Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Numbers 19:6
And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast [it] into the midst of the burning of the heifer.
6. cedar wood, and hyssop ] The former, perhaps, for its durability, the latter for its cleansing qualities. It is doubtful, however, if ‘hyssop’ is the true rendering of the Heb. ’zbh, since the hyssop is not native to Palestine. The ‘cape’ and the ‘marjoram’ have been suggested.
In the purification of the leper the same objects are employed, but with a different purpose. The cedar wood and ’zbh, bound together by a scarlet thread, formed an instrument for sprinkling blood upon the recovered leper and his house (Lev 14:4; Lev 14:6; Lev 14:49; Lev 14:51). See Num 19:18 below.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Compare Lev 14:4 note.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
All which are here burnt, and as it were offered to God, that they might be sanctified to this holy use for the future; for of these kinds of things was the sprinkle made wherewith the unclean were sprinkled, Lev 14:4.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet,…. Another priest, according to the Targum of Jonathan; but it seems to design Eleazar the priest, and so, in later times, the same priest that burnt the cow took these things; the Jews say h, when he took them he said, is this cedar wood? is this hyssop? is this scarlet? so he said three times for everyone of them, and he was answered, yes, three times to each of them: these were the same that were used at the cleansing of the leper, Le 14:4;
and cast [it] into the midst of the burning of the heifer; these were rolled or bound up together, as the Jews say i, and made one bundle of, that they might the more easily be cast into the fire; the hyssop was wrapped about the cedar wood with the scarlet wool: the true reason of the use of these, Maimonides says k, was never clear to him; but the cedar wood, being durable, may denote the continued efficacy of Christ’s sufferings; the hyssop, being purgative and of a good smell, the purging nature of Christ’s sacrifice, who by himself purged away our sins, and the sweet odour thereof ascended to the Lord; and the scarlet, the sins of his people destroyed thereby.
h Misn. Parah, c. 3. sect. 10. i Misn. Parah, c. 3. sect. 11. & Maimon. & Bartenora in ib. k Moreh Nevochim, par. 3. c. 47.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
6 And the priest shall take cedar-wood. That the sprinkling of the blood might be conjoined with that of the water, the cedar-wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, thread, with which the sprinkling was wont to be made, were cast into the fire; for, unless the Israelites had been admonished by this visible sign, they would not have so clearly known that they were not only washed with the water, but that by the offering of the sacrifice also their uncleanness was removed. But it was not enough that the blood should be poured forth, unless, as has been already seen, they were purified by its aspersion. But, for as much as the scent of cedar-wood is precious, and in hyssop there is a cleansing property, we gather from hence also that the victim was pure, although it bore their sins together with the curse and expiation. Peter teaches us how we are sprinkled with the blood of Christ, viz., through the Spirit, (1Pe 1:2😉 nay, John shews us in his Canonical Epistle, that we find all the parts of this ceremony in Christ, where he writes that Christ “came by water and blood,” and “it is the Spirit that beareth witness, because the Spirit is truth.” (1Jo 5:6.)
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(6) And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet.According to the Targum of Jonathan, another priest was to do this, but the reference seems to be to Eleazar. Cedar-wood may be regarded as the emblem of fragrance and incorruption; hyssop as the emblem of purification; and scarlet (or crimson) wool or cloth may be regarded as emblematical both of sin, which is compared to it in Isa. 1:18, and also of the blood, which is the life, the shedding of which was needful in order to the remission of sin. All of these were used in the purification of the leper (Lev. 14:4). In both cases there appears to be a typical reference to the sprinkling of the blood of Christ. (See. Heb. 9:13-14).
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
6. Cedar is remarkable for its power to resist decay. The cedar roof of the temple of Diana at Ephesus lasted four hundred years, and beams in the temple of Apollo lasted eleven hundred and seventy years. Hence cedar symbolizes the prolonged continuance of life, and hyssop purification from the corruption of death, and scarlet, or scarlet wool, the strongest vital energy, so that the ashes might be regarded “as the quintessence of all that purified and strengthened life, refined and sublimated by fire.” Leyrer. See Lev 14:4, note.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Eleazar to Cast Cedar Wood, Hyssop and Scarlet into the Burning Remains of the Heifer While It Burned ( Num 19:6 ).
Num 19:6
“ And the priest shall take cedar-wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer.”
The priest was then to cast into the place where the heifer was burning, cedar wood, hyssop and scarlet (compare here Lev 14:4). Cedar wood denoted strength and size and long life in a living thing. It was an indication of fullness of life. The cedars of Lebanon were famous for their height and beauty and long life. Hyssop was a plant used for the application of sacrificial blood and water. It was a purging and cleansing agent (Psa 51:7; compare 19:18; Exo 12:22). Scarlet was the colour of blood and might represent sacrificial death. Or it may represent the destruction of the sin that caused death (Isa 1:18), or the emergence of new life (Gen 38:28; Gen 38:30). Thus this emphasised the introduction of life, cleansing and atonement into the ashes.
Fuente: Commentary Series on the Bible by Peter Pett
Num 19:6. The priest shall take cedar-wood, and hyssop, &c. See Lev 14:4. The Apostle, Heb 9:19 mentions scarlet wood and hyssop as used by Moses himself when he sprinkled the book of the covenant, &c. with the blood of the sacrifice; and therefore these things, which appear to have been used of old, as cleansers either of inward or outward filth, are ordered here to be burnt with the ashes of the heifer, which were to be mingled with the water of purification, as proper to denote its virtue to cleanse from legal pollutions those who were sprinkled with it.
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
Perhaps these things were shadowy representations of the incense of JESUS’S merits. See Lev 14:6-7 .
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Num 19:6 And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast [it] into the midst of the burning of the heifer.
Ver. 6. Cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet. ] Hereby was signified, that Christ, howsoever in respect of our sins he was burnt up with the fire of his Father’s wrath; yet by the everlasting Spirit, whereby he offered up himself without spot to God, and by the gifts and graces of it, he was a full sacrifice of a sweet smelling savour to God to purge offences. Heb 9:14 Psa 51:9 Eph 5:2
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Lev 14:4, Lev 14:6, Lev 14:49, Psa 51:7, Isa 1:18, Heb 9:19-23
Reciprocal: Num 19:2 – a red heifer Jos 2:18 – scarlet thread Son 4:3 – scarlet