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And you shall give it to Eleazar the priest, and it shall be brought outside the camp and be slaughtered in his presence.
Numbers 19:3 · New American Standard Bible
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.
  • KJV 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:
  • 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;
  • 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 4:12he shall carry the whole bull outside of the camp to a clean place, where the ashes are poured out, and burn it on wood with fire. Where the ashes are poured out, it shall be burned.
  • Lev 4:21He shall carry the bull outside the camp, and burn it as he burned the first bull. It is the sin offering for the assembly.
  • Heb 13:11–13For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the holy place by the high priest as an offering for sin, are burned outside of the camp.
  • Num 5:2“Command the children of Israel that they put out of the camp every leper, and everyone who has an issue, and whoever is unclean by the dead.
  • Num 15:36All the congregation brought him outside of the camp, and stoned him to death with stones, as Yahweh commanded Moses.
  • Num 3:4Nadab and Abihu died before Yahweh, when they offered strange fire before Yahweh, in the wilderness of Sinai, and they had no children. Eleazar and Ithamar ministered in the priest’s office in the presence of Aaron their father.
  • Lev 24:14“Bring out of the camp him who cursed; and let all who heard him lay their hands on his head, and let all the congregation stone him.
  • Lev 16:27The bull for the sin offering, and the goat for the sin offering, whose blood was brought in to make atonement in the Holy Place, shall be carried outside the camp; and they shall burn their skins, their flesh, and their dung with fire.
  • Lev 13:45–46“The leper in whom the plague is shall wear torn clothes, and the hair of his head shall hang loose. He shall cover 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.