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 children of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came a yoke: read more. And you shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, that he may bring her forth outside the camp, and one shall slay her before his face: And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle her blood directly before the tabernacle of meeting seven times: And one shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he 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 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 children of Israel for a water of purification: it is a purification for 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 children of Israel, and unto the stranger that sojourns among them, for a statute forever.
Egypt is like a beautiful heifer, but destruction comes; it comes out of the north.
Because you were glad, because you rejoiced, O you destroyers of my heritage, because you have grown fat like a heifer threshing grain, and bellow like bulls;
For Israel slides back like a stubborn heifer: now the LORD will feed them as a lamb in an open pasture.
For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the eternal Spirit offered himself without spot to God, purge your conscience from dead works 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 well favored cows and 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 children of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came a yoke:
This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD has commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came a yoke: And you shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, that he may bring her forth outside the camp, and one shall slay her before his face: read more. And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle her blood directly before the tabernacle of meeting seven times: And one shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he 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 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 children of Israel for a water of purification: it is a purification for 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 children of Israel, and unto the stranger that sojourns among them, for a statute forever.
And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer to a valley with flowing 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, that are nearest unto the slain man, shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck was broken 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 you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have found out my riddle.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall keep alive a young cow, and two sheep;
My heart shall cry out for Moab; his fugitives shall flee unto Zoar, to Eglathshelishiyah: for by the ascent of Luhith with weeping shall they go up; for in the way of Horonaim they shall raise up a cry of destruction.
Egypt is like a beautiful heifer, but destruction comes; it comes out of the north.
From the cry of Heshbon even unto Elealeh, and even unto Jahaz, have they uttered their voice, from Zoar even unto Horonaim, like a heifer of three years old: for the waters also of Nimrim shall be desolate.
Because you were glad, because you rejoiced, O you destroyers of my heritage, because you have grown fat like a heifer threshing grain, and bellow like bulls;
For Israel slides back like a stubborn heifer: now the LORD will feed them as a lamb in an open pasture.
And Ephraim is as a heifer that is trained, and loves to tread out the grain; but I harnessed her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to pull a plow; Judah shall plow, and Jacob must break his clods.
Hear this word, you 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, sanctifies 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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You shall not muzzle the ox when it treads out the grain.
Therefore the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold, and said unto them, It is too much for you to go up to Jerusalem: behold your gods, O Israel, who brought you up out of the land of Egypt.
My heart shall cry out for Moab; his fugitives shall flee unto Zoar, to Eglathshelishiyah: for by the ascent of Luhith with weeping shall they go up; for in the way of Horonaim they shall raise up a cry of destruction.
Why are your valiant men swept away? they stood not, because the LORD did drive them.
Egypt is like a beautiful heifer, but destruction comes; it comes out of the north.
For Israel slides back like a stubborn heifer: now the LORD will feed them as a lamb in an open pasture.
And Ephraim is as a heifer that is trained, and loves to tread out the grain; but I harnessed her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to pull a plow; Judah shall plow, and Jacob must break his clods.
Publish 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 the great tumults in its midst, and the oppressed in its midst. For they know not to do right, says the LORD, who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.
Thus says the LORD; As the shepherd takes out of the mouth of the lion two legs, or a piece of an ear; so shall the children of Israel be taken out that dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and on the edge of a couch.
And I will strike the winter house with the summer house; and the houses of ivory shall perish, and the great houses shall have an end, says the LORD.
Hear this word, you 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 female goat three years old, and a ram three years old, and a turtle dove, and a young pigeon.
This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD has commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came 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 you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have found out my riddle.
Egypt is like a beautiful heifer, but destruction comes; it comes out of the north.
Because you were glad, because you rejoiced, O you destroyers of my heritage, because you have grown fat like a heifer threshing grain, and bellow like bulls;
Because you were glad, because you rejoiced, O you destroyers of my heritage, because you have grown fat like a heifer threshing grain, and bellow like bulls;
For Israel slides back like a stubborn heifer: now the LORD will feed them as a lamb in an open pasture.
And Ephraim is as a heifer that is trained, and loves to tread out the grain; but I harnessed her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to pull a plow; Judah shall plow, and Jacob must 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 female goat three years old, and a ram three years old, and a turtle dove, and a young pigeon.
If one be found slain in the land which the LORD your God gives you to possess, lying in the field, and it is not known who has slain him: Then your elders and your judges shall come forth, and they shall measure unto the cities which are round about him that is slain: read more. And it shall be, that the city which is nearest unto the slain man, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer, which has never been worked, and which has not pulled in the yoke; And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer to a valley with flowing 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 them the LORD your God has chosen to minister unto him, and to bless in the name of the LORD; and by their word shall every controversy and every assault be tried: And all the elders of that city, that are nearest unto 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. Be merciful, O LORD, unto your people Israel, whom you have redeemed, and lay not innocent blood unto the charge of your people Israel. And the blood shall be forgiven them. So shall you put away the guilt of innocent blood from among you, when you shall 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 you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have found out my riddle.
My heart shall cry out for Moab; his fugitives shall flee unto Zoar, to Eglathshelishiyah: for by the ascent of Luhith with weeping shall they go up; for in the way of Horonaim they shall raise up a cry of destruction.
Egypt is like a beautiful heifer, but destruction comes; it comes out of the north.
From the cry of Heshbon even unto Elealeh, and even unto Jahaz, have they uttered their voice, from Zoar even unto Horonaim, like a heifer of three years old: for the waters also of Nimrim shall be desolate.
Because you were glad, because you rejoiced, O you destroyers of my heritage, because you have grown fat like a heifer threshing grain, and bellow like bulls;
For Israel slides back like a stubborn heifer: now the LORD will feed them as a lamb in an open pasture.
And Ephraim is as a heifer that is trained, and loves to tread out the grain; but I harnessed her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to pull a plow; Judah shall plow, and Jacob must 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 your hand, and set it down before the altar of the LORD your 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 you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have found out my riddle.
Now therefore make a new cart, and take 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 the LORD, and lay it upon the cart; and put the jewels of gold, which you return to him for a trespass offering, in a box by the side of it; and send it away, that it may go. read more. And see, if it goes up by the way of its own land to Bethshemesh, then he has done us this great evil: but if not, then we shall know that it is not his hand that struck us: it was by chance that it 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 laid the ark of the LORD upon the cart, and the box with the mice of gold and the images of their tumors. And the cows took the straight way to the road to Bethshemesh, and 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 after them unto the border of Bethshemesh.
Their bull breeds, and fails not; their cow calves, and casts not her calf.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that a man shall keep alive a young cow, and two sheep;
For Israel slides back like a stubborn heifer: now the LORD will feed them as a lamb in an open pasture.
And Ephraim is as a heifer that is trained, and loves to tread out the grain; but I harnessed her fair neck: I will make Ephraim to pull a plow; Judah shall plow, and Jacob must 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 children of Israel, that they bring you a red heifer without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came a yoke: read more. And you shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, that he may bring her forth outside the camp, and one shall slay her before his face: And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle her blood directly before the tabernacle of meeting seven times: And one shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he 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 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 children of Israel for a water of purification: it is a purification for 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 children of Israel, and unto the stranger that sojourns among them, for a statute forever.
For if the blood of bulls and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer sprinkling the unclean, sanctifies to the purifying of the flesh: