burn the carcass: then to take cedar
wood and hyssop, and scarlet wood, and cast them into the flames. The
ashes were to be gathered up, and preserved in a secure and clean place,
for the use of the congregation, by the sprinkling of which ashes in
water, it became a water of separation, by means of which a typical or
ceremonial purification for sin was effected, Heb. ix, 13.
Moses and Aaron were instructed to deliver the divine command to the
children of Israel that they should procure “a red heifer, without
spot,” that is, one that was entirely red, without one spot of any other
colour; “free from blemish, and on which the yoke had never yet come,”
that is, which had never yet been employed in ploughing the ground or in
any other work; for according to the common sense of all mankind, those
animals which had been made to serve other uses, became unfit to be
offered to God,--a sentiment which we find in Homer and other Heathen
writers. The animal was to be delivered to the priest, who was to lead
her forth out of the camp, and there to slay her: the priest was then to
take of the blood with his finger, and sprinkle it seven times before
the tabernacle, and afterward to burn the carcass: then to take cedar
wood and hyssop, and scarlet wood, and cast them into the flames. The
ashes were to be gathered up, and preserved in a secure and clean place,
for the use of the congregation, by the sprinkling of which ashes in
water, it became a water of separation, by means of which a typical or
ceremonial purification for sin was effected, Heb. ix, 13.