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 Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron saying, This is the ordinance of the law which Jehovah has commanded, saying, Speak to the sons of Israel that they bring you a red heifer without blemish, in which there is no blemish, on which no yoke ever came. read more. And you shall give her to Eleazar the priest that he may bring her forth outside the camp. And he shall kill her before his face. And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger and sprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle of the congregation seven times. And he shall burn the heifer 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 throw 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 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 a water of separation. It is a cleansing for sin. 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 that lives among them, for a statute forever.
Egypt is a beautiful heifer, but a stinger from the north surely comes.
Because you were glad, because you rejoiced, O destroyers of My inheritance; because you are fat like the heifer in grass, and bellow like bulls;
For Israel slides back like a backsliding heifer. Now Jehovah will feed them as a lamb in a large place.
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 cows beautiful of form, and fat of flesh. And they fed in the reeds!
And Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron saying, This is the ordinance of the law which Jehovah has commanded, saying, Speak to the sons of Israel that they bring you a red heifer without blemish, in which there is no blemish, on which no yoke ever came.
This is the ordinance of the law which Jehovah has commanded, saying, Speak to the sons of Israel that they bring you a red heifer without blemish, in which there is no blemish, on which no yoke ever came. And you shall give her to Eleazar the priest that he may bring her forth outside the camp. And he shall kill her before his face. 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 congregation seven times. And he shall burn the heifer 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 throw 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 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 a water of separation. It is a cleansing for sin. 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 that lives among them, for a statute forever.
And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer to an ever-flowing stream, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer's neck there in the stream.
And all the elders of that city nearest to the slain one, shall wash their hands over the heifer that has been beheaded in the stream.
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 stronger than a lion? And he said to them, If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have found out my riddle.
My heart shall cry to Moab; his fugitives flee to Zoar, a heifer of three years. He goes up the ascent to Luhith with weeping; for in the way of Horonaim they shall raise up a cry of ruin.
Egypt is a beautiful heifer, but a stinger from the north surely comes.
From the cry of Heshbon to Elealeh, and to Jahaz, they have uttered their voice, from Zoar to Horonaim, like a heifer three years old. For the waters of Nimrim also shall be deserted.
Because you were glad, because you rejoiced, O destroyers of My inheritance; because you are fat like the heifer in grass, and bellow like bulls;
For Israel slides back like a backsliding heifer. Now Jehovah will feed them as a lamb in a large place.
And Ephraim is like a trained heifer, trying to tread out. But I passed over on the goodness of her neck. I will make Ephraim to ride; Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his clods.
Hear this Word, cows of Bashan who are in the mountain of Samaria; who press down the poor, who crush the needy, who say to their masters, Bring in, that we may 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 an ox when he treads out the grain.
And the king took counsel, and made two calves of gold and said to 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 to Moab; his fugitives flee to Zoar, a heifer of three years. He goes up the ascent to Luhith with weeping; for in the way of Horonaim they shall raise up a cry of ruin.
Why is your mighty one swept away? They did not stand, because Jehovah thrust him down.
Egypt is a beautiful heifer, but a stinger from the north surely comes.
For Israel slides back like a backsliding heifer. Now Jehovah will feed them as a lamb in a large place.
And Ephraim is like a trained heifer, trying to tread out. But I passed over on the goodness of her neck. I will make Ephraim to ride; Judah shall plow, and Jacob shall break his clods.
Make it heard at the palaces of Ashdod, and the palaces in the land of Egypt, and say: Gather yourselves on the mountains of Samaria, and behold the great uproars in its midst, and the oppressed in its midst. For they do not know to do right, says Jehovah, those who store up violence and robbery in their palaces.
So says Jehovah: As the shepherd takes two legs out of the mouth of the lion, or a piece of an ear; so shall the sons of Israel be taken out, those who dwell in Samaria in the corner of a bed, and in Damascus on a couch.
And I will strike the winter house together with the summer house, and the houses of ivory shall perish. And the great houses shall be swept away, says Jehovah.
Hear this Word, cows of Bashan who are in the mountain of Samaria; who press down the poor, who crush the needy, who say to their masters, Bring in, that we may 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 Me a heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.
This is the ordinance of the law which Jehovah has commanded, saying, Speak to the sons of Israel that they bring you a red heifer without blemish, in which there is no blemish, on which no yoke ever 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 stronger than a lion? And he said to them, If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have found out my riddle.
Egypt is a beautiful heifer, but a stinger from the north surely comes.
Because you were glad, because you rejoiced, O destroyers of My inheritance; because you are fat like the heifer in grass, and bellow like bulls;
Because you were glad, because you rejoiced, O destroyers of My inheritance; because you are fat like the heifer in grass, and bellow like bulls;
For Israel slides back like a backsliding heifer. Now Jehovah will feed them as a lamb in a large place.
And Ephraim is like a trained heifer, trying to tread out. But I passed over on the goodness of her neck. I will make Ephraim to ride; 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 to him, Take Me a heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a ram of three years old, and a turtledove, and a young pigeon.
If one is found dead in the land which Jehovah your God gives you to possess it, lying in the field, and it is not known who has killed him, then your elders and your judges shall come forth. And they shall measure to the cities which are around him who is dead. read more. And it shall be, the city nearest to the slain one, even the elders of that city shall take a heifer which has not been worked with, which has not drawn in the yoke. And the elders of that city shall bring down the heifer to an ever-flowing stream, which is neither plowed nor sown, and shall strike off the heifer's neck there in the stream. And the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come near. For Jehovah your God has chosen them to minister to him, and to bless in the name of Jehovah, and by their word shall every controversy and every stroke be tried. And all the elders of that city nearest to the slain one, shall wash their hands over the heifer that has been beheaded in the stream. And they shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen. Be merciful, O Jehovah, to Your people Israel, whom You have redeemed, and do not lay innocent blood to the charge of Your people Israel. And the blood shall be forgiven them. So you shall put away innocent blood from among you, when you do the right in the sight of Jehovah.
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 stronger than a lion? And he said to them, If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have found out my riddle.
My heart shall cry to Moab; his fugitives flee to Zoar, a heifer of three years. He goes up the ascent to Luhith with weeping; for in the way of Horonaim they shall raise up a cry of ruin.
Egypt is a beautiful heifer, but a stinger from the north surely comes.
From the cry of Heshbon to Elealeh, and to Jahaz, they have uttered their voice, from Zoar to Horonaim, like a heifer three years old. For the waters of Nimrim also shall be deserted.
Because you were glad, because you rejoiced, O destroyers of My inheritance; because you are fat like the heifer in grass, and bellow like bulls;
For Israel slides back like a backsliding heifer. Now Jehovah will feed them as a lamb in a large place.
And Ephraim is like a trained heifer, trying to tread out. But I passed over on the goodness of her neck. I will make Ephraim to ride; 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 your hand and set it down before the altar of Jehovah your 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 stronger than a lion? And he said to them, If you had not plowed with my heifer, you would not have found out my riddle.
And now 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 Jehovah and lay it on the cart. And put the jewels of gold which you return to Him for a trespass offering in a box in its side. And send it away so that it may go. read more. And watch. If it goes up by the way of its own border to Beth-shemesh, 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 a chance that happened to us. And the men did so. And they took two milk cows and tied them to the cart, and shut up their calves at home. And they laid the ark of Jehovah on the cart, and the box with the mice of gold and the images of their hemorrhoids. And the cows took the straight way to the way of Beth-shemesh, going along the highway, lowing as they went. And they did not turn aside to the right or to the left. And the lords of the Philistines went after them to the border of Beth-shemesh.
Their bull mates and does not fail; their cow calves, and does not cast her calf.
For Israel slides back like a backsliding heifer. Now Jehovah will feed them as a lamb in a large place.
And Ephraim is like a trained heifer, trying to tread out. But I passed over on the goodness of her neck. I will make Ephraim to ride; 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 Jehovah spoke to Moses and to Aaron saying, This is the ordinance of the law which Jehovah has commanded, saying, Speak to the sons of Israel that they bring you a red heifer without blemish, in which there is no blemish, on which no yoke ever came. read more. And you shall give her to Eleazar the priest that he may bring her forth outside the camp. And he shall kill her before his face. And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood with his finger and sprinkle of her blood directly before the tabernacle of the congregation seven times. And he shall burn the heifer 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 throw 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 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 a water of separation. It is a cleansing for sin. 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 that lives 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,