Clean and Unclean

Biblical Texts and Content

The regulations concerning clean and unclean are concentrated most heavily in Leviticus. Leviticus 10:10 commands the priests "that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean." The chapters that follow contain these provisions:

• Chapter 11: Distinguishes animals that may be eaten from those that may not. These are commonly called the dietary laws.
• Chapter 12: Sets out the procedure by which a woman who has given birth is purified.
• Chapters 13–14: Provide for diagnosing skin diseases and mildew-like stains on garments and houses, and prescribe the ritual for cleansing a person who has been healed.
• Chapter 15: Deals with bodily discharges.

Numbers 19 contains the regulation for removing the uncleanness incurred by touching a corpse, using water mixed with the ashes of a red heifer.

Background and Terminology

The Hebrew tahor means "clean," and tame' means "unclean." In New Testament Greek, katharos and akathartos express the same distinction. Uncleanness here does not mean dirtiness in a hygienic sense. Rather, it refers to a state unsuitable for approaching the tabernacle, where God dwelt, or for eating holy food.

Uncleanness is not the same as sin, since a person could become unclean through entirely proper activities such as childbirth or burial. An unclean state was removed by waiting until evening, by washing with water, or by offering the prescribed sacrifices. Leviticus 15:31 explains that these regulations were given so that Israel would not defile the tabernacle and die. The command of Leviticus 11:44–45, "ye shall be holy," forms the foundation of these regulations.

Meaning in the New Testament

Jesus healed a man with a skin disease, a condition thought to transmit uncleanness, by touching him with His hand (Mark 1:40–42). Nor did He rebuke the woman with the issue of blood when she touched His garment. In Mark 7:18-19, Jesus says that what defiles a person is not the food that enters from outside, and the Gospel writer interprets this as a declaration that all foods are clean. Mark 7:21-23 then states that what defiles a person is the evil thoughts that proceed from the heart.

In Acts 10, Peter hears in a vision the words, "What God hath cleansed, that call not thou common" (Acts 10:15). He afterward enters the house of the Gentile Cornelius. This episode is understood as marking the breakdown of the boundary by which Gentiles had been regarded as unclean. Hebrews 9:13–14 compares the way the ashes of a heifer purified the flesh with the way the blood of Christ purges the conscience.

Interpretations and Issues

Several explanations have been offered for why animals were divided into clean and unclean. Some regard the regulations as hygienic, others as symbols of order and wholeness, and still others as a means of distinguishing Israel from the pagan cults of neighboring peoples. Because the biblical text itself does not state the reason, none of these explanations can be regarded as settled.

It is also common to identify biblical "leprosy" (Hebrew tsara'at) with modern Hansen's disease. Many point out, however, that the term covers a range of skin conditions as well as stains on garments and walls, making it difficult to equate the two with certainty.

Denominational applications differ as follows:

• Reformed and Presbyterian churches, following the Westminster Confession of Faith (chapter 19), classify these regulations as ceremonial law (law concerning sacrifices and rites) and hold that they have been abrogated in Christ.
• Most other Protestant churches, including Methodist, Holiness, Baptist, and Full Gospel churches, likewise do not regard the dietary laws as binding today.
• The Seventh-day Adventist Church regards the distinction of foods in Leviticus 11 as a principle related to health and continues to teach that the meat of unclean animals should not be eaten.
• Interpretations differ concerning the decision in Acts 15:28-29 forbidding blood and things strangled. Some see it as a measure that enabled Jewish and Gentile believers of that time to live together, while others regard it as a regulation still to be observed.

In the Korean Church

In the Korean church, "cleanness" or "purity" is used chiefly in a moral and spiritual sense. Psalm 51:10, "Create in me a clean heart, O God," and 2 Corinthians 7:1 are frequently cited in sermons on repentance and sanctification. Acts 10 is commonly used as a sermon text on Gentile missions and on overcoming prejudice.