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 spake unto Moses and Aaron, saying, "This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD commandeth, saying, 'Speak unto the children of Israel and let them take thee a red cow without spot wherein is no blemish, and which never bare yoke upon her. read more. And ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, and he shall bring her without the host and cause her to be slain before him. And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood upon his finger, and sprinkle it straight toward the tabernacle of witness seven times. And he shall cause the cow to be burnt in his sight: both skin, flesh and blood, with the dung also. And let the priest take cypress wood, and Hyssop and purple cloth, and cast it upon the cow as she burneth. And let the priest wash his clothes and bathe his flesh in water, and then come into the host, and the priest shall be unclean unto the evening. And he that burneth her, shall wash his clothes in water and bathe his flesh also in water, and be unclean until evening. And one that is clean, shall go and take up the ashes of the cow, and put them without the host in a clean place, where they shall be kept to make sprinkling water for the multitude of the children of Israel: for it is a sin offering. And let him that gathereth the ashes of the cow, wash his clothes, and remain unclean until evening. And this shall be unto the children of Israel and unto the stranger that dwelleth among them, a manner forever.
The land of Egypt is like a goodly fair calf, but one shall come out of the north to prick her forward.
Because ye were so cheerful and glad, to tread down mine heritage, and fulfill your pleasures, as the calves in the grass: And triumphed over them like the bulls, when ye had gotten the victory.
For Israel is gone back like a wanton cow. The LORD therefore shall make her feed, as the lamb that goeth astray.
For if the blood of oxen, and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer, when it was sprinkled, purified the unclean, as touching the purifying of the flesh: How much more shall the blood of Christ - which through the eternal spirit, offered himself without spot to God - purge your consciences from dead works, for 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 that there came out of the river seven goodly cows and fat fleshed, and fed in a meadow.
And the LORD spake unto Moses and Aaron, saying, "This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD commandeth, saying, 'Speak unto the children of Israel and let them take thee a red cow without spot wherein is no blemish, and which never bare yoke upon her.
"This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD commandeth, saying, 'Speak unto the children of Israel and let them take thee a red cow without spot wherein is no blemish, and which never bare yoke upon her. And ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, and he shall bring her without the host and cause her to be slain before him. read more. And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood upon his finger, and sprinkle it straight toward the tabernacle of witness seven times. And he shall cause the cow to be burnt in his sight: both skin, flesh and blood, with the dung also. And let the priest take cypress wood, and Hyssop and purple cloth, and cast it upon the cow as she burneth. And let the priest wash his clothes and bathe his flesh in water, and then come into the host, and the priest shall be unclean unto the evening. And he that burneth her, shall wash his clothes in water and bathe his flesh also in water, and be unclean until evening. And one that is clean, shall go and take up the ashes of the cow, and put them without the host in a clean place, where they shall be kept to make sprinkling water for the multitude of the children of Israel: for it is a sin offering. And let him that gathereth the ashes of the cow, wash his clothes, and remain unclean until evening. And this shall be unto the children of Israel and unto the stranger that dwelleth among them, a manner forever.
and let them bring her unto a valley where is neither earing nor sowing, and strike off her head there in the valley.
And all the elders of the city that is next to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the plain,
And the men of the city said unto him the seventh day before the sun went down, "What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a Lion?" Then said he unto them, "If ye had not ploughed with my calf, ye had not found out my riddle."
Woe is my heart for Moab's sake. They fled unto the city of Zoar, which is like a fair young bullock of three years old; they went up to Luhith, weeping. The way toward Horonaim was full of lamentation for the hurt.
The land of Egypt is like a goodly fair calf, but one shall come out of the north to prick her forward.
which aforetime were heard from Heshbon to Elealeh, and Jahaz, which lifted up their voice from Zoar unto Horonaim, that bullock of three years old. The waters also of Nimrim shall be dried up.
Because ye were so cheerful and glad, to tread down mine heritage, and fulfill your pleasures, as the calves in the grass: And triumphed over them like the bulls, when ye had gotten the victory.
For Israel is gone back like a wanton cow. The LORD therefore shall make her feed, as the lamb that goeth astray.
Ephraim was unto me, as a cow that is used to go to plow; therefore I loved him, and fell upon his fair neck. I drove Ephraim, Judah plowed, and Jacob played the husbandman:
O hear this word, ye fat cows, that be upon the hill of Samaria; yea, that do poor men wrong, and oppress the needy; yea, that say to your lords, 'Bring hither, let us drink.'
For if the blood of oxen, and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer, when it was sprinkled, purified the unclean, as touching 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 that treadeth out the corn.
Whereupon the king took counsel and made two calves of gold and said unto the people, "Ye shall not need to go any more to Jerusalem. Behold your gods, Israel, which brought you out of the land of Egypt!"
Woe is my heart for Moab's sake. They fled unto the city of Zoar, which is like a fair young bullock of three years old; they went up to Luhith, weeping. The way toward Horonaim was full of lamentation for the hurt.
How happeneth it that thy mighty worthies are fallen? Why stood they not fast? Even because the LORD thrust them down.
The land of Egypt is like a goodly fair calf, but one shall come out of the north to prick her forward.
For Israel is gone back like a wanton cow. The LORD therefore shall make her feed, as the lamb that goeth astray.
Ephraim was unto me, as a cow that is used to go to plow; therefore I loved him, and fell upon his fair neck. I drove Ephraim, Judah plowed, and Jacob played the husbandman:
"'Preach in the palaces at Ashdod, and in the palaces of the land of Egypt, and say, 'Gather you together upon the mountains of Samaria, so shall ye see great murder and violent oppression among them.' For why? They regard not the thing that is right, sayeth the LORD: they gather together evil gotten goods, and lay up robbery in their houses.'
Thus sayeth the LORD, 'like as a herdsman taketh two legs or a piece of an ear out of the lion's mouth: Even so the children of Israel that dwell in Samaria, having their couches in the corner, and the beds at Damascus, shall be plucked away.
As for the winter house and summer house, I will smite them down: and the houses of Ivory, yea and many other houses shall perish, and be destroyed,' sayeth the LORD."
O hear this word, ye fat cows, that be upon the hill of Samaria; yea, that do poor men wrong, and oppress the needy; yea, that say to your lords, 'Bring hither, 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 a heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a three year old ram, a turtle dove and a young pigeon."
"This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD commandeth, saying, 'Speak unto the children of Israel and let them take thee a red cow without spot wherein is no blemish, and which never bare yoke upon her.
And the men of the city said unto him the seventh day before the sun went down, "What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a Lion?" Then said he unto them, "If ye had not ploughed with my calf, ye had not found out my riddle."
The land of Egypt is like a goodly fair calf, but one shall come out of the north to prick her forward.
Because ye were so cheerful and glad, to tread down mine heritage, and fulfill your pleasures, as the calves in the grass: And triumphed over them like the bulls, when ye had gotten the victory.
Because ye were so cheerful and glad, to tread down mine heritage, and fulfill your pleasures, as the calves in the grass: And triumphed over them like the bulls, when ye had gotten the victory.
For Israel is gone back like a wanton cow. The LORD therefore shall make her feed, as the lamb that goeth astray.
Ephraim was unto me, as a cow that is used to go to plow; therefore I loved him, and fell upon his fair neck. I drove Ephraim, Judah plowed, and Jacob played the husbandman:
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 a heifer of three years old, and a she-goat of three years old, and a three year old ram, a turtle dove and a young pigeon."
If one be found slain in the land which the LORD thy God giveth thee to possess it, and lieth in the fields, and not known who hath slain him: Then let thine elders and thy judges come forth and meet unto the cities that are round about the slain. read more. And let the elders of that city which is next unto the slain man, take a heifer that is not laboured with nor hath drawn in the yoke, and let them bring her unto a valley where is neither earing nor sowing, and strike off her head there in the valley. Then let the priests the sons of Levi come forth - for the LORD thy God hath chosen them to minister and to bless in the name of the LORD and therefore at their mouth shall all strife and plague be tried. And all the elders of the city that is next to the slain man shall wash their hands over the heifer that is beheaded in the plain, and shall answer and say, 'Our hands have not shed this blood neither have our eyes seen it. Be merciful LORD unto thy people Israel which thou hast delivered and put not innocent blood unto thy people Israel: and the blood shall be forgiven them.' And so shalt thou put innocent blood from thee, when thou shalt have done that which is right in the sight of the LORD.
And the men of the city said unto him the seventh day before the sun went down, "What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a Lion?" Then said he unto them, "If ye had not ploughed with my calf, ye had not found out my riddle."
Woe is my heart for Moab's sake. They fled unto the city of Zoar, which is like a fair young bullock of three years old; they went up to Luhith, weeping. The way toward Horonaim was full of lamentation for the hurt.
The land of Egypt is like a goodly fair calf, but one shall come out of the north to prick her forward.
which aforetime were heard from Heshbon to Elealeh, and Jahaz, which lifted up their voice from Zoar unto Horonaim, that bullock of three years old. The waters also of Nimrim shall be dried up.
Because ye were so cheerful and glad, to tread down mine heritage, and fulfill your pleasures, as the calves in the grass: And triumphed over them like the bulls, when ye had gotten the victory.
For Israel is gone back like a wanton cow. The LORD therefore shall make her feed, as the lamb that goeth astray.
Ephraim was unto me, as a cow that is used to go to plow; therefore I loved him, and fell upon his fair neck. I drove Ephraim, Judah plowed, and Jacob played the husbandman:
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 maund 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 the seventh day before the sun went down, "What is sweeter than honey? And what is stronger than a Lion?" Then said he unto them, "If ye had not ploughed with my calf, ye had not found out my riddle."
Now therefore make a new cart and take two milk kine, on whose neck never came yoke. And tie the kine in the cart, and bring the calves home from them. Then take the ark of the LORD and put it in the cart, and put the Jewels of gold - which ye reward him with for a trespass offering - in a forcer by the side thereof and send it away and let it go. read more. And mark if he go up by the way that leadeth unto his own coast, to Bethshemesh, then it is he that did us this great evil. But and if he do not, then it is not his hand that smote us, but it was a chance that happened us." And the men did even so: they took two kine that gave milk and tied them in the cart, and kept the calves at home, and they laid the ark of the LORD upon the cart and the forcer with the mice of gold and the images of their arses with hemorrhoids. And the kine took the straight way to Bethshemesh, both one way, and as they went, lowed, turning neither to the righthand nor to the left. And the lords of the Philistines went after them until they came to the borders of Bethshemesh.
Their bullock gendereth, and that not out of time: their cow calveth, and is not unfruitful.
For Israel is gone back like a wanton cow. The LORD therefore shall make her feed, as the lamb that goeth astray.
Ephraim was unto me, as a cow that is used to go to plow; therefore I loved him, and fell upon his fair neck. I drove Ephraim, Judah plowed, and Jacob played the husbandman:
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 spake unto Moses and Aaron, saying, "This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD commandeth, saying, 'Speak unto the children of Israel and let them take thee a red cow without spot wherein is no blemish, and which never bare yoke upon her. read more. And ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, and he shall bring her without the host and cause her to be slain before him. And Eleazar the priest shall take of her blood upon his finger, and sprinkle it straight toward the tabernacle of witness seven times. And he shall cause the cow to be burnt in his sight: both skin, flesh and blood, with the dung also. And let the priest take cypress wood, and Hyssop and purple cloth, and cast it upon the cow as she burneth. And let the priest wash his clothes and bathe his flesh in water, and then come into the host, and the priest shall be unclean unto the evening. And he that burneth her, shall wash his clothes in water and bathe his flesh also in water, and be unclean until evening. And one that is clean, shall go and take up the ashes of the cow, and put them without the host in a clean place, where they shall be kept to make sprinkling water for the multitude of the children of Israel: for it is a sin offering. And let him that gathereth the ashes of the cow, wash his clothes, and remain unclean until evening. And this shall be unto the children of Israel and unto the stranger that dwelleth among them, a manner forever.
For if the blood of oxen, and of goats, and the ashes of a heifer, when it was sprinkled, purified the unclean, as touching the purifying of the flesh: