Purpose of the Beheaded Heifer Ritual/2

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Purpose of the Beheaded Heifer Ritual

Exegetical Approaches

This topic has not yet undergone editorial review

Discover the Killer

The goal of the ritual is to publicize the murder so as to more easily find the culprit.

Natural or miraculous? These commentators disagree whether the killer is to be found via natural or supernatural means:
  • Miracle – both Targum Yerushalmi (Yonatan) and R. Bachya
A calf that has not been worked
Beheading
נַחַל אֵיתָן
Not worked and unsown
Elders vs priests
יָדֵינוּ לֹא שָׁפְכוּ אֶת הַדָּם

Atonement

For the Land

Acts of murder defile the land, which can only be cleansed though the blood of the killer. When the killer is unknown and cannot be brought to justice, the ritual is necessary to cleanse the land.

Death defiles – Bemidbar 35:33 explicitly states that blood defiles the land and can only be purified through the blood of the killer: "וְלָאָרֶץ לֹא יְכֻפַּר לַדָּם אֲשֶׁר שֻׁפַּךְ בָּהּ כִּי אִם בְּדַם שֹׁפְכוֹ".
Heifer substitutes for killer

For the Nation/Leaders

Prevent Scapegoating

The ritual is meant to prevent scapegoating and the killing of innocents that might result from the people's zeal to find a culprit so as to prevent potential collective punishment.2