Numbers 19:10

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.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(10) And it shall be unto the children of Israel, and unto the stranger . . . —So the promise of the remission of sins through Christ Jesus was not only to the Jews and to their children, but also to all that were afar off. (See Acts 2:39.)

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

19:1-10 The heifer was to be wholly burned. This typified the painful sufferings of our Lord Jesus, both in soul and body, as a sacrifice made by fire, to satisfy God's justice for man's sin. These ashes are said to be laid up as a purification for sin, because, though they were only to purify from ceremonial uncleanness, yet they were a type of that purification for sin which our Lord Jesus made by his death. The blood of Christ is laid up for us in the word and sacraments, as a fountain of merit, to which by faith we may have constant recourse, for cleansing our consciences.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

He that gathered the ashes became equally unclean with the others. For the defilement of the people, previously transferred to the heifer, was regarded as concentrated in the ashes.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

7. the priest shall be unclean until the even—The ceremonies prescribed show the imperfection of the Levitical priesthood, while they typify the condition of Christ when expiating our sins (2Co 5:21).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

The stranger that sojourneth, to wit, a proselyte, not any stranger, as some understand it. For since it is confessed all the other ceremonial laws do not oblige them, and that where the name of stranger is put, as here it is, it generally speaks of a proselyte, it is more reasonable to take it so here, than without any reason or evidence to make this a particular exception from the general rule.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

And he that gathereth the ashes of the heifer shall wash his clothes,.... Whom the Targum of Jonathan calls a priest, though it does not seem necessary he should be one:

and be unclean until the even; See Gill on Numbers 19:7,

and it shall be unto the children of Israel, and unto the stranger that sojourneth among them, for a statute for ever; until the Messiah came, whose sufferings and death are for the expiation of, and purification for the sins of Jews and Gentiles, of all the people of God throughout the world, signified by the burning of this heifer; see 1 John 2:2.

Geneva Study Bible

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.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 10. - It shall be unto the children of Israel... a statute for ever. This may refer only to the former part of the verse, according to the analogy of verse 21, or it may refer to the whole ordinance of the red heifer. Numbers 19:10

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Use of the Water of Purification. - The words in Numbers 19:10, "And it shall be to the children of Israel, and to the stranger in the midst of them, for an everlasting statute," relate to the preparation and application of the sprinkling water, and connect the foregoing instructions with those which follow. - Numbers 19:1-13 contain the general rules for the use of the water; Numbers 19:14-22 a more detailed description of the execution of those rules.