Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

BATHING

The washing in water of the entire body, as opposed to simply the hands, face, or feet (Heb. rāḥaṣ; Gk. loúō).

It was in the course of bathing in the Nile River that Pharaoh’s daughter discovered baby Moses in a basket (Exod. 2:5). Moses is said to have “bathed [Aaron and his sons] in water” in the course of inducting them into the priesthood (Lev. 8:6). According to Ezek. 16:4 it was customary to bathe newborn infants before diapering them. Lev. 14:8 refers to bathing in water as part of the extensive rites for removing the impurity of a person who had been diagnosed by a priest as having recovered from leprosy; 2 Kgs. 5:10 reports that Elisha prescribed bathing in the Jordan seven times as a cure for leprosy. John 5:2-8 contrasts the healing power of the pool of Bethesda with that of Jesus, who heals without water. It was customary for mourners not to bathe and to mark the end of a period of mourning by bathing, anointing themselves and putting on fresh clothing (2 Sam. 12:20). Women would bathe and put on cosmetics and fresh clothing and/or jewelry before enticing a man to have sex with them (Ruth 3:3; Ezek. 23:40). 2 Sam. 11:2-4 reports that David saw Bathsheba, the wife of Uriah the Hittite, bathing, which was a rite for purification following the end of her menses. According to Lev. 15:16; Deut. 23:10-11 emission of semen defiles a man; having bathed, he becomes pure again at nightfall (cf. 1 Sam. 20:26; 21:5[MT 6]).

While Exod. 2:5; 2 Kgs. 5:10-13 refer to bathing in natural bodies of water, 2 Sam. 11 refers to bathing in a pool presumably filled by rain water located atop the roof of Bathsheba’s house. Judith repeatedly purifies herself in a natural spring (Jdt. 12:7). The virtuous Susanna attempted, unsuccessfully, to keep wicked men from ravishing her while she was taking a bath in a locked orchard (Sus. 17-27).

Noting that most of the references to bathing in the OT are found in the laws of purity and sacrifice in Exod. 29, 40; Lev. 14–17; Num. 19, , all assigned to the postexilic era, many scholars contend that except for the wealthy most Iron Age Israelites rarely took baths. Parallels in Hittite and Assyrian texts notwithstanding, many scholars have been reluctant to accept that Leviticus’ prescription of bathing as purification from defilement resulting from genital discharges (Lev. 15:18-33) was known in the preexilic period, reasoning that had it been part of preexilic law, which Jesus came to fulfill and not abrogate (Matt. 5:17), neither Jesus nor Christianity would have made light of the pentateuchal purity laws (Mark 7:15; 1 Cor. 6:11).

Archaeological testimony to bathing in Iron Age Israel includes a 9th-century bathtub found at Tel Dan, 6th-century wash basins found in the guestrooms at Tell Beit Mirsim, cisterns lined with lime plaster found in typical Israelite private dwellings from the beginning of the Iron Age, and the 8th-century pottery figure of a woman bathing in a shallow bowl (perhaps a bidet?) from er-Ras cemetery at ez-Zib.

Bibliography. A. Biran, Biblical Dan (Jerusalem, 1994); E. Neufeld, “Hygiene Conditions in Ancient Israel (Iron Age),” BA 34 (1971): 42-66; R. de Vaux, Ancient Israel (1961, repr. Grand Rapids, 1997).

Mayer I. Gruber

Prayer Tents Bible References - Prayer Tents

BATHING

Eerdmans Dictionary of the Bible (2000)