Numbers 19:6

The priest is to take cedar wood, hyssop, and scarlet wool and throw them onto the burning heifer.

Berean Standard Bible

Study note

Setting — The text records a ritual command directed to the priest during the wilderness purification ceremony. The instruction occurs immediately after the directive to burn the heifer completely.

The words — הַ/כֹּהֵ֗ן (ha./ko.Hen) translates literally as "the priest," and וְ/הִשְׁלִ֕יךְ (ve./hish.Likh) means "and he will throw." These terms specify the designated actor and the required physical action.

The thread — This exact combination of cedar, hyssop, and scarlet appears in Leviticus 14:4, Leviticus 14:6, and Leviticus 14:49 as standard components for cleansing and purification rites.

Why it lands — The verse demands precise obedience to a physical procedure, requiring the priest to actively add designated materials to the fire. It establishes a concrete pattern where ritual elements are explicitly integrated into the purification process.

Drafted by a language model from the text, its original words and its cross-references, then checked against them. It can still be wrong: open the verse in the app to report it.

The Hebrew words

וְלָקַ֣חve./la.Kachand/ he will take הַכֹּהֵ֗ןha./ko.Henthe/ priest עֵ֥ץ'etzwood of אֶ֛רֶז'E.rezcedar וְאֵז֖וֹבve./'e.Zovand/ hyssop וּשְׁנִ֣יu./she.Niand/ scarlet of תוֹלָ֑עַתto.La.'atscarlet stuff וְהִשְׁלִ֕יךְve./hish.Likhand/ he will throw [them]אֶל־'el-into תּ֖וֹךְTokh[the] middle of שְׂרֵפַ֥תse.re.Fat[the] burning of הַפָּרָֽה׃ha./pa.Rahthe/ heifer

King James Version

And the priest shall take cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet, and cast it into the midst of the burning of the heifer.

Cross-references

Leviticus 14:4 the priest shall order that two live clean birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop be brought for the one to be cleansed.
Leviticus 14:6 And he is to take the live bird together with the cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop, and dip them into the blood of the bird that was slaughtered over the fresh water.
Leviticus 14:49 He is to take two birds, cedar wood, scarlet yarn, and hyssop to purify the house;
Psalms 51:7 Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Isaiah 1:18 “Come now, let us reason together,” says the LORD. “Though your sins are like scarlet, they will be as white as snow; though they are as red as crimson, they will become like wool.
Hebrews 9:19 For when Moses had proclaimed every commandment of the law to all the people, he took the blood of calves and goats, along with water, scarlet wool, and hyssop, and sprinkled the scroll and all the people,