Bible references

Key NT Scriptures

• 2 Corinthians 6:17-18

Key OT Scriptures

• Deuteronomy 23:11-12
  Jewish Commentary
• Deuteronomy 23:13-14
  Jewish Commentary
• Deuteronomy 24:8
  Jewish Commentary
• Leviticus 11:8
  Jewish Commentary
• Leviticus 11:24
  Jewish Commentary
• Leviticus 11:29-30
  Jewish Commentary
• Leviticus 11:33-34
  Jewish Commentary
• Leviticus 11:39
  Jewish Commentary
• Leviticus 12:2-5
  Jewish Commentary
• Leviticus 13:1-59
  Click to retrieve Leviticus 13:1-59
  Jewish Commentary
• Leviticus 14:1-54
  Click to retrieve Leviticus 14:1-54
  Jewish Commentary
• Leviticus 15:1-13
  Click to retrieve Leviticus 15:1-13
  Jewish Commentary
• Leviticus 15:16-30
  Click to retrieve Leviticus 15:16-30
  Jewish Commentary
• Leviticus 21:5-6
  Jewish Commentary
• Leviticus 22:2-9
  Click to retrieve Leviticus 22:2-9
  Jewish Commentary
• Numbers 5:2-4
  Jewish Commentary
• Numbers 19:1-22
  Click to retrieve Numbers 19:1-22
  Jewish Commentary

Supportive NT Scriptures

• 1 Corinthians 10:31
• 2 Corinthians 7:1
• James 5:15
• 1 John 1:7-9
• 3 John 1:2
• Matthew 23:26

Supportive OT Scriptures

• Deuteronomy 7:15
  Jewish Commentary
• Exodus 15:26
  Jewish Commentary
• Ezekiel 36:25-27
  Jewish Commentary
• Genesis 7:1-9
  Click to retrieve Genesis 7:1-9
  Jewish Commentary
• Isaiah 1:16-17
  Jewish Commentary
• Jeremiah 33:4-8
  Jewish Commentary
• Proverbs 3:7-8
  Jewish Commentary
• Proverbs 4:20-22
  Jewish Commentary
• Proverbs 17:22
  Jewish Commentary
• Psalms 8:17
  Jewish Commentary
• Psalms 51:9
  Jewish Commentary
• Psalms 51:12
  Jewish Commentary

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Commentary

Rabbi Michael Rudolph

The concept of ritual cleanness (clean vs. unclean) originates early in the Bible. Most of us have an intuitive sense of what it means to be clean physically, but when something is called "clean" or "unclean" in the Bible, there is usually a spiritual statement being made about it in that only what God declares to be clean is fit to be brought into His presence. So, for example, an unblemished lamb is still considered clean and was suitable for sacrificial worship (under Moses) even if it had recently rolled in mud. A pig, on the other hand, is unclean, and was unfit for sacrificial worship even had it been scrupulously washed down with soap and water. According to the Bible, things are intrinsically clean or unclean and, in addition, things (and persons) that are otherwise ritually clean, can become unclean for a time, according to where they have been, what they have done, or what they have touched. So, for example, a man is intrinsically clean, becomes temporarily unclean by touching a corpse, and returns to being clean at nightfall. A pig, on the other hand, is intrinsically unclean and can never be made clean. The concept of ritual cleanness is also connected to holiness (spiritual cleanness), and is exemplified by the fate of those who drank alcoholic beverages in the tent of meeting; for we read in Leviticus 10:9-10 : Don't drink any wine or other intoxicating liquor, neither you nor your sons with you, when you enter the tent of meeting, so that you will not die. This is to be a permanent regulation through all your generations, so that you will distinguish between the holy and the common, and between the unclean and the clean Yeshua considered the distinction between clean and unclean to be important, for he analogized it to holiness & wickedness in Luke 11:37-42 : As Yeshua spoke, a Parush asked him to eat dinner with him; so he went in and took his place at the table; and the Parush was surprised that he didn't begin by doing n'tilat yadayim before the meal. However, the Lord said to him, "Now then, you P'rushim, you clean the outside of the cup and plate; but inside, you are full of robbery and wickedness. Fools! Didn't the One who made the outside make the inside too? Rather, give as alms what is inside, and then everything will be clean for you! But woe to you P'rushim! You pay your tithes of mint and rue and every garden herb, but you ignore justice and the love of God. You have an obligation to do these things - but without disregarding the others! Animals, objects, food, and even people are either clean or unclean and, apart from their respective acceptability in temple worship, they sometimes have an obvious connection to health as well. For example, Leviticus 13 reads like a medical text on how to diagnose and treat leprosy, and how to protect the population from its contagion. Some also try to make the case that eating non-kosher animals such as pig is unhealthy, but I do not attempt to make that case. It is clear how all of the ritual cleanness regulations had literal applicability in the time of Moses, but what about now? We have no Tabernacle or Temple today, leprosy (looked at by most scholars today as skin infections that include leprosy) is quickly and easily curable, and there is no functioning Levitical priesthood today to enforce the Mosaic regulations. Nevertheless, the laws of ritual cleanness serve to remind us that maintaining our physical health is a godly value that we must pursue rigorously. It is impossible to literally obey all of the ritual cleanness laws today. There remains, however, an area of analogy to these laws, and that is to conduct ourselves in such a way that we (both as Jews broadly and as Jewish or Gentile disciples of Yeshua) who are believers are distinguishable from those who are not. God also wants Jews to be distinguishable from non-Jews because He gave Israel a commission to be a "kingdom of priests" to the other nations of the world. God wants disciples of Yeshua to be distinguishable because all disciples of Yeshua (Jewish and non-Jewish disciples alike) have a responsibility to influence those who are not believers by what we say and how we are observed to live our lives. For those of us that are Jews, we have a plethora of traditional practices to draw from, many of which come directly from the biblical laws of ritual cleanness. One that tops the list is that we do not eat anything that comes from a pig. Two others are that we do not eat any land animal that does not have a split hoof and does not chew its cud, and we do not eat anything from the water that lacks fins and scales. There are, of course, other characteristics that distinguish us as well, such as our keeping of the Sabbath and the Appointed Times, wearing fringes with blue strands, and tacking m'zuzot to the doorposts of our houses. Ritual purification ceremonies survive today in the Orthodox Jewish practice of total immersion in mikvahs (specially constructed baths of water), and in the washing of the hands and fingers before and after meals (respectively), and at other times prescribed by Rabbinical tradition. Common reasons for total immersion are purification at the end of a woman's menstrual cycle, by a woman prior to her wedding, and as part of conversion to Judaism. For those of us that are believers but are not Jews, some (but not all) of the Jewish identifying features are appropriate. For most of us, however, it is how we are observed to maintain godly values, in the things we say, and in how we live our lives. A list of items considered clean and unclean that are given in Leviticus 11 to Leviticus 15 , Leviticus 22 , & Deuteronomy 23 appear in the appendix to this Mitzvah below.

Classical commentators

Maimonides, Meir, and HaChinuch chose a sampling of Scriptures about which to write their mitzvot on ritual (ceremonial) cleanness, leaving many unaddressed. Other than what is obvious when it pertains to leprosy, they did not connect ritual cleanness to health, or separation of the Jewish nation and, in their expositions of immersion, their emphases are more to the physical than to the spiritual.

Copyright © Michael Rudolph and Daniel C. Juster, The Law of Messiah, Torah from a New Covenant Perspective, Volume 1 & 2

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Based on The Law of Messiah - Torah from a New Covenant Perspective by Michael Rudolph and Daniel C. Juster.

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Record source: The Law of Messiah - Torah from a New Covenant Perspective - Volume 1 & 2

Copyright note: Copyright © Michael Rudolph and Daniel C. Juster, The Law of Messiah, Torah from a New Covenant Perspective, Volume 1 & 2