Sedra 6, CHUKAT
Numbers 19:1 – 22:1
Numbers 19:1 – 22:1
19:1 VA YEDABER YHVH EL MOSHEH VE EL AHARON LEMOR
וַיְדַבֵּר יְהוָה אֶל מֹשֶׁה וְאֶל אַהֲרֹן לֵאמֹר
KJ (King James translation): And the LORD spake unto Moses and unto Aaron, saying,
BN (BibleNet translation): Then YHVH spoke to Mosheh and Aharon, saying:
19:2 ZOT CHUKAT HA TORAH ASHER TSIVAH YHVH LEMOR DABER EL BENEY YISRA-EL VE YIKCHU ELEYCHA PHARAH ADUMAH TEMIMAH ASHER EYN BAH MUM ASHER LO ALAH ALEYHA OL
זֹאת חֻקַּת הַתּוֹרָה אֲשֶׁר צִוָּה יְהוָה לֵאמֹר דַּבֵּר אֶל בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְיִקְחוּ אֵלֶיךָ פָרָה אֲדֻמָּה תְּמִימָה אֲשֶׁר אֵין בָּהּ מוּם אֲשֶׁר לֹא עָלָה עָלֶיהָ עֹל
KJ: This is the ordinance of the law which the LORD hath commanded, saying, Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without spot, wherein is no blemish, and upon which never came yoke:
BN: "This is the statute of the Torah which YHVH has instructed, saying: Speak to the Beney Yisra-El, that they bring you a red heifer, faultless, free of any blemish, and upon which no yoke has ever been laid...
CHUKAT: A law, given by YHVH rather than deduced by the Rabbis later on, is either a MITZVAH or a CHOK, though there are also MISHPATIM - the differences are not relevant here, but if you want to explore them, click here for the traditional explanation. What is relevant here is that CHUKAT is none of these, and yet no traditional explanation exists for why. And it is definitely different. CHOK is masculine, so "a statute of the Torah" should be either CHOK TORAH or CHOK HA TORAH, depending on whether you want a definite or indefinite article. CHOHAT TORAH can only be an ellision of CHUKAH HA TORAH, in which CHUKAH is feminine. Were there, then, originally both male and female laws - and what would that mean anyway? A law relating to the manifestations of Nature, through Chavah (Eve), as CHUKAH, but a law relating to the essences and elements of life, through YHVH, masculine? Logical - and then most of the CHUKOT masculinised into CHUKIM when YHVH became the Omnideity?
Before we start reading and analysing this chapter, it is well worth taking a look at Herakles' 10th labour, the slaughtering of Geryon's Cattle – which were entirely made up of red calves and heifers. And remember as you do so that Herakles' Labours in the service of the Underworld deity Eurystheos are all mythologcial fables, metaphors and allegories to explain the workings of the Cosmos, and are repeated/paralleled in the tales of David in the service of the Underworld deity Sha'ul (She'ol/Saul), as they are in the original tales of Ar-Thur.
And now that you have done that, turn to the land of Geryon's bull, to Italy (italus is the Sicilian word for a bull), and to its greatest poet, Dante, Canto 17 of his "Inferno" to be precise - the text below is from my modern-prose translation, "The Book of the Damned".
“And now, behold the beast with the pointed tail, who can walk through mountains, who can break walls as easily as he breaks arms. I give you - the man who stank the world.”Geryon, then, the origins of Christian Lucifer, complete with fiery breath and pointed tail - but bereaved of his red heifers!
With such dramatic sarcasm Virgil spoke, beckoning the beast to come ashore along the rocky jetty where our path trod out. And come ashore he did, that vile image of Fraud incarnate, setting his head and torso, though not his tail, upon the bank. His face was the face of any honest man, mild, gentle, smiling with sincerity, benign - as straight as six o’clock. But the rest of him was the body of a reptile. Two paws, hirsute as a bear right up to the armpits. His back and torso, both his flanks as well, were tattooed with arabesques and curlicues. No Tartar or Turk ever made cloth more colourful, with more assiduous preparation, with finer embroidery. And as to Arachne spinning webs in competition with Minerva - maybe the goddess who turned Arachne into a spider out of jealous rivalry was also responsible for turning Geryon into this beast.
For Geryon it was, son of Chrysaor who married Callirrhoë, one of the daughters of the Titan Oceanus, and became King in Tartessus - Jonah and St Paul’s Tarshish. However, this was no longer the same Geryon he had been when Hercules performed his tenth labour for King Eurystheus, nor indeed the one my Guide had written about in the eighth volume of his ‘Aeneid’. Then he had been by far the strongest man alive, born with three heads, six hands, and three bodies joined together at the waist. His cattle - red calves and heifers every one - were famous across the ancient world, guarded by the herdsman Eurytion, son of Mars, and his two-headed watchdog Orthrus, once the property of the Titan Atlas. These were the cattle that Eurystheus required Hercules to steal, and he did so by climbing Mount Abas, clubbing Orthrus and Eurytion to death, and then, challenged by Geryon, shooting him through all three of his bodies with a single arrow, before beginning the long, adventurous cattle-drove north and eastwards across Europe back to Greece.
Finally, be aware: red calves and heifers are not that common, but red calves and heifers without so much as a blemish are very rare indeed. And cattle that have never been yoked, rarer still. We are most definitely entering the realm of very ancient mythology.
19:3 U NETATEM OTAH EL EL-AZAR HA KOHEN VE HOTSI OTAH EL MI CHUTS LA MACHANEH VE SHACHAT OTAH LEPHANAV
וּנְתַתֶּם אֹתָהּ אֶל אֶלְעָזָר הַכֹּהֵן וְהוֹצִיא אֹתָהּ אֶל מִחוּץ לַמַּחֲנֶה וְשָׁחַט אֹתָהּ לְפָנָיו
KJ: And ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest, that he may bring her forth without the camp, and one shall slay her before his face:
BN: "And you shall give her to El-Azar the priest, and she shall be brought outside the camp, and she shall be slaughtered in front of him...
What we were not told in verse 2, and still not in verse 3, is when, or why, the red heifer is brought. It could just be that a farmer happens to have a red heifer, and brings it because its turn is next to be cut up for dinner, and the laws of sacrifice apply differently in this case. Unlikely. Something about its redness - the colour red is ADOM in Yehudit, with unavoidable links to Adam, Edom, the Odem which is the very first jewel on the priestly breastplate, and the tribal jewel of the tribe of the first-born, Re'u-Ven... and of course the red earth, whether it be desert sand or rocks in Petra, is ADAMAH... so the redness is a mysticism in its own right, and in its own rite too, as per this chapter.
EL MI CHUTS LA MACHANEH: All sacrifices take place inside the camp (click here for the details), on the altar, in the courtyard adjacent to the Ohel; but this one is specifically "outside the camp", where sacrifices are normally prohibited. So this is not a sacrifice in any of the customary senses; something else is going on, that we go on waiting to discover. Might it be the ancient form of the Azaz-El, the sending away of what would become a scapegoat in the epoch of Capricorn, but needed to be tautine in the epoch of Taurus - click here for more on this?
EL-AZAR: I am wondering if the laws that specify El-Azar are one-off events; when these incidents are intended as eternal laws, it generally says so. If this was a one-off, why? (see verse 20 below).
OTAH: A heifer is most definitely female, usually regarded as a young cow before she has had her first calf. The male would be called a bullock in English.
LIPHNEY EL-AZAR: Normally the sacrifices are made LIPHNEY YHVH, but here it is El-Azar who is the recipient; normally the priest (or the donor) performs the sacrifice, but here it is not being performed by El-Azar, but before him - presumably by the donor. (I am merely trying to identify those details which make this ceremony different, to help us discern its purpose.)
19:4 VE LAKACH EL-AZAR HA KOHEN MI DAMAH BE ETSBA'O VE HIZAH EL NOCHACH PENEY OHEL MO'ED MI DAMAH SHEVA PE'AMIM
וְלָקַח אֶלְעָזָר הַכֹּהֵן מִדָּמָהּ בְּאֶצְבָּעוֹ וְהִזָּה אֶל נֹכַח פְּנֵי אֹהֶל מוֹעֵד מִדָּמָהּ שֶׁבַע פְּעָמִים
KJ: 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:
BN: "And El-Azar the priest shall take some of her blood with his finger, and sprinkle some of her blood, seven times, towards the front of the tent of meeting...
Blood-rites, black magic - or red magic anyway. To achieve this, having sacrificed the beast outside the camp, El-Azar is either going to have to catch some of the blood in a vessel (equivalent, presumably, to the fire-pans of the previous chapters), and carry it back to the tent, and dip his finger when he gets there, or else walk through the camp with blood dripping from his finger - likely leaving very little by then to "sprinkle" once, let alone seven times. We can therefore assume a vessel is used, even though it is not stated. And yes, obviously seven times.
19:5 VE SARAPH ET HA PARAH LE EYNAV ET ORAH VE ET BESARAH VE ET DAMAH AL PIRSHAH YISROPH
וְשָׂרַף אֶת הַפָּרָה לְעֵינָיו אֶת עֹרָהּ וְאֶת בְּשָׂרָהּ וְאֶת דָּמָהּ עַל פִּרְשָׁהּ יִשְׂרֹף
KJ: And one shall burn the heifer in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall he burn:
BN: "And the heifer shall be burnt in his sight; her skin, and her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall be burnt...
SARAPH: What an extraordinary thing to do - that rarity of rarities, a red heifer, and what do you do with it: breed it, worship its twice-daily milkability, enjoy the cheese and yoghurt that ensues, the stew or burgers later on? No, you burn it! There must be some "evil" connotation (think Geryon again!), or why would you do that?
And its component parts with it, specified, not merely intrinsic. Why? We know that the blood is not usually burned, because the first stated law says pour it on the ground, and the second pour it on the altar - nothing more holy in YHVH@s world than blood, because it is the source of life itself. The dung is nomally taken out of the camp and burned there (click here for details and references). And why on this occasion is the blood included? Clearly this ritual is not about making an animal sacred for eating; so what is it about? No explanation has yet been given.
See also my note to Numbers 17:2.
19:6 VE LAKACH HA KOHEN EYTS EREZ VE EZOV U SHENI TOLA'AT VE HISHLICH EL TOCH SEREPHAT HA PARAH
KJ: And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer.
BN: "And the priest shall take cedar-wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer...
And likewise there must be some understood purpose behind these choices of object; but alas we are not told what they are. Can we deduce them?
EYTS EREZ: Cedar-wood will later be used as the main timber for the Temple, so it definitely adds a touch of holiness to the fire, which other types of wood might not do - if you are trying to eliminate "evil"...
EZOV: Hyssopus officinalis, from the plant family Lamiaceae, which makes it a variety of the mountain-rose; it produces a gorgeously purple flower and has long been regarded as having medicinal properties. An evergreen bushy herb, it grows to a maximum of about 2 feet high, on a square stem, with linear leaves, and it flowers in whorls of between 6 and 15 blooms. It tastes like mint, and is great for salads, but only in small quantities.
In Exodus 12:22, preparing the Passover, Mosheh instructs the people to "take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two side-posts with the blood that is in the basin; and none of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning." This is the ceremony of the Red Cross - note again the colour red is involved - but it isn't an invention of Mosheh's: hyssop is known since the most ancient times to have been planted around graves as a protection for the dead from the living, and also hung on the doors of homes as a charm against the evil eye, and against witches - which of course is precisely why it is being used by Mosheh in the Passover ceremony: warding off that most evil of all spirits, the angel of Death.
Leviticus 14:4-7 describes its use as part of the cleansing ceremony for a leper, and again both cedar-wood and scarlet are also included, though on this occasion it is a turtle-dove rather than a red heifer which is taken outside the camp for slaughter, and its blood then sprinkled to clean the leper's house (Leviticus 14:52).
The wisdom of King Shelomoh (Solomon) is described in several verses of 1 Kings 4; verse 33 gives as one example of that wisdom: "He spoke about plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls." Though we are not told what precisely Shelomoh said, we can at least deduce that it was a plant regarded as having properties whose understanding denoted wisdom.
SHENI TOLA'AT: Scarlet thread (SHENI is the thread, usually of wool, TOLA'AT is the colour). Scarlet as a colour is a variety of red, so this may be an attempt to identify the redness more precisely. But scarlet threads are scarlet threads, and we are in the realm of mythology:
In Leviticus 16:7 ff, Aharon is instructed to bring two goats to the Ohel Mo'ed, one of which is for YHVH, the other to be driven into the wilderness (or in Yeru-Shala'im pushed backwards over the cliff into Gey Ben Hinnom) for Azaz-El (see my question at verse 3); to denote which one is which, a scarlet thread is tied around the ankle of the one...
In Genesis 38:28, when Tamar begins giving birth to the twins fathered on her by Yehudah, "And it came to pass, when she travailed, that one put out a hand; and the widwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, 'This came out first.'"
The one on whom the scarlet thread was placed (on his heel, for which see my notes to the heel-god, Yah-Ekev, or should that simply be Ya'akov, a mere name?) was named Zarach, or sometimes Zerach, and he too is the rejected one, Parets his elder brother being the founder of the dynasty of King David and the future Messiah. Interesting that Zerach is connected to the sun - the sun rises in the east, which in Yehudit is MIZRACH.
KJ: 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 even.
BN: "Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterwards he may come into the camp, and the priest shall be considered unclean until evening...
19:8 VE HA SOREPH OTAH YECHABES BEGADAV BA MAYIM VE RACHATS BESARO BA MAYIM VE TAM'E AD HA AREV
KJ: And he that burneth her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the even.
BN: "And he who burns her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and he shall be considered unclean until evening...
19:9 VE ASAPH ISH TAHOR ET EPHER HA PARAH VE HINIYACH MI CHUTS LA MACHANEH BA MAKOM TAHOR VE HAYETAH LA ADAT BENEY YISRA-EL LE MISHMERET LEMEY NIDAH CHATAT HI
KJ: And a man that is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up without the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water of separation: it is a purification for sin.
BN: "Then a man who 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 Beney Yisra-El for sprinkling-water; it is a purification from sin...
The origins of the Holy Water that is sprinkled in Christian churches to this day.
EPHER: note that there are two EPHERS in this chapter, this one with an Aleph (א), the one in verse 17 with an Ayin (ע); and both are understood to mean "ashes"... but no, that cannot be the case, despite the fact that practically every translator renders them as such. Epher with an Aleph means "ashes", Aphar with an Ayin means "dust" - for which Genesis 3:19 is the base source. Sefaria has an excellent essay on the subject, and provides the base sources for "ashes" in doing so. Also see my note in Zechar-Yah 5 on an equivalent: his play between EYPHAH (אֵיפָה) and APHAH (עָפָה).
LEMEY NIDAH: How do "ashes" provide "sprinkling-water". If they are still burning, they could be used to boil water, though I have no explanation of why that might be necessary anyway. Do the ashes get mixed with the water, and thereby give it is some higher (holier) cleaning quality? In which case, yet again, the red heifer becomes a kind of Azaz-El, and this in its entirety a purification rite. And is doing all this outside the camp then a way of rendering clean the area outside the camp, which has been used as a landfill site and a latrine, as well as the place to take the unusable residue of the in-house sacrifices?
19:10 VE CHIBES HA OSEPH ET EPHER HA PARAH ET BEGADAV VE TAM'E AD HA AREV VE HAYETAH LIVNEY YISRA-EL VE LA GER HA GAR BETOCHAM LE CHUKAT OLAM
KJ: And he that gathereth the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: and it shall be unto the children of Israel, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among them, for a statute for ever.
BN: "And he who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be considered unclean until evening; and this shall be an eternal statute for the Beney Yisra-El, and for the stranger who sojourns among them...
Which answers my earlier question: it is for all time, and from verses 18 and 19 we can see that it was definitely some kind of a Yom Kippur or Azaz-El rite, an equivalent, a sin-offering for the purpose of purification. First the blood is sprinkled, then the ashes are brought in from outside the camp where we have just seen them stored, with water added, and presumably another sprinkling, though no instructions are given for this part of the ritual. And is the reason for all this now about to be given, in the next verse. Certainly the laws of deduction created by Rabbi Yishmael would insist that it is - law 12 applies on this occasion, "Davar ha-lamed me-inyano, ve-davar ha-lamed mi-sopho; a principle deduced from its context, or from the passage which follows." For a full explanation of these "hermeneutics", see "A Myrtle Among Reeds".
19:6 VE LAKACH HA KOHEN EYTS EREZ VE EZOV U SHENI TOLA'AT VE HISHLICH EL TOCH SEREPHAT HA PARAH
וְלָקַח הַכֹּהֵן עֵץ אֶרֶז וְאֵזוֹב וּשְׁנִי תוֹלָעַת וְהִשְׁלִיךְ אֶל תּוֹךְ שְׂרֵפַת הַפָּרָה
KJ: And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer.
BN: "And the priest shall take cedar-wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer...
And likewise there must be some understood purpose behind these choices of object; but alas we are not told what they are. Can we deduce them?
EYTS EREZ: Cedar-wood will later be used as the main timber for the Temple, so it definitely adds a touch of holiness to the fire, which other types of wood might not do - if you are trying to eliminate "evil"...
In Exodus 12:22, preparing the Passover, Mosheh instructs the people to "take a bunch of hyssop, and dip it in the blood that is in the basin, and strike the lintel and the two side-posts with the blood that is in the basin; and none of you shall go out of the door of his house until the morning." This is the ceremony of the Red Cross - note again the colour red is involved - but it isn't an invention of Mosheh's: hyssop is known since the most ancient times to have been planted around graves as a protection for the dead from the living, and also hung on the doors of homes as a charm against the evil eye, and against witches - which of course is precisely why it is being used by Mosheh in the Passover ceremony: warding off that most evil of all spirits, the angel of Death.
Leviticus 14:4-7 describes its use as part of the cleansing ceremony for a leper, and again both cedar-wood and scarlet are also included, though on this occasion it is a turtle-dove rather than a red heifer which is taken outside the camp for slaughter, and its blood then sprinkled to clean the leper's house (Leviticus 14:52).
The wisdom of King Shelomoh (Solomon) is described in several verses of 1 Kings 4; verse 33 gives as one example of that wisdom: "He spoke about plant life, from the cedar of Lebanon to the hyssop that grows out of walls." Though we are not told what precisely Shelomoh said, we can at least deduce that it was a plant regarded as having properties whose understanding denoted wisdom.
SHENI TOLA'AT: Scarlet thread (SHENI is the thread, usually of wool, TOLA'AT is the colour). Scarlet as a colour is a variety of red, so this may be an attempt to identify the redness more precisely. But scarlet threads are scarlet threads, and we are in the realm of mythology:
In Leviticus 16:7 ff, Aharon is instructed to bring two goats to the Ohel Mo'ed, one of which is for YHVH, the other to be driven into the wilderness (or in Yeru-Shala'im pushed backwards over the cliff into Gey Ben Hinnom) for Azaz-El (see my question at verse 3); to denote which one is which, a scarlet thread is tied around the ankle of the one...
In Genesis 38:28, when Tamar begins giving birth to the twins fathered on her by Yehudah, "And it came to pass, when she travailed, that one put out a hand; and the widwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, 'This came out first.'"
The one on whom the scarlet thread was placed (on his heel, for which see my notes to the heel-god, Yah-Ekev, or should that simply be Ya'akov, a mere name?) was named Zarach, or sometimes Zerach, and he too is the rejected one, Parets his elder brother being the founder of the dynasty of King David and the future Messiah. Interesting that Zerach is connected to the sun - the sun rises in the east, which in Yehudit is MIZRACH.
19:7 VE CHIBES BEGADAV HA KOHEN VE RACHATS BESARO BA MAYIM VE ACHAR YAVO EL HA MACHANEH VE TAM'E HA KOHEN AD HA AREV
וְכִבֶּס בְּגָדָיו הַכֹּהֵן וְרָחַץ בְּשָׂרוֹ בַּמַּיִם וְאַחַר יָבֹא אֶל הַמַּחֲנֶה וְטָמֵא הַכֹּהֵן עַד הָעָרֶב
KJ: 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 even.
BN: "Then the priest shall wash his clothes, and he shall bathe his flesh in water, and afterwards he may come into the camp, and the priest shall be considered unclean until evening...
19:8 VE HA SOREPH OTAH YECHABES BEGADAV BA MAYIM VE RACHATS BESARO BA MAYIM VE TAM'E AD HA AREV
וְהַשֹּׂרֵף אֹתָהּ יְכַבֵּס בְּגָדָיו בַּמַּיִם וְרָחַץ בְּשָׂרוֹ בַּמָּיִם וְטָמֵא עַד הָעָרֶב
KJ: And he that burneth her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and shall be unclean until the even.
BN: "And he who burns her shall wash his clothes in water, and bathe his flesh in water, and he shall be considered unclean until evening...
19:9 VE ASAPH ISH TAHOR ET EPHER HA PARAH VE HINIYACH MI CHUTS LA MACHANEH BA MAKOM TAHOR VE HAYETAH LA ADAT BENEY YISRA-EL LE MISHMERET LEMEY NIDAH CHATAT HI
וְאָסַף אִישׁ טָהוֹר אֵת אֵפֶר הַפָּרָה וְהִנִּיחַ מִחוּץ לַמַּחֲנֶה בְּמָקוֹם טָהוֹר וְהָיְתָה לַעֲדַת בְּנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל לְמִשְׁמֶרֶת לְמֵי נִדָּה חַטָּאת הִוא
KJ: And a man that is clean shall gather up the ashes of the heifer, and lay them up without the camp in a clean place, and it shall be kept for the congregation of the children of Israel for a water of separation: it is a purification for sin.
BN: "Then a man who 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 Beney Yisra-El for sprinkling-water; it is a purification from sin...
The origins of the Holy Water that is sprinkled in Christian churches to this day.
EPHER: note that there are two EPHERS in this chapter, this one with an Aleph (א), the one in verse 17 with an Ayin (ע); and both are understood to mean "ashes"... but no, that cannot be the case, despite the fact that practically every translator renders them as such. Epher with an Aleph means "ashes", Aphar with an Ayin means "dust" - for which Genesis 3:19 is the base source. Sefaria has an excellent essay on the subject, and provides the base sources for "ashes" in doing so. Also see my note in Zechar-Yah 5 on an equivalent: his play between EYPHAH (אֵיפָה) and APHAH (עָפָה).
19:10 VE CHIBES HA OSEPH ET EPHER HA PARAH ET BEGADAV VE TAM'E AD HA AREV VE HAYETAH LIVNEY YISRA-EL VE LA GER HA GAR BETOCHAM LE CHUKAT OLAM
וְכִבֶּס הָאֹסֵף אֶת אֵפֶר הַפָּרָה אֶת בְּגָדָיו וְטָמֵא עַד הָעָרֶב וְהָיְתָה לִבְנֵי יִשְׂרָאֵל וְלַגֵּר הַגָּר בְּתוֹכָם לְחֻקַּת עוֹלָם
KJ: And he that gathereth the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the even: and it shall be unto the children of Israel, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among them, for a statute for ever.
BN: "And he who gathers the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes, and be considered unclean until evening; and this shall be an eternal statute for the Beney Yisra-El, and for the stranger who sojourns among them...
Which answers my earlier question: it is for all time, and from verses 18 and 19 we can see that it was definitely some kind of a Yom Kippur or Azaz-El rite, an equivalent, a sin-offering for the purpose of purification. First the blood is sprinkled, then the ashes are brought in from outside the camp where we have just seen them stored, with water added, and presumably another sprinkling, though no instructions are given for this part of the ritual. And is the reason for all this now about to be given, in the next verse. Certainly the laws of deduction created by Rabbi Yishmael would insist that it is - law 12 applies on this occasion, "Davar ha-lamed me-inyano, ve-davar ha-lamed mi-sopho; a principle deduced from its context, or from the passage which follows." For a full explanation of these "hermeneutics", see "A Myrtle Among Reeds".
19:11 HA NOGE'A BE MET LE CHOL NEPHESH ADAM VE TAM'E SHIVAT YAMIM
הַנֹּגֵעַ בְּמֵת לְכָל נֶפֶשׁ אָדָם וְטָמֵא שִׁבְעַת יָמִים
KJ: He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean seven days.
BN: "Whoever touches the dead - meaning any human body - shall be considered unclean for seven days...
This appears to now describe the use of the collected "remains" of the red heifer - which is probably both dust and ashes by this stage!
19:12 HU YIT'CHATA VO BA YOM HA SHLISHI U VA YOM HA SHEVIYI YIT'HAR VE IM LO YIT'CHATA BA YOM HA SHLISHI U VA YOM HA SHEVIYI LO YIT'HAR
הוּא יִתְחַטָּא בוֹ בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁי וּבַיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי יִטְהָר וְאִם לֹא יִתְחַטָּא בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁי וּבַיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי לֹא יִטְהָר
KJ: He shall purify himself with it on the third day, and on the seventh day he shall be clean: but if he purify not himself the third day, then the seventh day he shall not be clean.
BN: "He shall purify himself with it on the third day and on the seventh day, and he shall be considered clean; but if he does not purify himself on the third day and the seventh day, he shall not be considered clean...
Why 3 and 7? One is the symbolic number of the moon-goddess, the other of the sun-god. (But this may be pure coincidence on this occasion.)
19:13 KOL HA NOGE'A BE MET BE NEPHESH HA ADAM ASHER YAMUT VE LO YIT'CHATA ET MISHKAN YHVH TIM'E VE NICHRETAH HA NEPHESH HA HI MI YISRA-EL KI MEY NIDAH LO ZORAK ALAV TAM'E YIHEYEH OD TUM'ATO VO
כָּל הַנֹּגֵעַ בְּמֵת בְּנֶפֶשׁ הָאָדָם אֲשֶׁר יָמוּת וְלֹא יִתְחַטָּא אֶת מִשְׁכַּן יְהוָה טִמֵּא וְנִכְרְתָה הַנֶּפֶשׁ הַהִוא מִיִּשְׂרָאֵל כִּי מֵי נִדָּה לֹא זֹרַק עָלָיו טָמֵא יִהְיֶה עוֹד טֻמְאָתוֹ בוֹ
KJ: Whosoever toucheth the dead body of any man that is dead, and purifieth not himself, defileth the tabernacle of the LORD; and that soul shall be cut off from Israel: because the water of separation was not sprinkled upon him, he shall be unclean; his uncleanness is yet upon him.
BN: "Whoever touches the dead - meaning the body of any dead human - and does not purify himself, he has defiled the Tabernacle of YHVH; that soul shall be cut off from Yisra-El. Because the sprinkling-water was not dashed against him, he shall be considered unclean; his uncleanness is still upon him...
Confirming what we have surmised, that the Red Heifer is slaughtered to make Holy Water, and holy water requires ashes in it. So we can now make a simple deduction as to why so unicorn a creature as an unblemished red heifer was insisted on - when such a creature is found, the whole community will be aware of it, because of its rarity and the continuous search to find one. So the ceremony of making the holy water will be fully public, and there will be no doubt that the holy water is that holy water. If it could be made from any common beast, God Forbid and puh-puh-puh, but some scoundrel might just go and make it on the cheap and pass it off as holy water.
19:14 ZOT HA TORAH ADAM KI YAMUT BE OHEL KOL HA BA EL HA OHEL VE CHOL ASHER BA OHEL YITMA SHIVAT YAMIM
KJ: This is the law, when a man dieth in a tent: all that come into the tent, and all that is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days.
BN: "This is the law: when a man dies in a tent, every one who enters that tent, and everything that is in that tent, shall be unclean for seven days...
And of course the period of mourning is also seven days, which is why it is called "sitting shiva".
19:15 VE CHOL KELIY PHATU'ACH ASHER EYN TSAMID PATIL ALAV TAM'E HU
KJ: And every open vessel, which hath no covering bound upon it, is unclean.
BN: "And every open vessel, which has no covering close-bound on it, shall be considered unclean...
19:16 VE CHOL ASHER YIGA AL PENEY HA SADEH BA CHALAL CHEREV O VE MET O VE ETSEM ADAM O VE KAVER YITMA SHIVAT YAMIM
19:14 ZOT HA TORAH ADAM KI YAMUT BE OHEL KOL HA BA EL HA OHEL VE CHOL ASHER BA OHEL YITMA SHIVAT YAMIM
זֹאת הַתּוֹרָה אָדָם כִּי יָמוּת בְּאֹהֶל כָּל הַבָּא אֶל הָאֹהֶל וְכָל אֲשֶׁר בָּאֹהֶל יִטְמָא שִׁבְעַת יָמִים
KJ: This is the law, when a man dieth in a tent: all that come into the tent, and all that is in the tent, shall be unclean seven days.
BN: "This is the law: when a man dies in a tent, every one who enters that tent, and everything that is in that tent, shall be unclean for seven days...
And of course the period of mourning is also seven days, which is why it is called "sitting shiva".
19:15 VE CHOL KELIY PHATU'ACH ASHER EYN TSAMID PATIL ALAV TAM'E HU
וְכֹל כְּלִי פָתוּחַ אֲשֶׁר אֵין צָמִיד פָּתִיל עָלָיו טָמֵא הוּא
KJ: And every open vessel, which hath no covering bound upon it, is unclean.
BN: "And every open vessel, which has no covering close-bound on it, shall be considered unclean...
19:16 VE CHOL ASHER YIGA AL PENEY HA SADEH BA CHALAL CHEREV O VE MET O VE ETSEM ADAM O VE KAVER YITMA SHIVAT YAMIM
וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר יִגַּע עַל פְּנֵי הַשָּׂדֶה בַּחֲלַל חֶרֶב אוֹ בְמֵת אוֹ בְעֶצֶם אָדָם אוֹ בְקָבֶר יִטְמָא שִׁבְעַת יָמִים
KJ: And whosoever toucheth one that is slain with a sword in the open fields, or a dead body, or a bone of a man, or a grave, shall be unclean seven days.
BN: "And whoever in an open field touches someone who has been slain by the sword, or someone who has died of natural causes, or the bone of a man, or a grave, he shall be considered unclean for seven days...
19:17 VE LAK'CHU LA TAM'E ME APHAR SEREPHAT HA CHATAT VE NATAN ALAV MAYIM CHAYIM
וְלָקְחוּ לַטָּמֵא מֵעֲפַר שְׂרֵפַת הַחַטָּאת וְנָתַן עָלָיו מַיִם חַיִּים אֶל כֶּלִי
KJ: And for an unclean person they shall take of the ashes of the burnt heifer of purification for sin, and running water shall be put thereto in a vessel:
BN: "And for those who are unclean, they shall take some of the remains from the burning of the purification from sin, and running water shall be added to it in a vessel...
APHAR: see my note at verse 9, which explains why this should not be translated as "ashes", but should be translated as "dust". Except that I haven't. Look again at the source, which is Genesis 3:19: "dust you are and dust you shall become", is a poetical image for what happens to the body when we die. Usually burial in a grave, and therefore dust; but here the body has been cremated, so "ashes" is excusable as a translation, though I still prefer "remains".
19:18 VE LAKACH EZOV VE TAVAL BA MAYIM ISH TAHOR VE HIZAH AL HA OHEL VE AL KOL HA KELIM VE AL HA NEPHASHOT ASHER CHAYU SHAM VE AL HA NOGE'A BA ETSEM O VE CHALAL O VA MET O VA KAVER
וְלָקַח אֵזוֹב וְטָבַל בַּמַּיִם אִישׁ טָהוֹר וְהִזָּה עַל הָאֹהֶל וְעַל כָּל הַכֵּלִים וְעַל הַנְּפָשׁוֹת אֲשֶׁר הָיוּ שָׁם וְעַל הַנֹּגֵעַ בַּעֶצֶם אוֹ בֶחָלָל אוֹ בַמֵּת אוֹ בַקָּבֶר
KJ: And a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon the persons that were there, and upon him that touched a bone, or one slain, or one dead, or a grave:
BN: "And a clean person shall take hyssop, and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it on the tent, and on all the vessels, and on the people who were there, and on he who touched the bone, or the slain, or the dead, or the grave...
EZOV: See my note at verse 6.
19:19 VE HIZAH HA TAHOR AL HA TAM'E BA YOM HA SHLISHI U VA YOM HA SHEVIYI VE CHITO BA YOM HA SHEVIYI VE CHIBES BEGADAV VE RACHATS BA MAYIM VE TAHER BA AREV
וְהִזָּה הַטָּהֹר עַל הַטָּמֵא בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁלִישִׁי וּבַיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי וְחִטְּאוֹ בַּיּוֹם הַשְּׁבִיעִי וְכִבֶּס בְּגָדָיו וְרָחַץ בַּמַּיִם וְטָהֵר בָּעָרֶב
KJ: And the clean person shall sprinkle upon the unclean on the third day, and on the seventh day: and on the seventh day he shall purify himself, and wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be clean at even.
BN: "And the clean person shall sprinkle it on the unclean person on the third day, and on the seventh day; and on the seventh day he shall purify him; and he shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and shall be considered clean in the evening...
19:20 VE ISH ASHER YITMA VE LO YIT'CHATA VE NICHRETAH HA NEPHESH HA HI MITOCH HA KAHAL KI ET MIKDASH YHVH TIM'E MEY NIDAH LO ZORAK ALAV TAM'E HU
וְאִישׁ אֲשֶׁר יִטְמָא וְלֹא יִתְחַטָּא וְנִכְרְתָה הַנֶּפֶשׁ הַהִוא מִתּוֹךְ הַקָּהָל כִּי אֶת מִקְדַּשׁ יְהוָה טִמֵּא מֵי נִדָּה לֹא זֹרַק עָלָיו טָמֵא הוּא
KJ: But the man that shall be unclean, and shall not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from among the congregation, because he hath defiled the sanctuary of the LORD: the water of separation hath not been sprinkled upon him; he is unclean.
BN: "But the man who is unclean, and does not purify himself, that soul shall be cut off from the midst of the assembly, because he has defiled the sanctuary of YHVH; the sprinkling-water has not been dashed against him: he is unclean...
And we can also deduce that the "sprinking-water" was necessary because, in the wilderness, there was unlikely to be a mikveh, which is to say a stream of naturally flowing water, in which to bathe and purify; at all other times in Jewish history, it is the mikveh which provides the sprinkling-water. Here, through the ceremony of the Red Heifer - the ashes and the sprinkling-water - a substitute is provided.
19:21 VE HAYETAH LAHEM LE CHUKAT OLAM U MAZEH MEY HA NIDAH YECHABES BEGADAV VE HA NOGE'A BE MEY HA NIDAH YITMA AD HA AREV
19:21 VE HAYETAH LAHEM LE CHUKAT OLAM U MAZEH MEY HA NIDAH YECHABES BEGADAV VE HA NOGE'A BE MEY HA NIDAH YITMA AD HA AREV
וְהָיְתָה לָהֶם לְחֻקַּת עוֹלָם וּמַזֵּה מֵי הַנִּדָּה יְכַבֵּס בְּגָדָיו וְהַנֹּגֵעַ בְּמֵי הַנִּדָּה יִטְמָא עַד הָעָרֶב
KJ: And it shall be a perpetual statute unto them, that he that sprinkleth the water of separation shall wash his clothes; and he that toucheth the water of separation shall be unclean until even.
BN: "And it shall be a perpetual statute for them; and he who sprinkles the sprinkling-water shall wash his clothes; and he who touches the sprinkling-water shall be considered unclean until the evening....
19:22 VE CHOL ASHER YIGA BO HA TAM'E YITMA VE HA NEPHESH HA NOGA'AT TITMA AD HA AREV
וְכֹל אֲשֶׁר יִגַּע בּוֹ הַטָּמֵא יִטְמָא וְהַנֶּפֶשׁ הַנֹּגַעַת תִּטְמָא עַד הָעָרֶב
KJ: And whatsoever the unclean person toucheth shall be unclean; and the soul that toucheth it shall be unclean until even.
BN: And whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean; and the soul who touches him shall be considered unclean until the evening.
pey break
Copyright © 2017 David Prashker
All rights reserved
The Argaman Press
No comments:
Post a Comment