7426 ritual washing

The act of washing for consecration or for purification from uncleanness. It involved washing all or part of the body or one’s clothing. Jesus Christ’s attitude to the Pharisees reflected, not a disavowal of ritual washing, but disapproval of their emphasis on the outward, rather than inward, forms of religion.

Ritual washing for consecration

Ex 19:10-11 See also Ex 19:14; Ex 40:12-15; Nu 8:5-7,21-22

Ritual washing for cleansing

Lev 17:15 See also Lev 13:6,34; Lev 15:16-18,21-23; Nu 19:10,19

Methods of ritual washing

Washing clothes Nu 31:24 See also Lev 6:27; Lev 11:24-28,39-40; Lev 13:58; Lev 14:43-47; Nu 19:21; Rev 7:14; Rev 22:14

Bathing Lev 14:8-9 See also Lev 15:4-13,27; Lev 16:26-28; Lev 17:15; Nu 19:7-8; Dt 23:9-11; 2Ki 5:9-14; Ps 51:7; Heb 10:19-22

Sprinkling with the water of purification Nu 19:17-19 See also Nu 8:5-7; Nu 19:13; Eze 36:24-25

Washing hands and feet Ex 30:17-21 See also Ex 40:30-32; Dt 21:6-9; Jn 13:5-10; Jas 4:8

Consequences of the failure to perform ritual washing

Nu 19:20 See also Lev 17:15-16; Nu 19:13

The NT perception of ritual washing

It was practised in NT times Jn 2:6 See also Jn 3:25

The Pharisees over-emphasised its importance Mt 15:1-11 pp Mk 7:1-23 See also Lk 11:37-41

Jesus Christ’s atoning work rendered it unnecessary Heb 9:6-14

See also