* a rough valley.
As the word {nachal} signifies both a torrent, and the valley
or glen through which it flows, {nachal aithan} may be
rendered a rapid torrent. Many torrents in Judea are dry
during a great part of the year; when not only their banks but
their beds may be ploughed, and yield a crop. Hence there is
no impropriety in specifying that such a place should be one
that "is neither cared nor sown;" while the circumstance that
the elders were to wash their hands over the heifer, whose
head had been struck off into the stream, confirms this
interpretation. The spot of ground where this sacrifice was
made must be uncultivated, because it was considered as a
sacrifice for the atonement of murder, and, consequently,
would pollute the land.
* shall strike.
1Pe 2:21-24 3:18
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