John Calvin Commentary Numbers 19:7

"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." — Numbers 19:7 (ASV)

Then the priest shall wash his clothes. At first sight, there seems to be a discrepancy in the facts: the heifer was sacred to God and pure, yet the priest was polluted by touching it. However, these facts accord very well with each other.

The fact that both the priest and the minister who performed the burning were unclean until the evening should have powerfully impressed the people, teaching them all the more to detest sin.

Furthermore, since only a clean man was permitted to gather the ashes, and they were to be laid only in a clean place, this sign demonstrated that there was no impurity in the sacrifice itself. Instead, the pollution was external and incidental; because the sacrifice was intended to purge away uncleanness, it was, in a certain sense, considered unclean.

Therefore, the water into which the ashes were thrown was called the water of separation, as well as the expiation.²³ The translation I have provided is the correct one, while others incorrectly translate it as “for waters of separation, and for expiation.”

The old interpreter has conveyed the meaning reasonably well regarding this word, translating it as “because the heifer is burnt for sin.” However, since the Hebrew word חטאה chateah²⁴ means not only wickedness or sin, but also the sacrifice on which the curse is imposed, what Moses intended to convey is better expressed by the word “expiation.”

The expression “separation” refers to the men whose personal uncleanness excluded them from the holy congregation.

However, the question arises why this ordinance was declared common to the strangers who resided in the land of Israel, as well as to the natives, since it hardly seemed reasonable that the uncircumcised should be purified.

The reply is straightforward: this does not refer to strangers who were complete foreigners to the people, but to those who, although born of heathen parentage, had embraced the Law.

God places these individuals on an equal footing with the children of Abraham in the sacrifices and other religious services. For if their condition were different, the church, into whose body they were grafted, would be torn apart.

²³ “Nam expiatio est.” — .” — Lat, v. 9. “It is a purification for sin.” — , v. 9. “It is a purification for sin.” — A.V..

²⁴ למי נדה חטאת הוא ́̔Υδωρ ῥαντισμᾶ ἅγνισμά ἐστι· — — LXX. In aqua aspersionis; quia pro peccato vacca combusta est. — V. This last is what . — V. This last is what C. means by “the old interpreter.” The translation which he condemns he had seen in . means by “the old interpreter.” The translation which he condemns he had seen in S.M. — W.. — W.