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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:
Numbers 19:3 · King James Version
Parallel translations
  • WEB You shall give her to Eleazar the priest, and he shall bring her outside of the camp, and one shall kill her before his face.
  • BSB Give it to Eleazar the priest, and he will have it brought outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence.
  • NKJV You shall give it to Eleazar the priest, that he may take it outside the camp, and it shall be slaughtered before him;
  • NASB And you shall give it to Eleazar the priest, and it shall be brought outside the camp and be slaughtered in his presence.
  • NLT Give it to Eleazar the priest, and it will be taken outside the camp and slaughtered in his presence.

Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations taken from the (NASB®) New American Standard Bible®, Copyright © 1960, 1971, 1977, 1995, 2020 by The Lockman Foundation. Used by permission. All rights reserved. lockman.org

Scripture quotations are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996, 2004, 2015 by Tyndale House Foundation. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Carol Stream, Illinois 60188. All rights reserved.

Quick answer

The heifer was given to Eleazar the priest and slaughtered outside the camp.

Overview

Unlike most sacrifices, the heifer was killed outside the camp, marking this offering's distinct character connected with death and defilement. The priest oversaw the procedure to ensure it was done rightly. The New Testament draws on this 'outside the camp' theme to describe Christ, who suffered outside the gate to sanctify His people (Hebrews 13:11-12).

Cross-references & the web

Cross-references · 9

  • Lev 4:12Even the whole bullock shall he carry forth without the camp unto a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn him on the wood with fire: where the ashes are poured out shall he be burnt.
  • Lev 4:21And he shall carry forth the bullock without the camp, and burn him as he burned the first bullock: it is a sin offering for the congregation.
  • Heb 13:11–13For the bodies of those beasts, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned without the camp.
  • Num 5:2Command the children of Israel, that they put out of the camp every leper, and every one that hath an issue, and whosoever is defiled by the dead:
  • Num 15:36And all the congregation brought him without the camp, and stoned him with stones, and he died; as the LORD commanded Moses.
  • Num 3:4And Nadab and Abihu died before the LORD, when they offered strange fire before the LORD, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children: and Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest’s office in the sight of Aaron their father.
  • Lev 24:14Bring forth him that hath cursed without the camp; and let all that heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the congregation stone him.
  • Lev 16:27And the bullock for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the holy place, shall one carry forth without the camp; and they shall burn in the fire their skins, and their flesh, and their dung.
  • Lev 13:45–46And the leper in whom the plague is, his clothes shall be rent, and his head bare, and he shall put a covering upon his upper lip, and shall cry, Unclean, unclean.

Themes, concepts, people & topics

Topics (2)

Resources, by level

Commentaries & study tools

  • VideoBibleProject — Numbers videosBibleProject · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Free animated overview and word-study videos for this book.

  • VideoWatch teaching on Numbers 19:3YouTube · Lay · Free

    Sermons and teaching on this passage from across YouTube.

  • CommentaryEnduring Word — verse-by-verseDavid Guzik · Lay · Free · evangelical

    Clear, readable, conservative exposition — the best free place to start on any passage.

  • CommentaryClassic commentaries for this verseBibleHub (20+ works) · Pastoral · Free

    Matthew Henry, Barnes, Gill, the Pulpit Commentary, Ellicott, Cambridge, and more — stacked on one page for this exact verse.

  • CommentaryMatthew Henry on NumbersMatthew Henry · Pastoral · Free · evangelical

    The beloved Puritan exposition of this whole book — warm, devotional, and verse by verse (free, CCEL).

  • ReferenceInterlinear, lexicon & Strong'sBlue Letter Bible · Seminary · Free

    Hebrew/Greek interlinear, word definitions, and cross-references for this verse.

Christ at the center

In the wilderness Christ is the water from the rock, the bronze serpent lifted up that the dying might look and live (John 3:14), and the star and scepter that Balaam saw rising out of Jacob.

How Numbers 19:3 points to him is part of the one story that runs through all Scripture — meet Jesus at the heart of the web, or follow a trail that traces him from Genesis to Revelation.

Original language

Each word below is tagged with its Strong’s number — tap one to see the underlying Hebrew word, its meaning, and every verse that uses it.