Reference: Heifer
American
Red heifers were to be offered in sacrifice for the national sins, in the impressive manner described in Nu 19:1-10, illustrating the true sacrifice for sin in the person of Christ, Heb 9:13-14. The well-fed heifer was a symbol of wanton wildness, Jer 46:20; 50:11; Ho 4:16.
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And LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, This is the statute of the law which LORD has commanded, saying, Speak to the sons of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without spot, in which is no blemish, [and] upon which a yoke never came. read more. And ye shall give her to Eleazar the priest, and he shall bring her forth outside the camp, and she shall be killed before his face. And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle her blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times. And the heifer shall be burned in his sight: her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, he shall burn. And the priest shall take cedar-wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer. 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 evening. And he who burned her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the evening. And a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up outside the camp in a clean place. And it shall be kept for the congregation of the sons of Israel for a water for impurity. It is a sin-offering. And he who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening. And it shall be to the sons of Israel, and to the stranger who sojourns among them, for a statute forever.
Egypt is a very fair heifer, [but] destruction out of the north has come, it has come.
Because ye are glad, because ye rejoice, O ye who plunder my heritage, because ye are wanton as a heifer that treads out [the grain], and neigh as strong horses,
For Israel has behaved himself stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer. Now LORD will feed them as a lamb in a large place.
For if the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling those who were defiled, sanctifies for the purification of the flesh, how much more the blood of Christ, who, through the eternal Spirit, offered himself unblemished to God, will cleanse your conscience from dead works in order to serve a living God?
Easton
Heb 'eglah, (De 21:4,6; Jer 46:20). Untrained to the yoke (Ho 10:11); giving milk (Isa 7:21); ploughing (Jg 14:18); treading out grain (Jer 50:11); unsubdued to the yoke an emblem of Judah (Isa 15:5; Jer 48:34).
Heb parah (Ge 41:2; Nu 19:2). Bearing the yoke (Ho 4:16); "heifers of Bashan" (Am 4:1), metaphorical for the voluptuous females of Samaria. The ordinance of sacrifice of the "red heifer" described in Nu 19:1-10; comp. Heb 9:13.
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And, behold, there came up out of the river seven cows, well-favored and fat-fleshed, and they fed in the reed grass.
And LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, This is the statute of the law which LORD has commanded, saying, Speak to the sons of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without spot, in which is no blemish, [and] upon which a yoke never came.
This is the statute of the law which LORD has commanded, saying, Speak to the sons of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without spot, in which is no blemish, [and] upon which a yoke never came. And ye shall give her to Eleazar the priest, and he shall bring her forth outside the camp, and she shall be killed before his face. read more. And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle her blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times. And the heifer shall be burned in his sight: her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, he shall burn. And the priest shall take cedar-wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer. 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 evening. And he who burned her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the evening. And a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up outside the camp in a clean place. And it shall be kept for the congregation of the sons of Israel for a water for impurity. It is a sin-offering. And he who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening. And it shall be to the sons of Israel, and to the stranger who sojourns among them, for a statute forever.
and the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer to a valley with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer's neck there in the valley.
And all the elders of that city, who are nearest to the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley,
And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said to them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye would not have found out my
And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall keep alive a young cow and two sheep.
My heart cries out for Moab. Her nobles [flee] to Zoar, to Eglath-shelishi-yah. For they go up with weeping by the ascent of Luhith. For they raise up a cry of destruction in the way of Horonaim.
Egypt is a very fair heifer, [but] destruction out of the north has come, it has come.
From the cry of Heshbon even to Elealeh, even to Jahaz they have uttered their voice, from Zoar even to Horonaim, to Eglath-shelishiyah. For the waters of Nimrim also shall become desolate.
Because ye are glad, because ye rejoice, O ye who plunder my heritage, because ye are wanton as a heifer that treads out [the grain], and neigh as strong horses,
For Israel has behaved himself stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer. Now LORD will feed them as a lamb in a large place.
And Ephraim is a heifer that is taught, that loves to tread out [the grain]. But I have passed over upon her fair neck. I will set a rider on Ephraim. Judah shall plow. Jacob shall break his clods.
Hear this word, ye cows of Bashan, who are in the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who say to their lords, Bring, and let us drink.
For if the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling those who were defiled, sanctifies for the purification of the flesh,
Fausets
eglah, parah. Used, not for plowing, but for the easier work of treading out grain. Cattle were not yoked together but trod it singly, or drew a threshing sledge over it, and were free to eat of it, being unmuzzled (De 25:4). An image of Israel's freedom and prosperity; but, saith God, "I passed over upon her fair neck," i.e. I will put the Assyrian yoke upon it (Ho 10:11); in Ho 4:16 translated "Israel is refractory (tossing off the yoke) as a refractory heifer." She had represented God under the calf form (1Ki 12:28), but it is herself who is one, refractory and untamed (Am 4:1). "Ye kine (cows, feminine, marking effeminacy) of Bashan," richly fed, effeminate, nobles of Israel; compare Am 3:9-10,12,15.
Jeremiah (Jer 46:20) says "Egypt is like a very fair heifer" appropriately, as Apis was worshipped there under the form of a fair bull with certain spots; in Jer 46:15 Septuagint and Vulgate read "thy valiant one," namely, Apis. As the gadfly attacks the heifer so "destruction cometh" on Egypt, namely, Nebuchadnezzar the destroyer or agitator sent by Jehovah; Vulgate translated suitably to the image of a heifer, "a goader," qerets. Harassing severely may be meant, rather than utter destruction. Isa 15:5, Moab's "fugitives shah flee unto Zoar," on the extreme boundary S. of the Dead Sea, raising their voices as "an heifer of three years old," i.e. one in full vigor but not yet brought under the yoke, just as Moab heretofore unsubdued is now about to be subjugated. Maurer translated "Eglath shehshijah" as "the third Eglath", to distinguish it from two others of the name.
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Thou shall not muzzle the ox when he treads out [the grain].
Whereupon the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold. And he said to them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem. Behold thy gods, O Israel, which brought thee up out of the land of Egypt.
My heart cries out for Moab. Her nobles [flee] to Zoar, to Eglath-shelishi-yah. For they go up with weeping by the ascent of Luhith. For they raise up a cry of destruction in the way of Horonaim.
Egypt is a very fair heifer, [but] destruction out of the north has come, it has come.
For Israel has behaved himself stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer. Now LORD will feed them as a lamb in a large place.
And Ephraim is a heifer that is taught, that loves to tread out [the grain]. But I have passed over upon her fair neck. I will set a rider on Ephraim. Judah shall plow. Jacob shall break his clods.
Publish ye in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria, and behold what great tumults are in it, and what oppressions are in the midst of it. For they do not know to do right, says LORD, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.
Thus says LORD: As the shepherd rescues out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear, so shall the sons of Israel be rescued who sit in Samaria in the corner of a couch, and on the silken cushions of a bed.
And I will smite the winter house with the summer house, and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, says LORD.
Hear this word, ye cows of Bashan, who are in the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who say to their lords, Bring, and let us drink.
Hastings
The heifer was used in agriculture (Jg 14:18; Jer 50:11; Ho 10:11), and in religious ritual (Ge 15:9; 1Sa 16:2; Nu 19:2 f. etc.). Israel is compared to a heifer in Ho 4:16, and so is Egypt in Jer 46:20, and Chald
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And he said to him, Take a heifer three years old for me, and a she-goat three years old, and a ram three years old, and a turtle dove, and a young pigeon.
This is the statute of the law which LORD has commanded, saying, Speak to the sons of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without spot, in which is no blemish, [and] upon which a yoke never came.
And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said to them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye would not have found out my
Egypt is a very fair heifer, [but] destruction out of the north has come, it has come.
Because ye are glad, because ye rejoice, O ye who plunder my heritage, because ye are wanton as a heifer that treads out [the grain], and neigh as strong horses,
Because ye are glad, because ye rejoice, O ye who plunder my heritage, because ye are wanton as a heifer that treads out [the grain], and neigh as strong horses,
For Israel has behaved himself stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer. Now LORD will feed them as a lamb in a large place.
And Ephraim is a heifer that is taught, that loves to tread out [the grain]. But I have passed over upon her fair neck. I will set a rider on Ephraim. Judah shall plow. Jacob shall break his clods.
Morish
A young cow, which is several times alluded to as 'three years old,' as if that was the age when they began to be broken in for labour. Ge 15:9; Isa 15:5; Jer 48:34. They were not usually offered as sacrifices; but it was appointed that one should be slain when an unknown murder was discovered in a field, to put away the guilt of shedding innocent blood. De 21:1-9. Various symbolical references are made to the heifer. Samson called his wife a heifer with which others had ploughed to discover his riddle. Jg 14:18. Egypt was like a 'very fair heifer;' and Israel was a 'backsliding or untractable heifer,' though it had been taught and loved to tread out the corn. Jer 46:20; 50:11; Ho 4:16; 10:11.
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And he said to him, Take a heifer three years old for me, and a she-goat three years old, and a ram three years old, and a turtle dove, and a young pigeon.
If a man is found slain in the land which LORD thy God gives thee to possess it, lying in the field, and it not be known who has smitten him, then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth. And they shall measure to the cities which are round about him who is slain, read more. and it shall be, that the city which is nearest to the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer of the herd, which has not been worked with, and which has not drawn in the yoke, and the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer to a valley with running water, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall break the heifer's neck there in the valley. And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near, for LORD thy God has chosen them to minister to him, and to bless in the name of LORD, and according to their word shall every controversy and every stroke be. And all the elders of that city, who are nearest to the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken in the valley, and they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. Forgive, O LORD, thy people Israel whom thou have redeemed, and allow no innocent blood [to remain] in the midst of thy people Israel. And the blood shall be forgiven them. So shall thou put away the innocent blood from the midst of thee when thou shall do that which is right in the eyes of LORD.
And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said to them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye would not have found out my
My heart cries out for Moab. Her nobles [flee] to Zoar, to Eglath-shelishi-yah. For they go up with weeping by the ascent of Luhith. For they raise up a cry of destruction in the way of Horonaim.
Egypt is a very fair heifer, [but] destruction out of the north has come, it has come.
From the cry of Heshbon even to Elealeh, even to Jahaz they have uttered their voice, from Zoar even to Horonaim, to Eglath-shelishiyah. For the waters of Nimrim also shall become desolate.
Because ye are glad, because ye rejoice, O ye who plunder my heritage, because ye are wanton as a heifer that treads out [the grain], and neigh as strong horses,
For Israel has behaved himself stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer. Now LORD will feed them as a lamb in a large place.
And Ephraim is a heifer that is taught, that loves to tread out [the grain]. But I have passed over upon her fair neck. I will set a rider on Ephraim. Judah shall plow. Jacob shall break his clods.
Smith
Heifer.
1Sa 6:7-12; Job 21:10; Isa 7:21
The heifer or young cow was not commonly used for ploughing, but only for treading out the corn.
but see Judg 14:18 when it ran about without any headstall,
De 26:4
hence the expression an "unbroken heifer,"
Authorized Version "backsliding" to which Israel is compared.
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And the priest shall take the basket out of thy hand, and set it down before the altar of LORD thy God.
And the men of the city said to him on the seventh day before the sun went down, What is sweeter than honey? and what is stronger than a lion? And he said to them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye would not have found out my
Now therefore take and prepare for you a new cart, and two milk cows on which there has come no yoke. And tie the cows to the cart, and bring their calves home from them. And take the ark of LORD, and lay it upon the cart. And put the jewels of gold, which ye return to him for a trespass-offering, in a coffer by the side of it, and send it away, that it may go. read more. And watch. If it goes up by the way of its own border to Beth-shemesh, then he has done to us this great evil, but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that smote us; it was a chance that happened to us. And the men did so, and took two milk cows, and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home. And they put the ark of LORD upon the cart, and the coffer with the mice of gold and the images of their tumors. And the cows took the straight way by the way to Beth-shemesh. They went along the highway, lowing as they went, and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left. And the lords of the Philistines went behind them to the border
Their bull breeds, and does not fail. Their cow brings forth safely, and does not miscarry.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall keep alive a young cow and two sheep.
For Israel has behaved himself stubbornly, like a stubborn heifer. Now LORD will feed them as a lamb in a large place.
And Ephraim is a heifer that is taught, that loves to tread out [the grain]. But I have passed over upon her fair neck. I will set a rider on Ephraim. Judah shall plow. Jacob shall break his clods.
Watsons
HEIFER, a young cow, used in sacrifice at the temple, Nu 19:1-10. 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,
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And LORD spoke to Moses and to Aaron, saying, This is the statute of the law which LORD has commanded, saying, Speak to the sons of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without spot, in which is no blemish, [and] upon which a yoke never came. read more. And ye shall give her to Eleazar the priest, and he shall bring her forth outside the camp, and she shall be killed before his face. And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle her blood toward the front of the tent of meeting seven times. And the heifer shall be burned in his sight: her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, he shall burn. And the priest shall take cedar-wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer. 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 evening. And he who burned her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the evening. And a man who is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up outside the camp in a clean place. And it shall be kept for the congregation of the sons of Israel for a water for impurity. It is a sin-offering. And he who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening. And it shall be to the sons of Israel, and to the stranger who sojourns among them, for a statute forever.
For if the blood of bulls and goats, and the ashes of a heifer, sprinkling those who were defiled, sanctifies for the purification of the flesh,