Washing in Bible times

In the last two years we have all become familiar with calls to wash our hands frequently.  With COVID-19 leaving its mark all over the world, we are all encouraged to be vaccinated, but also to use soap, hand sanitiser and disinfectants.  How does our response to COVID-19 compare with cleansing and washing in Bible times?

Many people have observed that the Law of Moses concentrates heavily on cleanliness and frequently mentions washing – yet it is not the only part of the Bible where this is true.

In this article, we look at some aspects of washing, cleanliness and hygiene in the Bible.

Washing in Bible Times

In Bible times, one of the most common reasons for needing washing was that they wore sandals.^[1]See Bible Tales article “Sandals in the Bible” (https://www.bibletales.online/sandals/).

Walking on dusty roads in sandals made dusty feet common and there are plenty of references to people washing their feet or having others do it for them.^[2]Genesis 18:4; 19:2; 24:32; 43:24; Exodus 30:18-21; 40:30-32; Judges 19:21; 1 Samuel 25:41; 2 Samuel 11:8; Song of Solomon 5:3; 1 Timothy 5:10 As you might imagine, washing someone’s feet was not a coveted job, and it appears that if people were rich enough to have servants, a servant would wash the feet of visitors.^[3]1 Samuel 25:41 This is part of the point Jesus was making in John chapter 13 when he washed the feet of his disciples. If Jesus, our Lord, was willing to do something as demeaning as to wash the feet of his disciples, we should be willing to be servants to others also.^[4]John 13:12-17

When we read the Bible, we also read of people washing their hands,^[5]Exodus 30:18-21; 40:30-32; Job 9:30; Psalm 26:6; Matthew 15:2; 27:24; Mark 7:3 their face,^[6]Genesis 43:31; Matthew 6:17 their entire body,^[7]Exodus 2:5; Ruth 3:3; 2 Samuel 12:20; 2 Kings 5:10-14; Job 9:30; Ezekiel 16:4, 9; 23:40; John 13:10 their clothes^[8]Genesis 49:11; Exodus 19:10, 14. 2 Samuel 19:24 speaks of Mephibosheth not washing his clothes in such a way that indicates he normally would have washed them. and even in one case a chariot.^[9]1 Kings 22:38

The Law of Moses

The Law of Moses had instructions for washing many other items, particularly if they had been in contact with unclean things such as dead bodies,^[10]Numbers 19:14-22 the carcasses of unclean animals,^[11]Leviticus 11:25, 28, 32, 40; 17:15-16 items touched by people who were unclean for various reasons, and so on.^[12]Leviticus 15:5-8, 10; 15:19-22, 27 There were even instructions for washing to remove uncleanness due to menstruation^[13]Leviticus 15:19-22 and sexual intercourse.^[14]Leviticus 15:16-18 Priests and Levites must wash as part of their consecration,^[15]Exodus 29:4; 40:12, 30-32; Leviticus 8:6; Numbers 8:6, 21 and during their subsequent work as priests.^[16]Leviticus 16:26, 28; 22:6; Numbers 19:7-10; 2 Chronicles 4:6 Offerings must be washed,^[17]Exodus 29:17; Leviticus 1:9, 13; 8:21; 9:14; 2 Chronicles 4:6; Ezekiel 40:38 and if the blood of offerings was spilt on clothes, they must be washed.^[18]Leviticus 6:27

The people conducting particular religious observances also had strict requirements for washing, particularly on the Day of Atonement. The High Priest had to wash both before going into the Most Holy Place,^[19]Leviticus 16:4 and after leaving it.^[20]Leviticus 16:23-24 The man who went outside the camp to burn the skin, the flesh and the dung of the bull and goat offered as sin offerings had to wash his clothes and bathe his body with water before he could re-enter the camp of Israel,^[21]Leviticus 16:27-28 as did the man who led the scapegoat away and released it in the wilderness.^[22]Leviticus 16:26

Washing won’t fix  everything!

Some things could not be cleaned by washing if they were religiously unclean or holy – such as pottery.^[23]See Leviticus 6:28; 11:32; 15:11-12 and Bible Tales article “Pottery” (https://www.bibletales.online/pottery/).

People with diseases often had to wash themselves and/or their clothes as part of their treatment,^[24]Leviticus 13:6, 34; 14:8-9; 15:13; 2 Kings 5:14 and this was also true with fabric or buildings in which “leprosy” was found (probably referring to what we would call moulds or fungi).^[25]Leviticus 13:54-56; 14:47, 52

With all of this concentration on washing, it’s no surprise that by Jesus’ time, the Jews had decided that washing was very important, to such an extent that they had added many extra rules about washing.^[26]Mark 7:3-4; John 2:6 It seems that they began to treat physical cleanliness as if it were godliness.^[27]eg. Matthew 23:25-28; Mark 7:3-5; Luke 11:39

Disinfectants

Most of the washing described in the Bible seems to be with water only. However, there are a few references to products that can be used as disinfectants.

In Luke chapter 10, Jesus tells the parable of the Good Samaritan in which a Samaritan poured olive oil and wine on an injured Jew.^[28]Luke 10:34 We can assume that these would be known to work as disinfectants or sanitisers.^[29]See “Antimicrobial activity of olive oil, vinegar, and various beverages against foodborne pathogens” (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/17536679/).

Other products such as soap^[30]Soap on Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soap). and lye^[31]Lye on Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lye). are also used for cleaning.

Cleansers

Most of the time nowadays, our society uses something extra to clean rather than just water. We use soap, disinfectants, antiseptics, soft soap, liquid soap, hand cleaner, grease removers and various solvents – often because we need to clean off processed or manufactured things that are far harder to remove than most natural products are. Isn’t it funny how changing one thing often requires other changes as well?

Yet this need to remove oily substances arose quite early because of our love of wool.

Sheep have glands which excrete lanolin to coat their wool and stop the fleece from becoming waterlogged. Sheep also can’t help picking up dirt, seeds, sticks and other bits and pieces in their fleece. We like to use the wool for clothing and many other things, but to do so, we need to clean the fleece after we have shorn a sheep. This is called fulling, walking/waulking or tucking.

A few Bible  passages tell us about fulling and the places where it was done.

A fullers’ field

When Hezekiah was king of Judah, we read of an invasion by the  Assyrian army. They sent one group to Jerusalem as a show of force to intimidate Hezekiah, hoping that he would capitulate. The point of interest for this article is that the Assyrian army stopped on the highway to the fullers’ field (2 Kings 18:17; Isaiah 36:2), which also appears to have been near a good supply of water. Several years earlier, God had told Isaiah to go to the fuller’s field outside Jerusalem (Isaiah 7:3), which was probably the same field.

Malachi 3:2 describes the coming of Jesus with some similes. He is said to be like a refiner’s fire and like fuller’s soap. The fire assists in the removal of impurities as part of purifying metal, while the soap helps a fuller clean a fleece. Both are examples of an “ingredient” that helps the cleansing process.

In this passage, however, cleansing is symbolic. It is not describing refining of real metal or cleaning of a physical fleece; instead, it is describing the work of Jesus in cleaning up the world spiritually. So now let’s look at symbolic washing or spiritual cleaning.

Washing in symbol

One thing that really stands out about cleanliness in the Bible is that it is often used symbolically. For example, even before the flood (long before the law of Moses), living things were categorised as clean or unclean,^[32]Genesis 7:2, 8-9; 8:20 and this doesn’t seem to be based on whether a species is neat and tidy, large or small, mammal or insect.

The symbolic meaning of this is shown even more clearly when people (nations and individuals) are spoken of as being clean or unclean,^[33]Isaiah 1:16; Haggai 2:14 depending on whether their behaviour is good or bad.

Since we are familiar with the idea of cleaning something that has become dirty, it should be easy to understand the symbolic use of cleaning also. King David, after he had committed adultery, asked God to wash away his sins,^[34]Psalm 51:1 or to go even further by creating a clean heart in him.^[35]Psalm 51:10

Washing away sins

The New Testament frequently presents the idea of washing away sins. As one example, after he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, Paul was told to get baptised and wash away his sins.^[36]Acts 22:16

Paul also told believers in Corinth about what was expected of them as Christians. He gives a long list of sins that will exclude people from the kingdom of God and observed that some of them had done such things in the past, but reminded them that they had been washed to clean them from those sins.^[37]1 Corinthians 6:9-11 He urged them to stay clean.

Ephesians 5:26 speaks of “the washing of water with the word” which seems to refer to baptism and reading the Bible as essential parts of removing sin. I suppose it makes sense that we can only avoid sin and pursue righteousness if we have a clear understanding of which is which! And the Bible is the only place we can find that distinction.

Paul also links washing through baptism with renewal in the Holy Spirit,^[38]Titus 3:4-7 reminding us that we cannot wash ourselves clean; instead it is the work of God through Jesus Christ.

Why do we wash?

Have you ever thought about the reasons we have for washing? Many of them also apply when the washing is spiritual or symbolic.

We wash to remove things that are dangerous, messy or unsightly. If our hands are dirty, we wash them so that we won’t dirty clean things when we touch  them.

We wash clothes to remove unsightly spots of dirt or unpleasant smells.

All of these things can also have a meaning in the washing away of sin and evil, which should be the goal of our lives.

In the book of Revelation, we are shown the picture of a great multitude standing before the throne of the Lamb (Jesus) dressed in white robes.^[39]Revelation 7:9-10 It was explained to John that these people had come out of the great tribulation and washed their clothes to make them white.

What did they wash them with?

The blood of the Lamb!^[40]Revelation 7:13-14

Now blood is something that we would always want to wash off. Yet this blood, in symbol, is the only way to actually remove sin and make us clean before God.^[41]John 20:31; Acts 4:12; 10:43; Romans 3:24-25; Galatians 1:6-7; 1 John 1:7

Washing our hands can make our hands clean for a while, but in a short time we need to wash again.

Washing ourselves in the blood of Jesus can make us clean forever:

See also

• Bible Tales article “Sandals in the Bible” (https://www.bibletales.online/sandals/)
• Bible Tales article “Pottery” (https://www.bibletales.online/pottery/)
• Soap on Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soap)
• Lye on Wikipedia (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lye)