And the heifer shall be burned in his sight is literally “And someone shall burn the cow to/before his [Eleazar’s] eyes.” As in verse 3, the Hebrew uses an impersonal verbal construction here. Good News Translation renders in his sight as “in the presence of the priest,” which means under his supervision. The general word “priest” comes from verse 6, where it is used instead of the specific reference to Eleazar.

Her skin, her flesh, and her blood, with her dung, shall be burned: The cow had to be completely burned, down to each and every part. Good News Translation highlights this by saying “The whole animal, including….” No other biblical ritual has such strict requirements for burning the whole animal (so Olson, page 120). Blood means life and can therefore undo the impurity of death. Ashley (page 365) notes that “By burning the blood with the cow, the ashes will have a powerful cleansing effect,” as documented in the second half of this chapter. The Hebrew term for dung refers to the contents of the intestines, not to the “intestines” (Good News Translation) themselves.

Quoted with permission from de Regt, Lénart J. and Wendland, Ernst R. A Handbook on Numbers. (UBS Helps for Translators). Miami: UBS, 2016. For this and other handbooks for translators see here .