a young cow, used in sacrifice at the temple, Num 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,—a sentiment which we find in Homer and other Heathen writers.
The animal was to be delivered to the priest, who was to lead her forth out of the camp, and there to slay her; the priest was then to take of the blood with his finger, and sprinkle it seven times before the tabernacle, and afterward to burn the carcass: then to take cedar wood and hyssop, and scarlet wood, and cast them into the flames. The ashes were to be gathered up, and preserved in a secure and clean place, for the use of the congregation, by the sprinkling of which ashes in water, it became a water of separation, by means of which a typical or ceremonial purification for sin was effected, Heb 9:13.
Red heifers were to be offered in sacrifice for the national sins, in the impressive manner described in Num 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 Hos 4:16 .\par
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. Hos 10:11; but see Jdg 14:18, when it ran about without any headstall, Deu 26:4, hence, the expression an "unbroken heifer," Hos 4:16. Authorized Version, "backsliding" to which Israel is compared.
Jeremiah (Jer 46:20) says "Egypt is like a very fair heifer" appropriately, as
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. Gen 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. Deu 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. Jdg 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; Jer 50:11; Hos 4:16; Hos 10:11.
Figuratively: The heifer appears as representing sleekness combined with helplessness in Jer 46:20 (compare the comparison of the soldiers to ’stalled calves’ in the next verse). In Jer 50:11; Hos 10:11, the heifer is pictured as engaged in threshing. This was particularly light work, coupled with unusually abundant food (Deu 25:4), so that the threshing heifer served especially well for a picture of contentment. (“Wanton” in Jer 50:11, however, is an unfortunate translation in the Revised Version (British and American).) Hosea, in contrast, predicts that the “heifers” shall be set to the hard work of plowing and breaking the sods. In Jdg 14:18, Samson uses “heifer” in his riddle to refer to his wife. This, however, was not meant to convey the impression of licentiousness that it gives the modern reader.
(äÜìáëéò = ôָøָä, ‘a cow’)
The writer of Hebrews finds a parallel between ‘the water (for the removal) of impurity’ (ὕäùñ ῥáíôéïóìïῦ = îֵé ðָãָּä, ‘water of exclusion’) and the blood of Christ (Heb_9:13 f.). The former element was a mixture of running (living) water with the ashes of a spotless heifer slain and burnt according to the ritual prescribed in Numbers 19. As contact with a dead body, a bone, or a grave involved defilement, and entrance into the sanctuary in a state of uncleanness made the offender liable to excommunication, the use of this holy water was prescribed as a means of purification. Every detail in the ceremonial leads the student of origins back to the childhood of the Semites. ‘Primarily, purification means the application to the person of some medium which removes a taboo, and enables the person purified to mingle freely in the ordinary life of his fellows’ (W. R. Smith, RS [Note: S Religion of the Semites (W. Robertson Smith).] 2. 1894, p. 425). In those days there was probably a cult of the sacred cow, while juniper, cypress, and aromatic plants were supposed to have power to expel the evil spirits which brought death into the home. It is certain, however, that, when Israel began to put away childish things, the ancient consuetudinary laws in regard to defilement came to be viewed by the more enlightened minds as mere ‘symbols of spiritual truths.’ To the awakened conscience ‘sin was death, and had wrought death, and the dead body as well as the spiritually dead soul were the evidence of its sway’; while cedar-wood, hyssop, and scarlet may ultimately have been regarded-though this is more doubtful-as ‘the symbols of imperishable existence, freedom from corruption, and fulness of life’ (A. Edersheim, The Temple, 1909, p. 305f.). Discarding all magical ideas, the worshipper of Jahweh thus endeavoured to change the antique ritual into an object-lesson or sacramental means of grace. The writer to the Hebrews uses it as a stepping-stone to Christian truth. Rejecting the Philonic distinction between Levitical washings as directed to the purification of the body and sacrifices as intended to effect a purgation of the soul, he views the whole ritual of lustration and sin-offering alike as an opus operatum which can at the best purify only the body. Accepting this idea on the bare authority of Scripture, he makes it the premiss of an argument a minori ad majus. If (a particle which posits a fact, and scarcely insinuates a doubt) the blood of goats and bulls and the ashes of a heifer cleanse the flesh, defiled by contact with death, much more does the life-blood of the Messiah cleanse the conscience from dead works.
Literature.-Maimonides, Moreh, iii. 47; K. C. W. F. Bähr, Symbolik des mosaischen Cultus, Heidelberg, 1837-39, i. 493ff.; W. Nowack, Lehrbuch der hebräischen Archäologie, Freiburg i. B. and Leipzig, 1894, ii. 288; article ‘Red Heifer’ in Hasting's Dictionary of the Bible (5 vols) and Jewish Encyclopedia .
James Strahan.
Gen 15:9 (c) In this way we may understand the service character of the Lord JESUS CHRIST. He served as a young man. He was crucified after He had been only three and one-half years in public ministry. The Jewish priest began to serve at thirty.
Num 19:2-4 (c) This may be taken as a picture of the Lord JESUS CHRIST as a strong, vigorous youth. The red may represent the precious Blood of CHRIST. Both the Saviour and His work at Calvary are necessary to separate us from the world. (See Heb 9:13).
Isa 15:5 (a) This is an interesting type of the Moabites who, though strong, active and energetic, will need to flee for their lives because of the invading enemy. At three years of age, the heifer is reckoned to have reached his maturity, and is ready for breeding purposes, or other acts which can only be given to a matured animal. (See Jer 48:34).
Hos 4:16 (a) The heifer evidently is difficult to break for work. This is a picture of this young animal sitting down on her haunches, planting her feet in the ground, and trying to prevent the cowboy from pulling her along. It was GOD’s desire to bring Israel back into a place of blessing, but she resisted, refused and held back.
Hos 10:11 (a) This type represents Israel in her true condition of sincere service to GOD, and her spirit of obedience.
See Cattle