Ablution (Easton)

DIC dictionary-entry · status:draft · license:PD

Or washing, was practised, When a person was initiated into a higher state: e.g., when Aaron and his sons were set apart to the priest's office, they were washed with water previous to their investiture with the priestly robes (Leviticus 8:6 ). Before the priests approached the altar of God, they"> StudyL ı ght .org Plug in, Turn on and Be En light ened! Not Yet a Member? Click to Sign Up Now! --> --> Bible Study Tools Lang uage Tools Study Lib rary Hist orical Writings Pas toral Resources Per sonal Resources Site Resources Lectionary Calendar Saturday, June 6th, 2026 the Week of Proper 4 / Ordinary 9 video advertismenet advertisement advertisement advertisement Attention! For 10¢ a day you can enjoy StudyLight.org ads free while helping to build churches and support pastors in Uganda. Click here to learn more! Home » Bible Dictionaries » Easton's Bible Dictionary » Letter A Bible Dictionaries Ablution Easton's Bible Dictionary Search for… Enter query below: or A B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W Y Z Prev Entry Abjects Next Entry Abner Resource Toolbox Print Article Additional Links Dictionaries Webster Dictionary Oblationer Alluvion Abutilon (only first 3 shown) Encyclopedias 1911 Encyclopedia Britannica Abutilon Alluvion McClintock and Strong's Bible Encyclopedia Ablutiis (or Abluviis), Geoffroy de Or washing, was practised, When a person was initiated into a higher state: e.g., when Aaron and his sons were set apart to the priest's office, they were washed with water previous to their investiture with the priestly robes ( Leviticus 8:6 ). Before the priests approached the altar of God, they were required, on pain of death, to wash their hands and their feet to cleanse them from the soil of common life ( Exodus 30:17-21 ). To this practice the Psalmist alludes, Psalm 26:6 . There were washings prescribed for the purpose of cleansing from positive defilement contracted by particular acts. Of such washings eleven different species are prescribed in the Levitical law ( Leviticus 1215-15 ). A fourth class of ablutions is mentioned, by which a person purified or absolved himself from the guilt of some particular act. For example, the elders of the nearest village where some murder was committed were required, when the murderer was unknown, to wash their hands over the expiatory heifer which was beheaded, and in doing so to say, "Our hands have not shed this blood, neither have our eyes seen it" ( Deuteronomy 21:1-9 ). So also Pilate declared himself innocent of the blood of Jesus by washing his hands ( Matthew 27:24 ). This act of Pilate may not, however, have been borrowed from the custom of the Jews. The same practice was common among the Greeks and Romans. The Pharisees carried the practice of ablution to great excess, thereby claiming extraordinary purity ( Matthew 23:25 ). ( Mark 7:1-5 ) refers to the ceremonial ablutions. The Pharisees washed their hands "oft," more correctly, "with the fist" (RSV, "diligently"), or as an old father, Theophylact, explains it, "up to the elbow." (Compare also Mark 7:4 ; Leviticus 6:28 ; 11 :: 3236-36 ; 15:22 ) (See WASHING )

Source

• part_of source-manifest/easton — Easton's Bible Dictionary (PD)