Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

CLEAN AND UNCLEAN

That which is clean or pure is in its proper place, whereas that which is unclean or impure is disgustingly out of place. The clean is limited by its opposite, the unclean, for dirt automatically pollutes or contaminates what is clean. In order to restore something or someone to a state of purity, the dirt must be removed.

Clean and unclean are defined by particular cultures, which determine the proper places for people and things. Realities that do not fit a culture’s categories provoke anxiety and discomfort. Purity rules attempt to avoid discomfort and maintain wholeness or completeness in a society by defining what belongs (the clean) and what does not (the unclean). Impurity is especially dangerous when it is associated with death and when it threatens to gain access to the body.

In the Bible the concept of clean and unclean is not identical to the modern notion of sanitary and unsanitary. Impurity can be physical, ritual, or moral. Uncleanness is especially opposed to holiness, and so OT laws attempted to separate the unclean from the holy. The Priestly writings were especially concerned with such laws, for it was the responsibility of the priest to distinguish between the holy and the profane, between the clean and the unclean. Priests were also obligated to teach Israel the laws of purity in order to avoid offending God’s holiness (Lev. 10:10-11; Ezek. 22:26; 44:23).

Ancient Israel’s purity laws were concerned with the nation’s relationship with God. Since the holy and the unclean were incompatible, it was necessary for the sacred to be protected from pollution. This was especially true for the sanctuary, the altar, and those who ministered in sacred places. Since the priests crossed the boundaries from the profane to the sacred in the performance of their duties, it was important that they avoid impurity.

Uncleanness was considered to be infectious or contagious, for it could be incurred through contact with an unclean person or thing. Three forms of uncleanness were especially powerful and contagious (Num. 5:2): ṣāraʿaṯ, bodily discharges, and corpses. Each type of impurity had some connection with death.

Heb. ṣāraʿaṯ is usually translated “leprosy,” although most scholars today deny that it is identical with Hansen’s disease. This “scale disease” was probably psoriasis or a fungal infection. It could even attack clothing and houses (Lev. 13:47-59). Since the victim’s body appeared to be wasting away, the disease was seen as a punishment from God (Num. 12:10-15). Those with ṣāraʿaṯ were separated from the community as the dead were separated from the living (Lev. 13:45-46).

Bodily discharges, especially from sexual organs, were also considered to be strong pollutants (Lev. 15:1-33). The Bible says little about the necessary functions of urinating and defecating (Deut. 23:12-14). But vaginal blood and semen symbolized life, and their loss seemed to represent death. Childbirth, too, was dangerous: not only were bodily fluids lost, but the boundary between life and death was breached.

Contact with animal and especially human corpses also brought uncleanness (Num. 19:11-22). Priests (Lev. 10:6-7; 21:1-4; Ezek. 44:25-26) and Nazirites (Num. 6:6-7), because of their holy status, had to avoid contact with the dead. A high priest could not even approach the corpse of his own father or mother (Lev. 21:11).

Purity laws also regulated other areas of life where boundaries could become blurred. Mixtures, whether of cloth, agricultural practices, or animal breeding, were forbidden (Lev. 19:19; Deut. 22:9-11). Adultery, incest, bestiality, and homosexuality were also seen as crossing boundaries and thus were prohibited (Lev. 18:6-23; 20:10-21). Foreign lands were automatically unclean (Josh. 22:19; Amos 7:17).

Since uncleanness was contagious, it had to be removed by rituals. Contact with uncleanness normally required simple acts of bathing, washing one’s clothes, and waiting until evening. More dangerous pollution, such as menstrual blood or a corpse, required seven days of waiting and even sprinkling with special water (Lev. 15:19-24; Num. 19:11-13). The uncleanness associated with ṣāraʿaṯ, irregular bodily discharges, and childbirth necessitated ritual actions by a priest (Lev. 12:1-8; 14:1-57; 15:1-15, 25-30). Since uncleanness was opposed to holiness, it had a vague connection with sin and guilt. All impurity was potentially damaging to the sanctuary (Lev. 15:31). The altar and sanctuary had to be regularly purified from the effects of uncleanness and sin (Lev. 4:1-35; 16:14-16).

Food could also be clean or unclean. Israelites were absolutely forbidden to “eat” blood with their meat, since blood was associated with life and with holiness (Lev. 17:10-14; Deut. 12:16, 23-25). There were restrictions on the kinds of animals which could be eaten. For example, only fish which had both fins and scales were permitted (Lev. 11:9-12; Deut. 14:9-10). Among quadrupeds only those which chewed the cud and had divided hooves were considered clean (Lev. 11:3-7; Deut. 14:4-8). Animals which crossed distinct boundaries or which did not clearly belong to certain categories were normally classified as unclean (Lev. 11:27-31).

The distinction between clean and unclean was a reminder of Israel’s call to holiness (Exod. 22:31[MT 30]; Lev. 20:22-26; Deut. 14:2). Holiness implied separation from the common or the profane. Israel’s vocation to holiness thus demanded separation from other nations. The restrictions on Israel’s diet and its concept of the clean and the unclean defined its self-identity and kept it apart from others.

The notion of clean and unclean also served metaphorically to describe moral or ethical categories. “Unclean lips” (Isa. 6:5) stood for sinfulness, while “clean hands and pure hearts” (Ps. 24:4) were symbols of moral uprightness. Christians, who rejected Jewish purity rules because they excluded Gentiles, preferred to understand clean and unclean primarily as ethical categories (Acts 10:15; 15:19-29).

In the NT Jesus criticized Jewish purity regulations and allowed his disciples to violate them (Mark 7:1-23). He touched and healed those who were ritually unclean (lepers, Mark 1:40-45; Luke 17:11-19; the woman with a hemorrhage, Mark 5:25-34). He associated himself with known sinners. But he also drove out “unclean” spirits. Clean and unclean in the NT is often linked to the authority of Jesus and the meaning of his death and resurrection (Mark 1:27; Gal. 2:15-21).

Bibliography. M. Douglas, “The Forbidden Animals in Leviticus,” JSOT 59 (1993): 3-23; Purity and Danger: An Analysis of the Concepts of Pollution and Taboo (New York, 1966); J. Milgrom, Leviticus 1–16. AB 3 (New York, 1991); R. D. Nelson, Raising Up a Faithful Priest: Community and Priesthood in Biblical Theology (Louisville, 1993); J. Neusner, The Idea of Purity in Ancient Judaism (Leiden, 1973).

Timothy A. Lenchak

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

CLEAN AND UNCLEAN

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)