And all the elders of that city, that are nearest unto him that is slain, shall wash their hands over the heifer whose neck is broken in the watercourse,
Someone lies dead in a field, no one knows the killer, and the guilt of that blood still stains the land God gave Israel. In verse 6 the elders of the nearest town wash their hands over a heifer with a broken neck — and the question is what that washing can and cannot do.
The hand-washing is public and representative. It is done in the presence of the priests, and it says something precise about the men who do it.
When a person was found dead in a field and the elders had broken the neck of the heifer, the priests were to be there as witnesses to the declaration of the elders of the nearby city. Those elders were to wash their hands over the heifer to show that their hands were clean of the murder that had taken place (v.6). This was no confession of guilt, but the opposite. Then, speaking for the city itself, they were to declare that their hands had not shed this innocent blood, and that they knew nothing about what had happened (v.7).
Clean hands do not settle the matter. What the elders cannot do, they ask God to do.
They bring no offering to make atonement for the guilt, because no one knew who the guilty person was. Instead they were to ask the Lord to provide atonement in His own perfect wisdom, and to ask that He would not charge Israel with the guilt of this murder (v.8).
Notice the order in which the officials act.
Notice, with much interest, what happens the moment the death of the victim meets the claims of justice. Something new enters the scene: "Then the priests, the sons of Levi, shall come forward." This is grace acting on the blessed ground of righteousness. The priests are the channels of grace, as the judges are the guardians of righteousness. Only after the blood was shed could the ministers of grace step forward. The death of the heifer in the valley changed everything.
Commentators differ over what the heifer's death means. One reads the broken neck as judgment:
In the valley the elders were to break the heifer's neck (v.4). This was not a sacrifice at all, and it involved no bloodshed. In fact, it reminds us of Exodus 13:13: "Every firstborn of a donkey you shall redeem with a lamb, or if you will not redeem it you shall break its neck." This is judgment, not sacrifice. So it condemned the murderer, even though no one knew who he was.
Another sees the animal that never wore a yoke as a picture of Christ:
On the other hand, the heifer that had never worn a yoke reminds us strongly of the red heifer used for purification from sin (Numbers 19), and it seems just as clearly to speak of Christ. Through all this, the broken neck of the victim strangely ties together the deed that must be cleansed away and the death that cleanses it — as if Christ were murdered and yet dying to put the crime away.
One writer applies the whole scene to Israel and to Christ.
In just this way Christ has been found slain in this world, and God is willing to see it so. He was found slain among them, among Israel themselves. God will not excuse them because their own hands did not do the deed. He will not accept excuses for it, and He will not judge them as guilty beyond hope either. When grace has turned their heart, He will provide for them, so that the very sacrifice of Christ may serve in all its atoning power to clear them of the guilt of shedding His precious blood. On man's side it was the worst possible guilt; in God's grace it is the one thing that cleanses from guilt.
The best-known hand-washing in the Bible copied this ceremony.
Pilate was determined to escape responsibility for what he was about to do under pressure. So he took part of the Jewish ritual for an unknown murder and used it for his own purpose. He washed his hands in front of the crowd and said, "I am innocent of this man's blood; see to it yourselves." So, even if they could not lift the load off Pilate, they took their own responsibility in the fullest way. No city of refuge will work for them until they look on Him whom they have pierced.
The same gesture reappears in worship, where the point is not ceremony but a life free of defilement brought to God.
The first point then here is "innocency," the washing of the hands being an expression derived from the ordinance in Deuteronomy (Deut. 21:6), where the elders wash their hands to attest their innocence of a murder in the neighborhood of their city. The psalmist means therefore to assert his readiness to pledge himself in like manner that he is not bringing defilement to Jehovah's altar. But who could praise Jehovah, lifting up unclean hands to Him?
- Blood stains. An unsolved killing still marks the land. God will not let unclaimed guilt lie there.
- Hands washed. The elders' washing declares innocence; it is not a confession. Clean hands, yet the city still needs God to provide atonement.
- Justice first. Judges guard righteousness. Only after the victim dies do the priests, the channels of grace, come near.
- Christ pictured. The heifer that never wore a yoke points to Christ, tying the crime to the death that cleanses it. Commentators differ on whether the broken neck is sacrifice or judgment.
- Imitation fails. Pilate copied the ritual and stayed guilty. Cleansing comes only when guilty hands look to the One they pierced.
and shall answer and say, Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it.
A man lies dead in open country, and no one knows who killed him. The elders of the nearest town break a heifer's neck in a valley and say these words over it.
The elders are not owning the crime. They are clearing themselves and the town they speak for, while the priests stand by as witnesses.
When the elders had broken the neck of the heifer, the priests were to be there as witnesses to the declaration made by the elders of the nearby city. Those elders were to wash their hands over the heifer, as a sign that their hands were clean in the matter of the murder. This was no confession of guilt, but the opposite. Then they were to make the declaration on behalf of the city itself: their hands had not shed this innocent blood, and they knew nothing about what had happened.
God gives the elders their words; they do not compose them. One writer notes how rarely that happens:
Twice we read of God giving Israel a form of words to use when they speak to Him. But we do not read that they said those words over and over afterwards (Deut. 21:7-8; Deut. 26:13-15).
The ritual exists because someone has done a real wrong that no investigation can trace. That is why God steps in.
A sin is committed. A man is found slain in the land. But no one knows anything about it. No one can tell whether it is murder or manslaughter, or who did it. It lies entirely beyond the range of human knowledge. And yet, there it is, an undeniable fact. Sin has been committed, and it lies as a stain on the Lord's land, and man is wholly unable to deal with it.
The elders wash their hands over the dead heifer. Where they wash is the point:
"I wash my hands in innocence and go around your altar, O LORD." The true place to wash the hands is where the blood of atonement has forever cleared our guilt.
The same writer traces a rule that runs through the whole Bible. He also finds two deaths in this scene, each saying something different:
Sin must be judged before sins can be forgiven, or the sinner justified. Before mercy can speak from heaven, justice must be fully satisfied, the throne of God vindicated, and His Name glorified. Grace must reign through righteousness… The death of Christ is seen here in its two great aspects: as the expression of man's guilt, and the display of God's grace. We have the first in the man found slain in the field, and the second in the heifer slain in the rough valley.
Commentators read the elders' plea as a picture of Israel's own future plea over the death of Christ.
The elders excuse themselves by pleading that they did not know what had happened. The same thing will happen with Israel. Paul pleads the same way. Yet only the blood of the heifer that never bore a yoke can wipe away sin. That is how God will take the guilt of innocent blood off the people.
Yet clean hands are not what clear them:
He will not excuse them because their own hands did not do the deed. It was of course done long before; still it was done there… He will not take excuses for it. Nor will He judge them as beyond recovery. When grace has turned their heart, He will make provision for them. The very sacrifice of Christ, in all its atoning power, will clear them of the guilt of shedding His precious blood.
The contrast with the Roman governor who tried the same gesture is direct. He had handled the case himself:
There was no excuse for Pilate, any more than for the leaders of Israel. All were guilty of condemning the innocent One. Pilate knew what he was doing. Three times over he declared Jesus to be guiltless. Yet he had the nerve to wash his hands before the mob and say, "I am innocent of this man's blood" (Matthew 27:24). How could he be innocent of His blood? He scourged Jesus and gave Him over to the will of those who cried for His blood.
- Stain. Blood shed by an unknown hand still marks the land, and no human process can remove it.
- Standing. The elders speak for their whole city. Guilt here is a community matter, not just a private one.
- Sacrifice. The elders wash their hands over a slain victim. The slain man shows man's guilt; the heifer shows God's grace.
- Sequence. Judges before priests — justice satisfied first, then mercy is free to speak.
- Scope. Commentators apply the plea to Israel's future. Ignorance will not excuse the death of Christ, but the blood of Christ clears the guilt.