Tyndale Open Study NotesNumbers 19

They made the water for the purification ceremony with ashes of the red heifer (19:9). It might be the same as the water of purification in 8:7 (see also 31:19–24). This ceremony needed the ashes of a red heifer. The color probably represented blood (compare Hebrews 9:13–14).

This section explains how ordinary Israelites can become ceremonially clean again after touching a corpse and avoid defiling the Tent of Meeting (see 9:4–12; Leviticus 17:15; 21:1–4, 11–12). God's holiness demands that the place of his presence remains pure and separate from pollution (compare 1 Corinthians 6:9–11, 18–20).

To protect Aaron’s holy status, Eleazar had to perform the red heifer offering because it caused ceremonial impurity (see Leviticus 21:10–12). The red heifer ceremony differed from the regular sacrifice (compare Leviticus 4:3–12).

The only other passage where cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet wool appear together is Leviticus 14. That chapter describes another ceremony (also "outside the camp") that resulted in ceremonial purification.

Some scholars suggest Eleazar added cedar wood and hyssop for their aroma. Hyssop is associated with purification (Exodus 12:22; Psalm 51:7; compare Hebrews 9:19). The scarlet yarn, like the red heifer, probably symbolizes blood. Together, the cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet wool symbolize cleansing.

It required three people to produce and collect the heifer’s ashes. These were Eleazar, the person who burned the animal, and the person who gathered its ashes. All three became ceremonially impure for a day because of this process. The same was true for the person who used the finished product. This was a potion made from the ash dust and water (compare 19:21). This potion had the same defiling effect as blood associated with sacrifices (Leviticus 6:27–28).

The ceremony of burning the red heifer intended to produce ashes. They collected these ashes and stored them in a pure place outside the camp. The Israelites used them in water for purification ceremonies to remove pollution, such as contact with a corpse (19:11–22).

If someone touched a human dead body, that person became ceremonially unclean for seven days (compare Leviticus 21:1–3). This meant a person was not allowed to take part in worship until they were made clean.

To become clean again, the person had to use the water of purification. This water was sprinkled on the third day and again on the seventh day.

Becoming unclean by touching a dead body was very serious. A person who was ceremonially defiled (not fit for worship) could also make the Lord’s tabernacle unclean (compare Leviticus 15:31).

Because of this danger, such impurity could lead to being “cut off” from the community of Israel. This meant being removed from the people, and in some cases, it could mean death (see Numbers 9:13; Exodus 12:15; Leviticus 7:20–21; Leviticus 17:4–14; Leviticus 20:17–18).

Death made a person ceremonially unclean, and this uncleanness could spread. It could pass to an object or to a place where someone had died (compare Leviticus 15:1–12). This means that anything connected to the dead body could also become unclean. People had to be careful so that impurity did not spread through the camp.

To cleanse with the heifer's ashes, they made a special purifying mixture. They combined ashes from the burnt purification offering with fresh water (compare 5:17).