Chapter commentary
Numbers Chapter 19
1
Nu 19:1-22.
繁體中文
English original
Nu 19:1-22.
THE WATER OF SEPARATION.
2
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繁體中文
2. 這是律法的條例——這是一項性質特殊的律例，為除罪之潔淨而設，且由公費備辦，因它是為全會眾的利益。
你吩咐以色列人，把一隻沒有殘疾的紅母牛等——這是全本聖經中唯一一處指明祭牲顏色的例子。有人認為這條例是為對抗埃及人的迷信觀念而設。埃及人每次許願必獻紅牛，其祭司極其仔細地查驗牛是否具備所要求的特徵，且這是他們每年獻給他們的惡神提豐的祭物。藉着性別與顏色兩方面的揀選，神為要從以色列人心中根除一項他們所鍾愛的埃及迷信——這迷信關乎他們動物崇拜中的兩樣對象。
English original
2. This is the ordinance of the law--an institution of a peculiar nature ordained by law for the purification of sin, and provided at the public expense because it was for the good of the whole community.
Speak unto the children of Israel, that they bring thee a red heifer without spot, &c.--This is the only case in which the color of the victim is specified. It has been supposed the ordinance was designed in opposition to the superstitious notions of the Egyptians. That people never offered a vow but they sacrificed a red bull, the greatest care being taken by their priests in examining whether it possessed the requisite characteristics, and it was an annual offering to Typhon, their evil being. By the choice, both of the sex and the color, provision was made for eradicating from the minds of the Israelites a favorite Egyptian superstition regarding two objects of their animal worship.
3
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3-6. 你們要把她交給祭司以利亞撒，他必牽到營外——他是副大祭司，之所以揀選他擔此差事，是因為這事的執行會招致暫時的不潔，而當值的大祭司卻須極力防備沾染。要把牛「牽到營外」，是按照那背負百姓之罪的祭牲當行的律例，也是基督的預表
(Heb 13:12; 亦見 Le 24:14)。 祭司要把血灑在帳幕「前面」——按字面是「朝着」或「靠近」帳幕——這描述似乎意味着：他要麼用盆盛了部分血帶到帳幕門口
(Le 4:17)， 要麼在灑血時把臉轉向聖所；因這儀式的不潔影響，他不能貼近聖所。他以這姿態表明自己所獻的是贖罪祭，並盼靠着神的恩典、憑仰望施恩座而蒙悅納。除了灑血所用之外，全牛都被火燒盡，與灰相摻的材料，與灑痲瘋病人所用的相同
(Le 14:4-7)。 這是除污穢的水——對以色列百姓而言，就是「成聖」之水。
English original
3-6. ye shall give her unto Eleazar the priest that he may bring her forth without the camp--He was the second or deputy high priest, and he was selected for this duty because the execution of it entailed temporary defilement, from which the acting high priest was to be preserved with the greatest care. It was led "forth without the camp," in accordance with the law regarding victims laden with the sins of the people, and thus typical of Christ
(Heb 13:12; also Le 24:14).
The priest was to sprinkle the blood "seven times" before--literally, "towards" or "near" the tabernacle, a description which seems to imply either that he carried a portion of the blood in a basin to the door of the tabernacle
(Le 4:17),
or that in the act of sprinkling he turned his face towards the sacred edifice, being disqualified through the defiling influence of this operation from approaching close to it. By this attitude he indicated that he was presenting an expiatory sacrifice, for the acceptance of which he hoped, in the grace of God, by looking to the mercy seat. Every part of it was consumed by fire except the blood used in sprinkling, and the ingredients mixed with the ashes were the same as those employed in the sprinkling of lepers
(Le 14:4-7).
It was a water of separation--that is, of "sanctification" for the people of Israel.
7
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繁體中文
7. 祭司必不潔淨到晚上——所定的儀式顯出利未祭司職分的不完全，同時也預表了基督為我們贖罪時的景況
(2Co 5:21)。
English original
7. the priest shall be unclean until the even--The ceremonies prescribed show the imperfection of the Levitical priesthood, while they typify the condition of Christ when expiating our sins
(2Co 5:21).
11
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11-22. 摸了人死屍的，就必不潔淨七天——這律法記在此處，是要說明除污穢之水〔Nu 19:9〕 的用途。人死便是其中一種情形；每一個遭喪之家，家中成員都會沾染不潔；在龐大的人口中，死亡及其他不潔之事每日都有，除污穢之水必然常常需要。猶太作者說，為供應所需的潔淨之水，每年要獻一頭紅母牛，灰與灑奠的材料相摻，分發到以色列各城各鄉。
English original
11-22. He that toucheth the dead body of any man shall be unclean--This law is noticed here to show the uses to which the water of separation
[Nu 19:9]
was applied. The case of a death is one; and as in every family which sustained a bereavement the members of the household became defiled, so in an immense population, where instances of mortality and other cases of uncleanness would be daily occurring, the water of separation must have been in constant requisition. To afford the necessary supply of the cleansing mixture, the Jewish writers say that a red heifer was sacrificed every year, and that the ashes, mingled with the sprinkling ingredients, were distributed through all the cities and towns of Israel.
12
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繁體中文
12. 第三天……要潔淨自己——第三天必須用水的緣由，無論從自然或道德層面都無法解釋；因此一般人認為這規定有預表的意義——指向基督在那日復活，祂的百姓因祂得成聖；而潔淨儀式延及七日，則是要表明成聖是漸進的，直到那永遠的安息來到才算完全。凡明知故犯、不予用這水灑身的，其罪要受逐出會眾之外之罰。
English original
12. He shall purify himself . . . the third day--The necessity of applying the water on the third day is inexplicable on any natural or moral ground; and, therefore, the regulation has been generally supposed to have had a typical reference to the resurrection, on that day, of Christ, by whom His people are sanctified; while the process of ceremonial purification being extended over seven days, was intended to show that sanctification is progressive and incomplete till the arrival of the eternal Sabbath. Every one knowingly and presumptuously neglecting to have himself sprinkled with this water was guilty of an offense which was punished by excommunication.
14
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14. 人死在帳棚裏等——所舉的例子看來很細微瑣碎；但把接觸死屍所招的不潔推到如此大的範圍，無論在宗教上還是衛生上，都促成了重要的目的。一方面，這有效地防止了那深受埃及化的以色列族仿效埃及人的迷信——把祖宗的木乃伊留在自己家中；另一方面，這保證了所有人都得速速埋葬，不僅使墓地遠離人居，也把因傳染病而死者的屍體從活人的住處移開，把戰死異鄉客旅的無人收殮遺體從曠野中移去。
English original
14. when a man dieth in a tent, &c.--The instances adduced appear very minute and trivial; but important ends, both of a religious and of a sanitary nature, were promoted by carrying the idea of pollution from contact with dead bodies to so great an extent. While it would effectually prevent that Egyptianized race of Israelites imitating the superstitious custom of the Egyptians, who kept in their houses the mummied remains of their ancestors, it ensured a speedy interment to all, thus not only keeping burial places at a distance, but removing from the habitations of the living the corpses of persons who died from infectious disorders, and from the open field the unburied remains of strangers and foreigners who fell in battle.
21
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繁體中文
21. 那灑水的……和摸除污穢之水的，必不潔淨到晚上——除污穢之水所產生的相反效果——潔淨一人、卻玷污另一人——十分奇特，難有令人滿意的解釋。然而一個重要的功課由此顯明：其潔淨之效並非內在於水本身，而是出於神的命定——正如其他宗教儀節一樣，它們之所以成為有效的拯救途徑，不是因其中有何功德，或因施禮者有何功德，唯獨因神藉此所賜的恩典。
English original
21. he that sprinkleth . . . ; and he that toucheth the water of separation shall be unclean until even--The opposite effects ascribed to the water of separation--of cleansing one person and defiling another--are very singular, and not capable of very satisfactory explanation. One important lesson, however, was thus taught, that its purifying efficacy was not inherent in itself, but arose from the divine appointment, as in other ordinances of religion, which are effectual means of salvation, not from any virtue in them, or in him that administers them, but solely through the grace of God communicated thereby.
Nu 19:1-22.
除污穢的水。