Bilangan 16:39

16:39 So Eleazar the priest took the bronze censers presented by those who had been burned up, and they were hammered out as a covering for the altar.

Bilangan 17:9

17:9 So Moses brought out all the staffs from before the Lord to all the Israelites. They looked at them, ¹  and each man took his staff.

Bilangan 19:6

19:6 And the priest must take cedar wood, hyssop, ²  and scarlet wool and throw them into the midst of the fire where the heifer is burning. ³ 

[17:9]  ¹ tn The words “at them” are not in the Hebrew text, but they have been added in the translation for clarity.

[19:6]  ² sn In addition to the general references, see R. K. Harrison, “The Biblical Problem of Hyssop,” EvQ 26 (1954): 218-24.

[19:6]  ³ sn There is no clear explanation available as to why these items were to be burned with the heifer. N. H. Snaith suggests that in accordance with Babylonian sacrifices they would have enhanced the rites with an aroma (Leviticus and Numbers [NCB], 272). In Lev 14 the wood and the hyssop may have been bound together by the scarlet wool to make a sprinkling device. It may be that the symbolism is what is important here. Cedar wood, for example, is durable; it may have symbolized resistance to future corruption and defilement, an early acquired immunity perhaps (R. K. Harrison, Numbers [WEC], 256).