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b-hebrew - Re: [b-hebrew] red heifer

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  • From: "Jack Kilmon" <jkilmon AT historian.net>
  • To: "Jim West" <jwest AT highland.net>, "Yigal Levin" <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>
  • Cc: b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org, biblical-studies AT yahoogroups.com
  • Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] red heifer
  • Date: Wed, 22 Dec 2004 11:15:59 -0600

----- Original Message ----- From: "Jim West" <jwest AT highland.net>
To: "Yigal Levin" <leviny1 AT mail.biu.ac.il>
Cc: <b-hebrew AT lists.ibiblio.org>; <biblical-studies AT yahoogroups.com>
Sent: Wednesday, December 22, 2004 7:48 AM
Subject: Re: [b-hebrew] red heifer


At 08:44 AM 12/22/2004, you wrote:
All very intersting, but my question was, why the translators took such a
general term as "cow" and translated it as the more narrow "heifer". Did
they have any reason to think that this particular cow was special in any
way, besides its color?

Yigal


Isn't a heifer a virgin? And if so, it seems there would be significant reasons for suggesting that this special cow was even more special. Now forgive me - because I'm not a farmer- if I'm wrong about the virgin cow thing.

Jim

You are right in that the Red Heifer needed to be a perfect and totally unblemished sacrifice and that means "virginal" as well. The parah adumah had to be without defect and, as in humans, "service" from a male causes a permanent defect.

Jack




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