“The leaders of that town are to bring the heifer down to a vadi with a stream in it that never dries up, to a place that is neither plowed nor sown; and they are to break the cow’s neck there in the vadi.“-Deuteronomy 21:4
Following on the heels of my last post, we’re in the midst of discussing the ritual that must be conducted in response to the discovery of an anonymous murder victim’s body found out in a field.
First, the town’s elders are to bring a Heifer to a VADI (riverbed) that is all dried up and there break the heifer’s neck.
Now I don’t know if you’ve had a good look at a Heifer recently, but their necks are thick and strong as all heck.
In other words, it ain’t no easy task to break a Heifer’s neck.
And from the Heifer’s perspective, this is a rather cruel and very painful thing to do.
The whole ordeal could also take quite a bit of time given the multiple blows it would take to break that dang heifer’s neck.
Second, do you remember that we encountered a similar procedure earlier in the Book of Exodus?
“…you are to set apart for Adonai everything that is first from the womb. Every firstborn male animal will belong to Adonai. Every firstborn from a donkey, you are to redeem with a lamb; but if you choose not to redeem it, you must break its neck. But from people, you are to redeem every firstborn son.”-Exodus 13:12-13
And also here…
“Everything that is first from the womb is mine. Of all your livestock, you are to set aside for me the males, the firstborn of cattle and flock. The firstborn of a donkey you must redeem with a lamb; if you won’t redeem it, break its neck. All the firstborn of your sons you are to redeem, and no one is to appear before me empty-handed.”-Exodus 34:19-20
In these cases in Exodus, the neck breaking is being applied to the firstborn of UNCLEAN animals.
When I say “unclean animals” I’m referring to animals that according to their species aren’t eligible to be sacrificed or they can’t be sacrificed due to physical imperfections.
However, in the Heifer ritual we’re studying here in Deuteronomy 21, there isn’t anything to indicate that this particular Heifer would NOT be suitable for sacrifice or is in some way UNCLEAN.
Notice also that the priests are to be present, although we aren’t given any specific details regarding what their tasks are.
Most likely they were there to serve as a sort of officiating presence to make sure all procedures were done properly.
Alrighty, let me close this post with a point you may find surprising.
The breaking of the neck of this Heifer in response to the discovery of an unknown murder victim is NOT a sacrifice.
Why do you think that is?
The answer to that question is basic Torah 101.
There are three basic Torah 101 reasons why we can know with absolute confidence that this isn’t a sacrifice.
The first reason is that a sacrifice has to take place on HOLY ground, either at the Tabernacle or later the Temple.
Yet this particular ritual can actually be done at any number of places.
The second reason is that the animal is not being sacrificed on any altar.
The third and final reason is that the animal is NOT burned up with fire.
All three of these elements must be satisfied in order to consider an animal being killed for atonement or purification purposes to be considered a sacrifice.
Hence, we can know with confidence that this is NOT a sacrifice but must be something else.
We’ll continue this discussion the next time we meet.
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