Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
The water of purification is described, prepared from the ashes of a burnt red heifer.
Vulgate Text: Numbers 19:1-22
1. And the Lord spoke to Moses and Aaron, saying: 2. This is the ordinance of the victim which the Lord has appointed. Command the children of Israel to bring to you a red cow of full age, in which there is no blemish, and which has not borne the yoke: 3. and you shall deliver her to Eleazar the priest, who, having led her forth outside the camp, shall sacrifice her in the sight of all; 4. and dipping his finger in her blood, he shall sprinkle it toward the doors of the tabernacle seven times, 5. and he shall burn her in the sight of all, both her skin and flesh, as well as her blood and dung being delivered to the flames. 6. The priest shall also cast cedar wood, and hyssop, and scarlet twice dyed into the flame that consumes the cow. 7. And then at last, having washed his garments and his body, he shall enter the camp, and shall be defiled until the evening. 8. Moreover, he who shall have burned her shall wash his garments and his body, and shall be unclean until the evening. 9. And a clean man shall gather the ashes of the cow, and shall pour them out outside the camp in a very clean place, that they may be kept for the multitude of the children of Israel, and for the water of sprinkling, because the cow was burned for sin. 10. And when he who carried the ashes of the cow shall have washed his garments, he shall be unclean until the evening. The children of Israel and the strangers who dwell among them shall observe this as a holy ordinance in perpetuity. 11. He who shall have touched the corpse of a man, and for this reason shall have been unclean for seven days, 12. shall be sprinkled with this water on the third and seventh day, and so shall be cleansed. If he shall not have been sprinkled on the third day, he cannot be cleansed on the seventh. 13. Everyone who shall have touched the dead body of a human soul, and shall not have been sprinkled with this mixture, shall pollute the tabernacle of the Lord, and shall perish from Israel; because he was not sprinkled with the water of expiation, he shall be unclean, and his uncleanness shall remain upon him. 14. This is the law of a man who dies in a tent: All who enter that tent, and all the vessels that are therein, shall be polluted for seven days. 15. A vessel that has no cover or binding over it shall be unclean. 16. If anyone in a field shall have touched the corpse of a slain man, or of one who has died of himself, or a bone of his, or a tomb, he shall be unclean for seven days. 17. And they shall take of the ashes of the burning and of the sin offering, and shall pour living waters upon them into a vessel. 18. In which when a clean man shall have dipped hyssop, he shall sprinkle from it the whole tent, and all the furniture, and the men polluted by such contagion: 19. and in this way the clean man shall purify the unclean on the third and seventh day, and being expiated on the seventh day, he shall wash both himself and his garments, and shall be unclean until the evening. 20. If anyone shall not have been expiated by this rite, that soul shall perish from the midst of the assembly; because he has polluted the Sanctuary of the Lord, and was not sprinkled with the water of purification. 21. This shall be a perpetual lawful precept. He also who sprinkles the waters shall wash his garments. Everyone who shall have touched the waters of expiation shall be unclean until the evening. 22. Whatever the unclean person shall have touched, he shall make unclean; and the soul that shall have touched any of these things shall be unclean until the evening.
Verse 2: The Ordinance of the Victim -- the Red Cow
2. THIS IS THE ORDINANCE (that is, the ceremony, or ceremonial law: for this is what the Hebrew chucka signifies) OF THE VICTIM — namely the expiatory victim, from whose ashes the water of purification was to be made.
LET THEM BRING TO YOU A RED COW. — The red or blood-colored hue is a symbol of sin, and this from the fact that the shedding of blood, or homicide, is the greatest sin; hence sins in Scripture are called "bloods," and "men of blood" are called sinners. The red cow therefore signified that the sinner is guilty of blood and of death, as well as of burning in the fire of hell; for this cow was burned, so that by her ashes the unclean person who had touched a dead body might be purified and expiated: for this was a type of the sinner; for contact with a corpse signified contact with sin.
OF FULL AGE (in Hebrew "perfect," which our translator fittingly understood as perfection of age, and consequently of stature and size: for the integrity of the body is expressed by the following condition, where it says) IN WHICH THERE IS NO BLEMISH — that is, no bodily defect; for by this phrase is signified not a blemish of color, but of deformity, as is clear from Leviticus XXII, 22.
NOR HAS BORNE THE YOKE. — For it is not fitting that this victim, which will serve God for the expiation of men, should have served man.
It is very likely that this cow was sacrificed not only in Canaan, but also in the desert, and this for the purification of lepers, those with seminal emissions, and menstruating women, but especially for the purification of Levites and priests, who had to approach, touch, and carry the tabernacle. For they could not do this if they were unclean: and there is no doubt that in the desert the Levites often contracted uncleanness, both from funerals and from other sources: that uncleanness therefore had to be expiated by this victim, that is, by the waters of purification prepared from the ashes of this victim.
Verse 3: Deliver Her to Eleazar the Priest
3. AND YOU SHALL DELIVER HER TO ELEAZAR THE PRIEST, WHO SHALL SACRIFICE HER, HAVING LED HER FORTH OUTSIDE THE CAMP — because this victim was not solemn and festive, such that Aaron the high priest should sacrifice her, but mournful and lustral; hence Eleazar the priest, the son of Aaron, is commanded to sacrifice her. Moreover, he is here commanded to sacrifice her "outside the camp," because she was to be sacrificed for the sins of the whole people, so that she would be entirely burned to ashes, which would be expiatory, that is, from which, mixed with water, the water of expiation would be made. Hence this cow, as if about to take upon herself all the uncleannesses of the Hebrews, was considered very unclean: for the priest who sacrificed her was considered unclean until evening, as also was the one who burned her and collected her ashes. Hence she is commanded to be sacrificed and burned outside the camp; at the same time so that by this it might allegorically be signified that Christ was to suffer outside Jerusalem, as the Apostle says, Hebrews XIII, 12. The Septuagint translates, "and they shall slaughter her before him," that is Eleazar, as though not Eleazar himself, but others before him ought to sacrifice this cow. But the Hebrew, Chaldean, and our translator indicate that none other than Eleazar himself sacrificed this cow.
Verse 4: Sprinkle toward the Doors of the Tabernacle
4. AND DIPPING HIS FINGER IN HER BLOOD, HE SHALL SPRINKLE IT TOWARD THE DOORS OF THE TABERNACLE — that is, toward the entrance of the tabernacle, and this from a distance; for the one sacrificing this cow was not in the court or the tabernacle, so as to be able to touch it; but he was outside the camp, and there, sprinkling the blood of the slaughtered heifer, he turned himself toward the eastern part of the tabernacle, and this so that by this it might be signified that purification from sins is made for God, who was represented by the tabernacle as by a temple, and that we are bound to punishment by our uncleannesses and sins before Him, and that through this victim satisfaction is, as it were, made to Him, and men are released from this guilt before Him. Hence it is clear that the sacrifice and burning of this red cow had to be done in the place where the temple was, namely at Jerusalem, but outside the city: both because this sacrifice was a priestly function, which could not be performed elsewhere than where the temple was; and because from the blood of this cow they had to sprinkle seven times toward the eastern part of the tabernacle, or temple; hence they could not be far from it in this sacrifice: so Abulensis.
Allegorically, the red cow, says Theodoret, Question XXXVI, and Saint Augustine, Question XXXIII, and Rabanus, signifies the earthly body of the second Adam, namely of Christ the Lord, because the name of Adam was derived from Adama, that is, from the red earth from which His body was formed; the female sex signifies the weakness of the flesh; full age and freedom signify the perfect age and stature, as well as the freedom of Christ: this cow was sacrificed by Eleazar, that is, by the Jews; the cedar wood is a figure of the cross, the scarlet of the blood, the hyssop of vivifying grace.
Tropologically, we slaughter the red cow when we extinguish the flesh from wantonness and its pleasure, which we offer with hyssop and cedar wood and scarlet, "because with the mortification of the flesh we burn the sacrifice of faith, hope, and charity. Hyssop indeed is accustomed to cleanse our inner parts; and through Peter it is said (Acts XV): Cleansing their hearts by faith. Cedar wood yields to no decay: because the goal of heavenly hope does not consume it. Whence also through Peter it is said (1 Peter 1): He has regenerated us unto a living hope, through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, unto an inheritance incorruptible, and undefiled, and that does not fade away. But scarlet glows with a red color: because him whom charity fills, it inflames. Whence also in the Gospel, Truth says: I have come to cast fire upon the earth. But the scarlet ordered to be offered is twice dyed, so that before the eyes of the interior Judge, our charity might be cultivated by love of both God and neighbor: so that the converted mind might not so love rest for the love of God as to neglect concern for the neighbor's benefit, nor so serve occupation for love of neighbor as to completely abandon quiet, extinguishing in itself the fire of heavenly love;" thus far Saint Gregory, VI Moralia, XXV.
Verse 5: He Shall Burn Her
5. AND HE SHALL BURN HER — not by himself, but through his servants. "He shall burn," therefore, that is, he shall cause her to be burned (as is clear from verse 8) "her," entirely with the skin, flesh, blood, and dung, as follows.
Verse 6: Cedar Wood, Hyssop, and Scarlet
6. THE PRIEST SHALL ALSO CAST INTO THE FLAME CEDAR WOOD, AND HYSSOP, AND SCARLET TWICE DYED — because these were expiatory: the reasons why cedar, hyssop, and scarlet were employed for expiation and for the expiatory victim, I gave at Leviticus chapter XIV, verses 4 and 5.
Verse 7: He Shall Be Defiled until Evening
7. AND HE SHALL BE DEFILED — he shall be legally unclean. Note: The priest who sacrificed, and the other man who burned the red cow, were unclean until evening, because this cow, while she was being burned with her dung, skin, and blood, was something unclean, just as was the corpse of a man, or the carcasses of other animals: therefore she made clean persons who touched her unclean; but after she had been burned, her ashes had the power of purifying the legally unclean, God so ordaining. For it is ridiculous what Rabbi Gaon says, cited by Abulensis here, Question XIV, namely that the ashes of this cow were like honey, which harms the choleric but benefits the phlegmatic; for thus this ash defiled some and cleansed others.
Verse 9: Gather the Ashes in a Clean Place
9. AND A CLEAN MAN SHALL GATHER THE ASHES OF THE COW (that has been burned), AND SHALL POUR THEM OUT OUTSIDE THE CAMP IN A VERY CLEAN PLACE, THAT THEY MAY BE KEPT FOR THE MULTITUDE OF THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL (that is, let the ashes of this cow be carefully preserved by the children of Israel, to be) FOR THE WATER OF SPRINKLING (in Hebrew it is, for the water of uncleanness, by which they may cleanse themselves from legal uncleanness; whence follows): BECAUSE THE COW WAS BURNED FOR SIN. — In Hebrew, because this cow is sin, that is, she is the expiatory victim for sin.
Hence it is likely that these ashes of the red heifer in the land of Canaan were carried from Jerusalem, where she had been sacrificed and burned, to individual heads of families, so that each person who had contracted uncleanness might have purification at hand. Thus we read in John II that in Cana of Galilee there were placed six water jars, for purification. For these water jars contained the water of purification: just as among us chrism, consecrated by the Bishop in the Cathedral church, is transmitted and carried to the individual parishes of the diocese. For through this ash there was a common expiation of all uncleannesses (although in many cases they also needed additional purifications, and the washing of garments, or even of the whole body); for otherwise many uncleannesses would have been removed without purification, as for example contact with unclean animals: for no other purification is prescribed for this in Leviticus chapter XI, 43 and 44, and because the Apostle, Hebrews IX, 13, attributes to this ash a general cleansing of the flesh.
The contrary, however, is not improbable, namely that the ash of the red heifer only expiated the uncleanness contracted from contact with the dead; for only this is expressed here. So Abulensis, Question XV.
Note: This was the rite of purification and expiation, as is gathered from verse 19. They cast this ash of the red heifer into a water jar, or another vessel full of living water, for example, spring water. Then some other clean person would sprinkle the unclean with this water, but in such a way that he himself was still considered unclean until sunset.
Allegorically, this water of ash and purification was a type of the blood of Christ. For, "if the ash of a heifer sprinkled on the defiled sanctifies them for the cleansing of the flesh, how much more shall the blood of Christ, who through the Holy Spirit offered Himself without blemish to God, cleanse our conscience from dead works, to serve the living God?" says the Apostle, Hebrews IX, 13.
Again, this water of ash and purification signified our holy water, that is, blessed water, which we use for the expiation of venial sins. For, as Pope Alexander I rightly argues, who was the sixth after Saint Peter, epistle 1, to all the orthodox: "If the ash of a heifer sprinkled sanctified and cleansed the people, how much more does water, which has been sprinkled with salt and consecrated by divine prayers, sanctify and cleanse the people?"
Clement of Rome writes, book VIII of the Apostolic Constitutions, chapter XXXV, that Saint Matthew instituted the use of holy water, and he records the rite of blessing prescribed by him. And God declared the power and fruit of this blessing with many miracles.
For Saint Chrysostom, blessing water and sprinkling with it a sick son, restored him healthy to his mother, as is recorded in his Life.
Saint Quintianus, in the year of Christ 508, Bishop of the city of Auvergne, healed the household of the senator Hortensius, seized by a violent fever, by sending them blessed water; witness is Gregory of Tours in his Life.
Saint Fortunatus restored to wholeness a certain Goth's broken limb through blessed water, as Saint Gregory reports, I Dialogues, chapter X.
Saint Malachy, Bishop of Ireland, healed the son of the King of Scotland and a woman suffering from cancer with blessed water, as Saint Bernard reports in his Life.
Saint Odilo, Abbot of Cluny, in the year of the Lord 1048, cured a lunatic with holy water, as Peter Damian reports in his Life.
Saint Anselm, in the year of the Lord 1106, restored sight to a blind man by the sprinkling of blessed water, as Eadmer reports in his Life, book II.
Saint Willibrord, Bishop of Utrecht, in the year of the Lord 700, freed a house from the vexation of demons through the same, as Alcuin reports in his Life.
Josephus, a Christian convert from Judaism, in the year of the Lord 327, dispersed the magical tricks of the Jews through blessed water, as Baronius reports from Epiphanius.
Saint Marcellus, Bishop of Apamea, put to flight with blessed water a demon impeding the demolition of the temple of Jupiter at Apamea, and demolished the temple, as Theodoret reports, book V, chapter XXI, and Baronius, in the year of Christ 389.
Hear what Saint Hubert, Bishop of Liege, thought about this water, in the year of Christ 700: "Go, O water, which has been blessed by priestly consecration with the admixture of salt, and impregnated with the power of prayer to put to flight the wickedness of the enemy, and let there also be brought hither oil likewise blessed by Apostolic authority, by whose sprinkling and anointing the enemy's poisonous phantoms will soon be so put to flight from here, that he will no longer dare to bring his machinations." So his Life records, which is found in Surius, November 2.
Emperor Leo VI wrote a book On the Preparation for War, where in chapter XIII he writes thus: "On the day before the battle is to be joined, the general of the army should take care that the entire army is purified with holy water, by a priest;" Baronius reports this in the year of the Lord 911. In this century in the Indies, through this water wonderful things have been done and continue to be done. In Japan, the sick are commonly cured when they have drunk this water, as is clear from the Japanese letters.
Verse 10: A Holy Ordinance in Perpetuity
10. THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL SHALL HAVE THIS, etc., A HOLY ORDINANCE IN PERPETUITY. — "Holy," that is, firm and inviolable, as a law enacted in perpetual right; this is clear from the Hebrew.
Verses 11-12: Purification on the Third and Seventh Day
11 and 12. HE WHO SHALL HAVE TOUCHED A HUMAN CORPSE, AND FOR THIS REASON SHALL HAVE BEEN UNCLEAN FOR SEVEN DAYS, SHALL BE SPRINKLED WITH THIS WATER ON THE THIRD AND SEVENTH DAY, AND SO SHALL BE CLEANSED. — Why was he unclean for seven days? Why was he to be purified on the third and seventh day? Aben Ezra responds, because the moon in seven days makes a quadrature with the sun from the time of conjunction. For the moon completes its course in 28 days and returns to the sun from which it had departed: and a fourth part of 28 is seven; again three is roughly half of this quadrature, namely seven: for since the moon is the mother of moist things, and this sprinkling was done in water, which is moist, hence God willed that the moon should then have influence over it, so that this sprinkling might be effective. But these are frivolous fantasies of a lunatic mind. The true cause was the will of God, so ordaining; the congruence was that the number seven is a symbol of perfection, in the middle of which, namely the third day, and at the end, namely the seventh day, God willed the unclean to be purified, so that the purification might be considered full and perfect.
The Gentiles imitated this purification: for however many had waited at a funeral, while the body was being burned at the pyre, until the relics had been collected and preserved and the funeral had ended, they did not depart from this mournful duty until they had been purified three times with water on account of the pollution contracted from the funeral. Virgil, most learned in rites, teaches this in the funeral of Misenus, Aeneid VI:
Chorinaeus covered the collected bones in a brazen urn.
The same man thrice bore the pure water around his companions,
Sprinkling them with light dew and a branch of fruitful olive.
Where he also mentions the aspergillum, which was made from rosemary and the fruitful olive.
Verse 13: He Shall Perish from Israel
13. EVERYONE WHO SHALL HAVE TOUCHED THE DEAD BODY OF A HUMAN SOUL (a corpse), AND SHALL NOT HAVE BEEN SPRINKLED WITH THIS MIXTURE (that is, with this water of purification, mixed with the ashes of the red heifer) SHALL POLLUTE THE TABERNACLE OF THE LORD (as far as is in his power, if, that is, he enters it while being polluted and unclean, before he has purified himself with this water of purification; hence for the violation of the sanctuary) HE SHALL PERISH FROM ISRAEL — that is, he shall be killed by the judges, if the matter is established; but if it is hidden, with Me as avenger he shall meet an unexpected death. So Abulensis.
Verse 14: The Law of a Man Who Dies in a Tent
14. THIS IS THE LAW OF A MAN (concerning man, with regard to man) WHO DIES IN A TENT: ALL WHO ENTER THAT TENT, AND ALL THE VESSELS THAT ARE THEREIN, SHALL BE POLLUTED FOR SEVEN DAYS. — From this passage the Jews adopted the custom that when someone dies in a house, they pour out all the water that was in the house in vessels, outside the house, because they judge it to be unclean. Other simpler folk also do this, because they think that the soul recently departed from the body washes itself in the water of the house, and infects it by its contact. Others add that the angel of death, that is Satan, washes his sword, with which he killed that man, again in that water. But both of these latter explanations are ridiculous: the first is valid, and should be done according to this law, if the vessel was not covered; for then it was defiled, as is said in verse 15; but if it was covered, it was not defiled by the man dying, and therefore it was not necessary to pour out the water contained in it: so Abulensis.
Verse 15: A Vessel without a Cover
15. A VESSEL THAT HAS NO COVER OR BINDING OVER IT SHALL BE UNCLEAN. — For, as Saint Gregory explains morally, XXIII Moralia, chapter IX: "The covering of the lid or the binding is the censure of discipline: whoever is not pressed by it is rejected as an unclean and polluted vessel."
Verse 16: Touching a Corpse, Bone, or Tomb
16. IF ANYONE IN A FIELD SHALL HAVE TOUCHED A CORPSE, etc., OR A BONE OF HIS, OR A TOMB, HE SHALL BE UNCLEAN FOR SEVEN DAYS. — The greatest uncleanness among the Jews was that of corpses, so much so that those who touched tombs were unclean for seven days. Hence they had their tombs not near the temple, nor in the cities, lest they be polluted by encountering them, but outside them (as is clear from Luke VII, 12, and John XIX, 41, concerning the tomb of Christ) in fields and separated places. Hence also King Josiah, wishing to profane the temples of idols and remove all religion from the places, brought the bones of the dead into them, IV Kings XXIII, 14.
Likewise the Gentiles buried their dead not in the city, but outside it, both lest the air in the city be corrupted by the stench of corpses, and "lest the sacred things of the city be defiled," as Paulus says, book II of the Received Opinions, title 21; and "lest the holy right of the municipalities be polluted," as Diocletian and Maximian say in their rescript on this matter: for the Romans and other Gentiles believed that whatever was sacred to the gods above was contaminated by the very sight or touch of anything funereal. Nor was it lawful for those polluted by a funeral to sacrifice: wherefore if someone had to do both for a serious reason, "he took pains to complete the sacred rites before acknowledging the death. Whence also Horatius Pulvillus, during the dedication of the Capitol, when the death of his son was announced by his enemies, said: Let it be a corpse, and refused to acknowledge the death until he had dedicated the temples," says Servius on book X of the Aeneid. Similar was the rite of the Greeks, as is clear from Lucian's On the Syrian Goddess.
Finally, it was an inauspicious omen if anyone happened to come upon tombs. Hear Livy, book XXX: "One of the sailors was ordered to climb the mast, to spy out what region they were holding, and when he said that the prow was facing a ruined tomb," Hannibal was horrified. From the same rite arose the fact that the "god Viduus" was worshipped by them outside the city, as Saint Cyprian testifies, in his book On the Vanity of Idols: "To such an extent are the names of gods invented among the Romans, that they even have a god Viduus, who separates the soul from the body, who, as being of funereal and deathly nature, is not kept within the walls, but is placed outside." Theodoret criticizes this superstition of the ancients, book VIII of On the Cure of Greek Affections.
The situation is different among Christians, who have their tombs near churches, so that they may pray for the dead, and so that they may constantly have before their eyes the image and hope of death and resurrection.
Tropologically, corpses are sins. Hence Saint Paul, Hebrews IX, 14, calls sins "dead works." Whence Chrysostom, homily 15 on John: "If anyone formerly touched a dead body, he was contaminated; and here if anyone touches a dead work, that is, sin, he is defiled in his conscience." Likewise: "If he who touched a dead body ought not to enter the temple, how much more he who has dead works? For this contamination is the worst;" therefore let him immediately wash himself through confession, and let him not again touch the dead, that is, let him not return to sin. And again: "It is said that when a plague arises, it corrupts bodies; such is sin: it differs in nothing from a plague, not because it corrupts the air first and then the bodies, but because it immediately leaps upon the soul," etc. What can be imagined more foul than vomit, or more disgusting and horrible to eat? Such is he who returns to sin. Whence Proverbs XXVI: "As a dog that returns to its vomit, so is a fool who repeats his folly."
Verse 17: Living Waters upon the Ashes
17. AND THEY SHALL TAKE OF THE ASHES OF THE BURNING AND OF THE SIN OFFERING (that is, of the heifer burned for the expiation of legal sins: hence the heifer is here called "sin," by metonymy), AND THEY SHALL POUR LIVING WATERS UPON THEM (the ashes). — Living waters are those that move and flow, such as spring and river waters; dead waters are those that stand and stagnate.
Verse 20: He Who Is Not Expiated Shall Perish
20. IF ANYONE SHALL NOT HAVE BEEN EXPIATED BY THIS RITE, THAT SOUL SHALL PERISH. — Note: This uncleanness of touching a corpse lasted only seven days, after which it expired and ceased of itself, says Abulensis. For this is what is said in verse 16: "He shall be unclean for seven days." But the contrary is more true, namely that this uncleanness did not cease except through expiation by the water of ashes. For in verse 13 it says: "He who has not been sprinkled with the water of expiation shall be unclean, and his uncleanness shall remain upon him." The unclean person was therefore obliged to purify himself with this water of ashes: and if he refused, he was punished with death, for violating God's law, either by the judges, if the matter was established, or by God Himself, if the matter was hidden. But if he had omitted this purification through forgetfulness, and later remembered it, he was bound to offer the sacrifice prescribed for his fault in Leviticus V, 3 and 5; if he did not remember, it was not imputed to him for punishment. So Abulensis.
Abulensis notes, Question XXI, that the Jews no longer observe any expiations, nor are they bound by them, even if they persist in Judaism and their erroneous conscience, by which they think they are still bound by the old laws. For these expiations were prescribed in relation to the Sanctuary, namely so that they would not approach it unless clean or expiated; but now they have no Sanctuary. Secondly, because this red heifer, from which the water of purification was made, had to be sacrificed by a priest, in the place where the temple was, and her blood had to be sprinkled toward the temple; but now they have neither priests nor temple: hence they cannot sacrifice this red heifer. For the same reason the Jews did not observe these purifications during the Babylonian captivity; for in it the temple had been destroyed.
Verse 21: He Who Touches the Waters of Expiation
21. EVERYONE WHO SHALL HAVE TOUCHED THE WATERS OF EXPIATION SHALL BE UNCLEAN UNTIL EVENING. — "Everyone;" therefore also the one sprinkling the unclean person, and indeed even the one himself sprinkled with this water, was indeed cleansed from the prior uncleanness, for example, of a corpse, but contracted another from contact with this water, by which he was considered unclean until evening, as is clear from verse 17. So Abulensis. This water was therefore both expiatory and at the same time unclean; just as lye, although it is itself unclean, nevertheless cleanses cloths.
Verse 22: Whatever the Unclean Person Touches
22. WHATEVER THE UNCLEAN PERSON SHALL HAVE TOUCHED, HE SHALL MAKE UNCLEAN. — "Unclean," not legally: for in that case this uncleanness would have immediately pervaded all the Jews; but naturally, as were only lepers, those with seminal emissions, and menstruating women. For whatever these touched, they made unclean; but if anyone further touched these unclean things, he did not thereby become unclean, as I said in Leviticus. So Abulensis. But since lepers, those with seminal emissions, and menstruating women are not discussed here, nor is any mention of them made in this chapter, hence more truly Lyranus refers this to the unclean person who is unclean from contact with the ash-waters, that is, the waters of expiation. For these words should be referred to what immediately precedes, where it says: "Everyone who touches the waters of expiation shall be unclean until evening." For then it immediately adds: "Whatever the unclean person (namely the one just mentioned, that is, unclean from contact with the water of expiation) shall have touched, he shall make unclean," so much so that he breathes his uncleanness upon and communicates it to another who touches him; for this is what follows.
AND THE SOUL THAT SHALL HAVE TOUCHED ANY OF THESE THINGS SHALL BE UNCLEAN UNTIL EVENING. — "Of these," namely the things mentioned in this chapter, that is, the red heifer, her blood, the ashes, the water of purification. For whoever touched these was unclean until evening, as was said in verses 7, 10, and 21. So Abulensis. But since this verse depends on the preceding one and corresponds to it equally, hence more genuinely Lyranus says: He who touches anything of these things, namely what the unclean person touched (who is unclean from contact with the waters of purification), this person from contact with them shall be unclean until evening. For these waters, being made from ashes and prepared from the burning of the dung and skin of the heifer, although they were expiatory, were nevertheless considered unclean, so much so that whoever touched them was not only unclean himself, but also sprinkled his uncleanness upon all things that he touched, so that whoever in turn touched those things touched and therefore polluted by him, would be polluted and become unclean until evening. That this is the meaning is clear both from the connection of the sentences and from the Hebrew and Chaldean texts, which do not admit another meaning.
Note: This uncleanness ceased by itself at evening, without any other expiation; for otherwise there would have been an infinite regress in expiations. So Lyranus.
The Number of Red Heifers Sacrificed
Finally, the Hebrews hand down, and from them Burgensis, that only six red heifers were sacrificed throughout the entire duration of both temples: namely the first, in the time of Moses through Eleazar, of which it is spoken here, and its ashes lasted throughout the entire first temple; the second, in the time of Ezra, at the beginning of the second temple; and two others were sacrificed by Simeon the Just, at different times (for he was high priest for 80 years); and finally two others were sacrificed by the high priest John, who was the father of Mattathias, from whom the Maccabees descended. But it is hard to believe that the small amount of ashes from one cow, to be distributed among so many, could have sufficed for such an enormous, practically innumerable multitude of Jews; for the ashes of one cow were distributed throughout all of Judea. For individual Jews frequently used them for their own purification. Therefore it is more probable, as Lyranus says, that one red cow was sacrificed every year.