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 the LORD spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD has commanded, saying, Speak unto the sons of Israel that they bring thee a red heifer, perfect, in which there is no blemish, and upon which there has never been placed a yoke; read more. and ye shall give her unto Eleazar, the priest, that he may bring her forth outside the camp, and he shall cause her to be slain in his presence. And Eleazar, the priest, shall take of her blood with his finger and sprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle of the testimony seven times; and he shall cause the heifer to be burnt in his sight; her skin and her flesh and her blood with her dung shall he cause to burn. Then 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. Likewise he that burns her shall wash his clothes in water and bathe his flesh in water and shall be unclean until the evening. And a man that 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 the water of separation; it is sin. And he that gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; and it shall be unto the sons of Israel and unto the stranger that sojourns among them for a perpetual statute.
Egypt is like a very fair heifer, but destruction comes; it comes out of the north.
Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced destroying my heritage, because ye filled yourselves as a heifer on grass and neighed like horses;
for Israel has turned away as a wild heifer; shall the LORD now feed them as rams in a large place?
For if the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctified to the purifying of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of the Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from the works of death to serve the 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 beautiful cows and very fat, and they fed in a meadow.
And the LORD spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD has commanded, saying, Speak unto the sons of Israel that they bring thee a red heifer, perfect, in which there is no blemish, and upon which there has never been placed a yoke;
This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD has commanded, saying, Speak unto the sons of Israel that they bring thee a red heifer, perfect, in which there is no blemish, and upon which there has never been placed a yoke; and ye shall give her unto Eleazar, the priest, that he may bring her forth outside the camp, and he shall cause her to be slain in his presence. read more. And Eleazar, the priest, shall take of her blood with his finger and sprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle of the testimony seven times; and he shall cause the heifer to be burnt in his sight; her skin and her flesh and her blood with her dung shall he cause to burn. Then 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. Likewise he that burns her shall wash his clothes in water and bathe his flesh in water and shall be unclean until the evening. And a man that 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 the water of separation; it is sin. And he that gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; and it shall be unto the sons of Israel and unto the stranger that sojourns among them for a perpetual statute.
and the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley, which has neither been plowed nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer's neck there in the valley.
And all the elders of that closest city next to the dead man shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley.
And the men of the city said unto 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 unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye would have never discovered my enigma.
My heart shall cry out for Moab; his fugitives shall go up with weeping by the hill of Luhith unto Zoar, a heifer of three years; for in the way of Horonaim they shall raise up a cry of destruction.
Egypt is like a very fair heifer, but destruction comes; it comes out of the north.
The cry, from Heshbon even unto Elealeh, and even unto Jahaz, they have uttered their voice; from Zoar even unto Horonaim, as a heifer of three years old; for the waters of Nimrim shall also be destroyed.
Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced destroying my heritage, because ye filled yourselves as a heifer on grass and neighed like horses;
for Israel has turned away as a wild heifer; shall the LORD now feed them as rams in a large place?
Ephraim is a heifer that is taught and loves to tread out the wheat; but I shall pass over upon her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to draw; Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his clods.
Hear this word, ye cows of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who say to their masters, Bring, and let us drink.
For if the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctified to the purifying 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 shalt not muzzle the ox when he treads out the grain.
And having taken counsel, the king made two calves of gold and said unto the people, 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 shall cry out for Moab; his fugitives shall go up with weeping by the hill of Luhith unto Zoar, a heifer of three years; for in the way of Horonaim they shall raise up a cry of destruction.
Egypt is like a very fair heifer, but destruction comes; it comes out of the north.
for Israel has turned away as a wild heifer; shall the LORD now feed them as rams in a large place?
Ephraim is a heifer that is taught and loves to tread out the wheat; but I shall pass over upon her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to draw; Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his clods.
Publish upon the palaces of Ashdod and upon the palaces of the land of Egypt and say, Assemble yourselves upon the mountains of Samaria and behold the great oppression in the midst thereof and the great violence in the midst thereof. For they do not know to do right, said the LORD, storing up violence and robbery in their palaces.
Thus hath the LORD said: As the pastor takes out of the mouth of the lion two legs or a piece of an ear, so shall the sons of Israel escape that dwell in Samaria in the corner of the bed and at the border of the couch.
And I will smite the winter house with the summer house, and the houses of ivory shall perish, and many houses shall be cut off, said the LORD.
Hear this word, ye cows of Bashan, that are in the mountain of Samaria, who oppress the poor, who crush the needy, who say to their masters, 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 unto him, Take me a heifer three years old and a she goat three years old and a ram three years old and a turtledove and a young pigeon.
This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD has commanded, saying, Speak unto the sons of Israel that they bring thee a red heifer, perfect, in which there is no blemish, and upon which there has never been placed a yoke;
And the men of the city said unto 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 unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye would have never discovered my enigma.
Egypt is like a very fair heifer, but destruction comes; it comes out of the north.
Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced destroying my heritage, because ye filled yourselves as a heifer on grass and neighed like horses;
Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced destroying my heritage, because ye filled yourselves as a heifer on grass and neighed like horses;
for Israel has turned away as a wild heifer; shall the LORD now feed them as rams in a large place?
Ephraim is a heifer that is taught and loves to tread out the wheat; but I shall pass over upon her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to draw; Judah shall plow, and 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 unto him, Take me a heifer three years old and a she goat three years old and a ram three years old and a turtledove and a young pigeon.
When one is found dead in the land which the LORD thy God gives thee to inherit, lying in the field, and it is not known who has slain him, then thy elders and thy judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is dead; read more. and it shall be that the elders of the city which is next unto the dead man shall take a heifer, which has not served, and which has not drawn in the yoke; and the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer unto a rough valley, which has neither been plowed nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer's neck there in the valley. And the priests the sons of Levi shall come near; for the LORD thy God has chosen them to minister unto him and to bless in the name of the LORD; and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be determined. And all the elders of that closest city next to the dead man shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the valley. And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it. Reconcile thy people Israel, whom thou hast ransomed, O LORD, and impute not the innocent blood shed in the midst of thy people Israel. And the blood shall be forgiven them. So shalt thou put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you, when thou shalt do that which is right in the sight of the LORD.
And the men of the city said unto 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 unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye would have never discovered my enigma.
My heart shall cry out for Moab; his fugitives shall go up with weeping by the hill of Luhith unto Zoar, a heifer of three years; for in the way of Horonaim they shall raise up a cry of destruction.
Egypt is like a very fair heifer, but destruction comes; it comes out of the north.
The cry, from Heshbon even unto Elealeh, and even unto Jahaz, they have uttered their voice; from Zoar even unto Horonaim, as a heifer of three years old; for the waters of Nimrim shall also be destroyed.
Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced destroying my heritage, because ye filled yourselves as a heifer on grass and neighed like horses;
for Israel has turned away as a wild heifer; shall the LORD now feed them as rams in a large place?
Ephraim is a heifer that is taught and loves to tread out the wheat; but I shall pass over upon her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to draw; Judah shall plow, and 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 thine hand and set it down before the altar of the LORD thy God.
And the men of the city said unto 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 unto them, If ye had not plowed with my heifer, ye would have never discovered my enigma.
Now, therefore, make a new cart and take two milk cows, on which no yoke has been placed and tie the cows to the cart and bring their calves home from them. Then ye shall take the ark of the LORD and lay it upon the cart and put the jewels of gold, which ye pay him for expiation of guilt, in a coffer by the side thereof, and let it go. read more. And see if it goes up by the way of his own border to Bethshemesh, then he has done us this great evil, but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that smote us; it was an accident 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. Then they laid the ark of the LORD upon the cart and the coffer with the rats of gold and the images of their hemorrhoids. And the cows went straight down the way of Bethshemesh and went along the highway, lowing as they went and turned not aside to the right hand or to the left, and the cardinals of the Philistines went after them unto the border of Bethshemesh.
Their cows conceive, and do not abort; their cows calve and do not cast forth their young.
for Israel has turned away as a wild heifer; shall the LORD now feed them as rams in a large place?
Ephraim is a heifer that is taught and loves to tread out the wheat; but I shall pass over upon her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to draw; Judah shall plow, and 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 the LORD spoke unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying, This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD has commanded, saying, Speak unto the sons of Israel that they bring thee a red heifer, perfect, in which there is no blemish, and upon which there has never been placed a yoke; read more. and ye shall give her unto Eleazar, the priest, that he may bring her forth outside the camp, and he shall cause her to be slain in his presence. And Eleazar, the priest, shall take of her blood with his finger and sprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle of the testimony seven times; and he shall cause the heifer to be burnt in his sight; her skin and her flesh and her blood with her dung shall he cause to burn. Then 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. Likewise he that burns her shall wash his clothes in water and bathe his flesh in water and shall be unclean until the evening. And a man that 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 the water of separation; it is sin. And he that gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening; and it shall be unto the sons of Israel and unto the stranger that sojourns among them for a perpetual statute.
For if the blood of bulls and of goats and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctified to the purifying of the flesh,