The English word "pure" as a Wordsearch Lexicon Explorer inquiry

καθαρός

καθαρός [See Stg: <G2513>]

katharós; fem. kathará, neut. katharón, adj. Clean, pure, clear, in a natural sense unsoiled, unalloyed. A primary root, not related to aírō <G142>, to take up or away.

(I) Particularly (Matt. 27:59; John 13:10; Heb. 10:22; Rev. 15:6; 19:8, 14; 21:18, 21; 22:1).

(II) Clean in the sense that something is lawful to be eaten or used (Luke 11:41; Rom. 14:20, lawful, not forbidden; Titus 1:15; Sept.: Ex. 25:29, 36; Ezek. 36:25; Dan. 7:9). In all these passages there is clear reference to legal or ceremonial cleanness.

(III) Clean or pure in a spiritual sense from the pollution and guilt of sin (Matt. 5:8, sincere, upright, void of evil; John 13:10, 11, metaphorically in the Levitical sense; 15:3, cleansed, pruned, see kathaírō <G2508>, to cleanse, to purify, 1 Tim. 1:5; 3:9; 2 Tim. 1:3; 2:22; Titus 1:15; James 1:27; 1 Pet. 1:22; Sept.: Gen. 20:5, 6; Ps. 24:4; 51:10).

(IV) Sometimes applied to purity or cleanness from blood or blood guiltiness (Acts 18:6, innocent; 20:26; Sept.: Gen. 24:8; 44:10; Job 4:7).

(V) In the physical or nonethical sense, opposite of rhuparós <G4508>, dirty (Matt. 27:59; Heb. 10:22; Rev. 15:6).

(VI) Sometimes the meaning of katharós is very close to the meaning of eilikrinḗs <G1506>, sincere, or something that has been cleansed by shaking to and fro as in a sieve or in winnowing. Katharós describes the purity contemplated under the aspect of that which is free from soil or stain (James 1:27). Sometimes seen as the opposite of koinós <G2839>, common, as796 well as akáthartos <G169>, unpurified (Rom. 14:14, 20; Heb. 9:13). For a full discussion of the difference in the syn. see hágios <G40>, holy, indicating position; hagnós <G53>, chaste, clean, indicating also motive; hósios <G3741>, pure, associated somewhat with piety; eilikrinḗs <G1506>, sincere, pure with the connotation of one who differentiates between that which is good and that which is excellent.

Deriv.: kathaírō <G2508>, to cleanse; katharízō <G2511> to make clean; katharótēs <G2514>, purity.

Ant.: koinós <G2839>, common in the sense of coming into contact with everything, defiled.--Complete Word Study Dictionary, The[1] 

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§ 3. Washing

147 

The Hebrew words for washing deserve attention from the fact that they too are used ceremonially and morally as well as literally.

Duach (‏דּוּחַ‎, <H1740>), to cast off, and hence to purge from impurity, is used only four times in the O. T. Twice it is rendered wash, viz. in 2 Chron. 4:6, and Ezek. 40:38; in each of these places reference is made to the putting off the pollution contracted by the priests and Levites while preparing the animals for offering. The first of these passages may be thus understood: 'He made also ten lavers, and put five on the right hand, and five on the left, to wash in them; the defilement contracted by the operations connected with the burnt offering they cleansed in them; and the sea was for the priests to wash in.' The Levites washed in the lavers, and the priests in the larger vessel called the sea. The R. V. has failed to draw out the distinction.

Duach is used in a spiritual sense in Isa. 4:4, 'When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion, and shall have purged the blood of Jerusalem from the midst thereof by the spirit of judgment and by the spirit of burning.' The other passage where the word occurs is Jer. 51:34. Here the Lord, identifying Himself with His people, says, 'Nebuchadnezzar hath devoured me,... he hath cast me out,' i.e. hath treated me as if I were the 'off-scouring' of the earth.

Shathaph (‏שָׁטַף‎, <H7857>), to flood, overflow, or pour copiously, is used, in 1 Kings 22:38, of the cleansing of Ahab's chariot;[1] Different Hebrew words are used for the washing of Ahab's chariot and for the cleansing of his armour. Were the two washed at the same place? The chariot was washed in the pool of Samaria; but probably his armour was taken to be cleaned at his palace at Jezreel, and doubtless the dogs licked the blood that was rinsed from it at or near the pool of Jezreel, according to the prophecy of Elijah, which otherwise would not have been literally fulfilled. But see R. V. in Job 14:19, of the destruction of the surface of the land by floods of water; and in Ezek. 16:9, of the 'thorough washing' which represented the care with which God dealt with His people Israel at their first beginning.

We now come to the two words which were in most ordinary use among the Jews, namely, cavas (‏כָּבַס‎, <H3526>), for which the LXX has πλύνω or ἀποπλύνω, which was applied to the washing of garments; and rachats (‏רָחַץ‎, <H7364>, Ass. rahatsu), generally rendered νίπτω or λούω,148 but in seven passages πλύνω, which represented the bathing or washing of the body.

Cavas is the term applied to the 'fuller,' and is supposed to refer in the first place to the treading whereby clothes were cleaned. This cleansing of garments was an important ceremonial action. We have already seen its meaning under a slightly different form in Gen. 35:2, where Jacob told his household to put away their false gods, and to change their garments; evidently the latter action was taken as the external symbol of the former. Of the 'divers washings' of the Levitical dispensation, some had to do with the garments, and are described under the word cavas; while others had to do with the flesh, and are represented by rachats. The following come under the first head: the ceremonial cleansing of the garments before the people were allowed to approach Mount Sinai (Exod. 19:10, 14); the cleansing of the garment sprinkled with the blood of the offering (Lev. 6:27); the cleansing of men's clothing after leprosy or after contact with that which was pronounced unclean (Lev. 17:15); the cleansing of the Levites' clothing for their service (Num. 8:7), where it was connected with the sprinkling of 'holy water' over their flesh.

Under the second head (rachats, the washing of the flesh) come the washing or bathing of the body, the hands, and the feet generally; the washing of the sacrifices (Exod. 29:17); of the priests before their consecration, and also before their daily ministration (Exod. 29:4, and 30:19, 21); and the washing of the elders' hands over the beheaded heifer (Deut. 21:6). This word is also used figuratively in Job 29:6, and Ps. 58:10. In the triumphant expression, 'Moab is my washpot' (Ps. 60:8, and 108:9), the image is taken from the laver for the cleansing of the body, not from the trough for the washing of garments.

Each of these expressions is applied to spiritual washing. The word cavas, which implies the cleansing of garments, is found in the four following passages:—Ps. 51:2, 'Wash me throughly from my sin;' Ps. 51:7, 'Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow;' Jer. 2:22, 'Though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord God;' Jer. 4:14, 'O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved.' The word rachats, which signifies the washing of the body, is used in a spiritual sense in Ps. 26:6, 'I will wash my hands in innocency;' Ps. 73:13, 'I have washed my hands in innocency;'149 Prov. 30:12, 'There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their filthiness;' Isa. 1:16, 'Wash you, make you clean;' Isa. 4:4, 'When the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughter of Zion.' The word wash, whether applied to the body or to its clothing, is never used except with reference to water, and it appears to symbolise the purgation of the inclinations, the character and the external life, from moral pollution. Compare Heb. 10:22, 'having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water.' In the N. T., νίπτω is used of washing the face (Matt. 6:17); the hands (Matt. 15:2); the eyes (John 9:7, 11, 15); and the feet (John 13:5, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14; 1 Tim. 5:10). The word λούω is used of the bathing of the body in Acts 9:37, 16:33, and 2 Pet. 2:22. In John 13:10 we read, 'He that is bathed (λελουμένος) needeth not save to wash (νίψασθαι) his feet, but is clean every whit' (καθαρὸς). It is evident that our Lord here referred, in the first instance, to the well-known fact that after a complete bath a man needed only to cleanse away the impurity which he contracted in walking from it if he wished to be accounted entirely clean; the significance of the act to the disciples seems to have been that whereas they were in a measure clean through the word which He had spoken unto them, there was yet need that He should humble Himself still lower in their behalf, in order to cleanse them in the sight of God. The act of washing their feet symbolised the humiliation of Him who took the form of a servant, and it set forth the necessity of yielding to His cleansing work as the only means of having part with Him in His future kingdom. Washing with water is also connected with the Word in Eph. 5:26. Here we read that Christ gave Himself (i.e. died) for His Church, that He might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing[1] The laver (‏כִּיּוֹר‎, <H3595>) is rendered λουτήρ in the LXX. The word λουτρον only occurs in Song of Sol. 4:2 and 6:5 for ‏רַחְצָה‎, <H7367>, of the washing of sheep. of the water in the word (τῷ λουτρῷ τοῦ ὕδατος ἐν ῥήματι). Washing (λοῦτρον) is also used as a symbol of regeneration in Titus 3:5. With these passages we may connect Acts 22:16, 'Arise, and be baptized, and wash away (ἀπόλουσαι) thy sins;' and 1 Cor. 6:11, 'Such were some of you, but ye are washed' (ἀπελούσθε). In the Received Text of Rev. 1:5 we read, 'Who washed us from our sins in his own blood.' Others here read λύσαντι (liberated) for λούσαντι (washed). The word πλύνω, which is applied to the washing of garments,150 is used symbolically in Rev. 7:14; also in the oldest MSS., together with the Vulgate and the versions made from it, in Rev. 22:14, 'Blessed are they that wash their robes, that they may have a right to the tree of life.'--Girdlestone's Synonyms of the Old Testament [2]

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καθαρος, 2513

καθαρος <G2513>, καθαρα, καθαρον; (akin to Latin castus, incestus, English “chaste, chasten”; Curtius, sec. 26; Vanicek, p. 177); from Homer down; the Septuagint mostly for ‏טָהוֹר‎; “clean, pure” (free from the admixture or adhesion of anything that soils, adulterates, corrupts);

a. physically: Matthew 23:26; 27:59; Hebrews 10:22 (23); Revelation 15:6; 19:8,14, and Rec. in Revelation 22:1; χρυσιον, purified by fire, Revelation 21:18,21; in a similitude, like a vine cleansed by pruning and so fitted to bear fruit, John 15:3; ὁλελουμενος ... καθαρος ὁλος (where the idea winch Christ expresses figuratively is as follows: 'he whose inmost nature has been renovated does not need radical renewal, but only to be cleansed from every several fault into which he may fall through contact with the unrenewed world'), John 13:10.

b. in a levitical sense; “clean,” i.e. the use of which is not forbidden, imparts no uncleanness: παντα καθαρα, Romans 14:20; Titus 1:15.

c. ethically; “free from corrupt desire, from sin and guilt”: Titus 1:15; ὑμειςκαθαροι, John 13:10 (11); ὁικαθαροι τη καρδια (as respects heart (Winer's Grammar, sec. 31, 6 a.)), Matthew 5:8 (καθαρος χειρας, Herodotus 1, 35; κατα το σωμα και κατα την ψυχην, Plato, Crat., p. 405 b.); “free from every admixture of what is false, sincere,” εκ καθαρας καρδιας, 1 Timothy 1:5; 2 Timothy 2:22, and R G in 1 Peter 1:22; εν καθαρα συνειδησει, 1 Timothy 3:9; 2 Timothy 1:3; “genuine” (joined with αμιαντος) θρησκεια, James 1:27; “blameless, innocent,” Acts 18:6. Hebraistically with the addition of απο τινος, pure from, i.e. unstained with the guilt of, anything (Winer's Grammar, sec. 30, 6 a.; Buttmann, 157f (137f)): απο του ἁιματος, Acts 20:26; Susanna 46 Alexandrian LXX, cf. Genesis 24:8; Tobit 3:14; καθαρας εχειν τας χειρας απο του φονου, Josephus, Antiquities 4, 8, 16; in classical Greek with a simple genitive, as φονου, Plato, legg. 9, p. 864 e.; cf. 313Passow, under the word, p. 1528{a}; (Liddell and Scott, under the word, 3); Kühner, sec. 421, 4 ii., p. 344.

d. in a levitical and ethical sense: παντα καθαρα ὑμιν, Luke 11:41, on which see ενειμι. (Synonym: see ειλικρινης; cf. Westcott on 1 John 3:3.)*--Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon [3]

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καθαρός katharós [clean, pure] <G2513>,

καθαρίζω katharízō [to cleanse, purify] <G2511>,

καθαίρω kathaírō [to make clean] <G2508>,

καθαρότης katharótēs [purity] <G2514>,

ἀκάθαρτος akáthartos [unclean, impure] <G169>,

ἀκαθαρσία akatharsía [impurity] <G167>,

καθαρισμός katharismós [cleansing, purification] <G2512>,

ἐκκαθαίρω ekkathaírō [to cleanse] <G1571>,

περικάθαρμα perikátharma [offscouring, refuse] <G4027>

katharós, katharízō, kathaírō, katharótēs.

A. The Usage.

The group denotes physical, religious, and moral cleanness or purity in such senses as clean, free from stains or shame, and free from adulteration. In the LXX it is mostly used for ṭāhôr and zāḵaḵ with the usual connotations of clean, free, or innocent (cf. Ezek. 36:25; Ps. 51:10; Ex. 25:11, etc.).

B. Clean and Unclean outside the NT: Part I.

1. In Primitive Religion. Ideas of power are dominant in primitive thinking about cleanness. After coming into contact with power, e.g., in birth, sex, and death, cleansing is necessary to fit one for ordinary life. But since the numinous power may be deity as well as demon, cleansing is also needed for dealings with it. Cleanness and uncleanness are viewed quasi-physically, but the association of cleanness and holiness offers a starting point for moral spiritualizing.

2. In Greek Religion. At its primitive stage Greek religion follows the customary pattern. At the historical stage, however, the gods are seen as friendly forces, though they must be approached with cultic purity. Rules are thus devised to ward off what is demonic and to protect the holy nature of the gods. These rules are primarily cultic but in personal religion, and especially in philosophy, a sublimation takes place which affects the cultic sphere too. Moral purity as well as ritual purity is demanded in the approach to deity.

3. In OT Religion. The OT reflects the same general development. Uncleanness, which may be contracted in contact with birth or death (Lev. 12; Num. 19:11), is a positive defiling force. So is anything linked to a foreign cult. Animals formerly devoted to deities are disqualified (cf. Lev. 11). Hygiene, of course, plays a role (Lev. 11:29-30). Stress also falls, however, on the holiness of God, so that the concept of382 purity develops with special force. Purifications by washing, sacrifice, or transfer restore forfeited purity and open up access to God. As God’s holiness has moral content, ritual purity symbolizes moral purity. The prophets emphasize this aspect even to the point of castigating purely ritual conceptions, though not of totally rejecting them. Some groups in later Judaism tend to the opposite extreme, but Hellenistic Judaism (cf. Philo) strongly spiritualizes the older cultic concept. The cultic rules of cleansing are upheld, but their significance is primarily symbolical; moral purity is what God requires.

[F. HAUCK, III, 413–17]

C. Clean and Unclean outside the NT: Part II: Judaism.

1. Cultic Uncleanness.

a. For Judaism uncleanness clings to the unclean person or thing and can be transferred to others. The source and what is infected are distinguished, and there are four degrees of uncleanness, the intensity weakening at each stage of transmission.

b. Transmission is by touch, carrying, pressing, entry (e.g., of a leper), or place (e.g., being in the same house as a corpse).

c. Various degrees of exclusion result from the different degrees of uncleanness. One presentation distinguishes ten degrees, and divides up the land itself into ten areas of holiness, e.g., cities, the temple hill, the inner courts, etc.

d. As regards vessels, the degree of defilement depends not only on the kind of infection but also on the make and material. The use to which material is put (e.g., leather) may also determine its defilement.

e. Stricter sects view other groups as deficient from the standpoint of their view of purity. These groups include ordinary Jews and half-Jews as well as Samaritans and Gentiles. Gentiles are shut out from the temple, and strict Jews must avoid contact with pagan temples or vessels and purify what they buy from Gentiles.

f. Oddly enough, the canonical Scriptures are also thought to defile the hands. The original explanation of this puzzling fact is probably that they are devoted to deity and thus taboo. But a later explanation is that they were pronounced unclean for purposes of distinction.

2. Cultic Cleansing. Restoration of cleanness is primarily by water (washing, sprinkling, or bathing), though sin offering may also be required. Vessels, too, are cleansed by water (dipping or scalding); sometimes they may have to be destroyed. The most common act of cleansing is washing the hands (e.g., at grace or times of prayer). Purity is also demanded for the study of the law, but the rules vary. Prayer should cease if defilement takes place in the course of it.

3. The Attitude of the Rabbis to the Law. Rabbinic theology recognizes that the rules of purity are important only because it is the King of all kings that ordains them. At many points there is also a readiness for relaxation. Levitical uncleanness should not stop the reading of the law, since the law itself has purifying force. Yet the laws of purity may also be applied with legalistic stringency.

4. Inward Purity. The stress on ritual purity is accompanied in rabbinic Judaism by a strong and consistent requirement of moral purity. We have received the soul pure from God and must keep it so. The demand for inner purity covers the whole of life from such things as speech on the one hand to the administration of justice on the other. We are to keep our mouths from every sin and sanctify ourselves from all sin and guilt; God then gives us the promise of his enduring presence.

[R. MEYER, III, 418–23]383

D. Clean and Unclean in the NT.

1. Physical Cleanness. This sense is present in passages that follow the traditional view that what is physically clean is adapted for cultic (Heb. 10:22) or ritual (Matt. 23:26) or respectful (Matt. 27:59) use. Closest to Judaism are the statements about the new Jerusalem in Revelation (21:18, 21; cf. 15:6; 19:8, 14). What is clean is adapted for fellowship with God; what is profane is shut out (cf. 21:27).

2. Cultic Cleanness and Cleansing. The term has this reference when used for the ritual cleansing of vessels (Matt. 23:25), the cleansing of lepers (Matt. 8:2-3), or blood as a means of cleansing (Heb. 9:22). Yet Paul asserts the basic cleanness of all created things (Rom. 14:14, 20). Peter learns the same lesson in the vision of Acts 10 (cf. v. 15 and 11:9). If animals are clean, however, Gentiles are not debarred from the gospel by cultic impurity. The purification that counts is the cleansing of the heart by faith (Acts 15:9). Jesus himself points the way here with his teaching that the true defilement is inward (thus declaring all foods clean, as Mark comments; cf. Mark 7:14ff.). Tit. 1:15 advances the principle that it is the person who makes things clean or unclean: To the pure all things are pure, to unbelievers nothing is pure. According to 1 Tim. 4:5 grace at meals sanctifies all foods, so that we may enjoy them without scruple. In the NT, then, the idea of material or purely cultic impurity drops away; the concept of moral and spiritual purity transcends and replaces it.

3. Moral Purity. Jesus shows us that a cultic purity that is concerned only with externalities is inadequate (Matt. 23:25-26; Luke 11:41). The purity required of the NT community is moral and personal. It consists of a dedication to God that renews the inner being. Purity of heart — which is far above purity of hands — is what counts before God. Yet purity becomes a primary motif only in such writings as the Pastorals, Hebrews, John, James, and 1 Peter. Jms. 1:27 claims that pure religion consists of practical love, while Jms. 4:8 demands a purifying of the heart as well as a cleansing of the hands (cf. Isa. 1:16-17). 1 Pet. 1:22 calls for a purifying of the soul in the obedience of faith and a sincere love. Eph. 5:26 uses the symbolism of baptism to portray the moral purification by Christ which determines future conduct. The death of Christ is above all the sacrifice that expiates sin and creates a new purity of life. By this death we are his people and zealous for good deeds (Tit. 2:14). We receive a pure heart and a good conscience that issue in love (1 Tim. 1:5). Hebrews opposes to the older ritual purity the superior moral purity of the new order (9:13). Cleansing is still needed (cf. 9:22), but only Christ’s blood can achieve this with its cleansing from sin (1:3) and liberation from sinful impulses (9:14). It is by the death of Christ, then, that we have access to holiness and may live in God’s presence. Purity is also an important theme in John. The disciples are clean through their association with Jesus (Jn. 15:3). This cleansing is by the word (cf. 17:14ff.). In Jn. 13 the foot-washing both serves as a symbol, pointing to baptism (Jn. 13:10), and offers an example, denoting Christ’s loving service in daily forgiveness. 1 John attributes the power of this ongoing cleansing to the blood of Jesus (__1 John__1:7). It is in virtue of this purifying that believers may attain to purity (3:3, 6). Revelation insists on the ritual purity of the new Jerusalem but obviously only as a symbol of its perfect inner sanctity.

akáthartos, akatharsía.

These two terms are used for physical, cultic, and moral impurity, which are closely intertwined. The use in the LXX is mostly cultic. Uncleanness clings like an infection and renders cultically unserviceable. Objects, animals, places, vessels, and people may be unclean, e.g., by contact, through sexual384 processes, or through idolatry. Priests decide what is unclean and conduct the rites of purification (cf. especially Lev. 7, 11, 13ff.; Num. 9, 19). Hellenistic Judaism deepens the concept along moral lines. In the NT 1. the sense of cultic impurity may be seen in Matt. 23:27; Acts 10:14, 28; Gal. 2:11-12, and cf. the term “unclean spirit.” But the NT also has the term 2. for Gentile alienation from God in the form of licentiousness (cf. Rom. 1:24ff.; 1 Th. 4:7; Eph. 4:19; 2 Cor. 6:17). akatharsía is a work of the flesh, i.e., of the unregenerate person who is subject to natural desire (Gal. 5:19). Christian sanctification, however, covers the children of Christians so that they are no longer unclean (1 Cor. 7:14).

katharismós.

This term means “physical,” then “cultic cleansing.” It is used in the LXX for ritual purification (cf. Lev. 15:13; Ex. 29:36; 30:10). The sense of cultic cleansing may be found in the NT in Mark 1:44; Luke 2:22; Jn. 2:6, but the term also denotes here cleansing from sin, in baptism (Jn. 3:25; Eph. 5:26; 2 Pet. 1:9), through Christ’s death (Heb. 1:3; cf. 1 Jn. l:7ff.). For the same concept Paul has hagiasmós in 1 Cor. 1:30; 1 Th. 4:7; Rom. 6:19 — a more dynamic term.

ekkathaírō.

“To cleanse,” “to purge,” “to separate”: Paul uses this word in 1 Cor. 5:7 for purging out the leaven, i.e., removing all abominations, and in 2 Tim. 2:21 for setting aside what is shameful.

perikátharma.

This more intensive form of kátharma is common in secular Greek for a. the expiatory offering, b. the unworthy and destitute, and c. what is thrown out after purification. All three senses are apposite in Paul’s self-description as perikátharma toú kósmou in 1 Cor. 4:13.

[F. HAUCK, III, 423–31]--Theological Dictionary of the New Testament - Abridged Edition [4]

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§ lxxxv. εἰλικρινής, καθαρός

The difference between these words is hard to express, even while one may instinctively feel it. They are continually found in company with one another (Plato, Phileb. 52 d; Eusebius, Præp. Evan. xv. 15. 4), and words associated with the one are in constant association with the other.

Εἰλικρινης occurs only twice in the N. T. (Phil. 1:10; 2 Pet. 3:1); once also in the Apocrypha (Wisd. 7:25); εἰλικρινεια three times (1 Cor. 5:8; 2 Cor. 1:12; 2:17). Its etymology, like that of 'sincere,' which is its best English rendering, is doubtful, uncertainty in this matter causing also uncertainty in the breathing. Some, as Stallbaum (Plato, Phædo, 66 a, note), connect with ἴλος, ἴλη (εἴλειν, εἰλεῖν), that which is cleansed by much rolling and shaking to and fro in the sieve; 'volubili agitatione secretum atque adeo cribro purgatum.' Another more familiar and more beautiful etymology, if only one could feel sufficient confidence in it, Lösner indicates: 'dicitur de iis rebus quarum puritas ad solis splendorem exigitur,' ὁ ἐν320 τῇ εἵλῃ κεκριμένος, held up to the sunlight and in that proved and approved. Certainly the uses of εἰλικρινής, so far as they afford an argument, and there is an instinct and traditionary feeling which lead to the correct use of a word, long after the secret of its derivation has been altogether lost, are very much in favour of the former etymology. It is not so much the clear, the transparent, as the purged, the winnowed, the unmingled; thus see Plato, Axioch. 370, and note the words with which it habitually associates, as ἀμιγής (Plato, Menex. 245 d; Plutarch, Quæst. Rom. 26); ἄμικτος (De Def. Or. 34; cf. De Isid. et Os. 61); ἀπαθής (De Adul. et Amic. 33); ἄκρατος De Anim. Procr. 27); ἀκραιφνής (Philo, Mund. Opif. 2); ἀκέραιος (Clement of Rome, Cor. 2; compare Xenophon, Cyrop. viii. 5. 14; Philo, Mund. Opif. 8; Plutarch, Adv. Colot. 5: De Fac. in Orb. Lun. 16: πάσχει τὸ μιγνύμενον· ἀποβάλλει γὰρ τὸ εἰλικρινές). In like manner the Etym. Mag.; εἰλικρινὴς σημαίνει τὸν καθαρὸν καὶ ἀμιγῆ ἑτέρου: compare an interesting discussion in Plutarch, De Ei ap. Delph. 20. Various passages, it is quite true, might be adduced in which the notion of clearness and transparency predominates—thus in Philo (Quis Rer. Div. Hær. 61) εἰλικρινὲς πῦρ is contrasted with the κλίβανος καπνιζόμενος—but they are much the fewer, and may very well be secondary and superinduced.

The ethical use of εἰλικρινής and εἰλικρίνεια first makes itself distinctly felt in the N. T.; there are only approximations to it in classical Greek; as when Aristotle (Ethic. Nic. x. 6. 4) speaks of some who, ἄγευστοι ὄντες ἡδονῆς εἰλικρινοῦς καὶ ἐλευθερίου, ἐπὶ τὰς σωματικὰς καταφεύγουσιν. Theophylact defines εἰλικρίνεια well as καθαριότης διανοίας καὶ ἀδολότης οὐδὲν ἔχουσαι συνεσκιασμένον καὶ ὕπουλον: and Basil the Great (in Reg. Brev. Int.): εἰλικρινὲς εἶναι λογίζομαι τὸ ἀμιγές, καὶ ἄκρως κεκαθθρμένον ἀπὸ παντὸς ἐναντίου. It is true to this its central meaning as often as it is employed in the N. T. The Corinthians must321 purge oat the old leaven, that they may keep the feast with the unleavened bread of sincerity (εἰλικρινείας) and truth (1 Cor. 5:8). St. Paul rejoices that in simplicity and in that sincerity which comes of God (ἐν εἰλικρινείᾳ Θεοῦ), not in fleshly wisdom, he has his conversation in the world (2 Cor. 1:12); declares that he is not of those who tamper with and adulterate (καπηλεύοντες) the word of God, but that as of sincerity (ἐξ εἰλικρινείας) he speaks in Christ (2 Cor. 2:17).

Καθαρός, connected with the Latin 'castus,' with the German 'heiter,' in its earliest use (Homer does not know it in any other, Od. vi. 61; xvii. 48), is clean, and this in a physical or non-ethical sense, as opposed to ῥυπαρός. Thus καθαρὸν σῶμα (Xenophon, Œcon. x. 7) is the body not smeared with paint or ointment; and in this sense it is often employed in the N. T. (Matt. 27:59; Heb. 10:22; Rev. 15:6). In another merely physical sense καθαρός is applied to that which is clear and transparent; thus we have καθαρός and διαυγής (Plutarch, De Gen. Socr. 22). But already in Pindar (Pyth. v. 3, καθαρὰ ἀρετή), in Plato (Rep. vi. 496 d, καθαρὸς ἀδικίας τε καὶ ἀνοσίων ἔργων), and in the tragic poets it had obtained an ethical meaning. The same is not uncommon in the Septuagint, where it often designates cleanness of heart (Job 8:6; 33:9; Ps. 23:4), although far oftener a cleanness merely external or ceremonial (Gen. 8:20; Lev. 14:7). That it frequently runs into the domain of meaning just claimed for ἐλικρινής must be freely admitted. It also is found associated with ἀληθινός (Job 8:6); with ἀμιγής (Philo, Mund. Opif. 8); with ἄκρατος (Xenophon, Cyrop. viii. 7. 20; Plutarch, Æmil. Paul. 34); with ἄχραντος (De Is. et Osir. 79); with ἀκήρατος (Plato, Crat. 396 b); καθαρὸς σῖτος is wheat with the chaff winnowed away (Xenophon, Œcon. xviii. 8. 9); καθαρὸς στρατός, an army rid of its sick and ineffective (Herodotus, i. 211; cf. iv. 135), or, as the same phrase is used in Thucydides (v. 8), an army made up of322 the best materials, not lowered by an admixture of mercenaries or cowards; the flower of the army, all ἄνδρες ἀχρεῖοι having been set aside (Appian, viii. 117). In the main, however, καθαρός is the pure contemplated under the aspect of the clean, the free from soil or stain; thus θρησκεία καθαρὰ καὶ ἀμίαντος (Jam. 1:27), and compare the constant use of the phrases καθαρὸς θόνου, καθαρὸς ἀδικίας (Plato, Rep. vi. 496 d; Acts 18:6), and the like; and the standing antithesis in which the καθαρόν stands to the κοινόν, contemplated as also the ἀκάθαρτον (Heb. 9:13; Rom. 14:14, 20).

It may then be affirmed in conclusion, that as the Christian is εἰλικρινής, this grace in him will exclude all double-mindedness, the divided heart (Jam. 1:8; 4:8), the eye not single (Matt. 6:22), all hypocrisies (1 Pet. 2:1); while, as he is καθαρὸς τῇ καρδίᾳ, by this are excluded the μιάσματα (2 Pet. 2:20; cf. Tit. 1:15), the μολυσμός (2 Cor. 7:1), the ῥυπαρία (Jam. 1:21; 1 Pet. 3:21; Rev. 22:11) of sin. In the first is predicated his freedom from the falsehoods, in the second from the defilements, of the flesh and of the world. If freedom from foreign admixture belongs to both, yet is it a more primary notion in εἰλικρινής, being probably wrapt up in the etymology of the word, a more secondary and superinduced notion in καθαρός.--Trench's Synonyms of the New Testament [5]

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Pure, Purity

Old Testament

Noun: ‏קֹדֶשׁ‎ (qōdeš), GK 7731 (S <H6944>), 470x. qōdeš connotes the concept of “holiness,” i.e., the essential nature of that which belongs to the sphere of the sacred and is distinct from the common or profane. See holiness.

Adjective: ‏טָהוֹר‎ (ṭāhôr), GK 3196 (S <H2889>), 96x. ṭāhôr means “clean, pure” and is used in a material or natural sense, as well as in both a ritual and ethical sense. See clean.

Adjective: ‏קָדוֹשׁ‎ (qādôš), GK 7705 (S <H6918>), 117x. Generally qādôš is translated as “holy,” “holy one,” or “saint.” It describes that which is by nature sacred or that which has been admitted to the sphere of the sacred by divine rite. See holy.

New Testament

Noun: ἁγνεία (hagneia), GK 48 (S <G47>), 2x.

Noun: ἁγνότης (hagnotēs), GK 55 (S <G54>), 2x. hagneia and hagnotēs both mean “purity.” While the former word seems to apply in the NT specifically to sexual purity (1 Tim. 4:12; 5:2), hagnotēs is a more general word for keeping oneself fully devoted to Christ and the Christian way of life (2 Cor. 6:6; 11:3). See NIDNTT-A, 12.

Adjective: ἁγνός (hagnos), GK 54 (S <G53>), 8x. hagnos means “pure, innocent.” The overwhelming message of the NT is that believers should keep themselves pure; this term should not be limited to sexual purity, as we so often think of the word—though it can have that nuance (cf. Tit. 2:5; 1 Pet. 3:2). When Paul sets as his goal to present the Corinthian church to Christ as a “pure virgin” (2 Cor. 11:2), he is using hagnos in the context of the OT, where adultery and prostitution are often used as metaphors for idolatry. When Paul instructs Timothy to keep himself “pure” (1 Tim. 5:22), he is advising him to keep away from any involvement in the sins of others. In fact, if believers want to enjoy the peace of God, they must concentrate their lives (among other qualities) on things that are “pure” (Phil. 4:8-9). Finally, as to the basis of Christian purity, just as our holiness is founded on the fact that God is holy (see holy), so our purity is to be based on the fact that “he is pure” (1 Jn. 3:3). See NIDNTT-A, 12.

Adjective: καθαρός (katharos), GK 2754 (S <G2513>), 27x. katharos (“clean, pure”) conveys three different senses: a natural sense, a ceremonial sense, and a moral sense. See clean.

--Mounce's Complete Expository Dictionary of OT/NT Words: Expository Dictionary [6]

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Clean

Old Testament

Adjective: ‏טָהוֹר‎ (ṭāhôr), GK 3196 (S <H2889>), 96x. ṭāhôr means “clean, pure” and is used in a material or natural sense, as well as in both a ritual and ethical sense. In the natural sense, ṭāhôr describes the “pure” gold of the furnishings of the tabernacle, such as the ark (Exod. 25:11), the mercy seat (25:17), the table (25:24), various vessels (25:29), the lampstand (25:31), the plate (28:36), and the incense altar (30:3). Garments for Aaron are made with cords as of pure gold (39:15). Likewise, the appliances of the temple are made of pure gold (1 Chr. 28:17), as are its inner decorations (2 Chr. 3:4) and Solomon’s throne (9:17).

The Lord promises cleansing in a number of key passages in Ezekiel: “I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols” (Ezek. 36:25; cf. vv. 23, 33); “I will show you how to distinguish between the unclean and the clean” (44:23).

That such cleansing is not just intended for the people of God as a group but for the individual as well is demonstrated by Ps. 51, where David, after his sin with Bathsheba, cries out: “Wash away all my iniquity” (51:2); “Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean” (51:7); and “Create in me a pure heart, O God” (51:10). See NIDOTTE, 2:338-53; 4:477-86.

New Testament

Adjective: καθαρός (katharos), GK 2754 (S <G2513>), 27x. Similar to the verb katharizō (see cleanse), katharos (“clean, pure”) conveys three different senses. First, in a natural or material sense, katharos describes something as being free from that which defiles: a clean cup (Mt. 23:26), clean linen (Mt. 27:59; Rev. 15:6), clean water (Heb. 10:22), pure gold (Rev. 21:18). A person who has bathed is said to be “clean all over” (Jn. 13:10).

Second, katharos relates to traditional ceremonial distinctions between clean and unclean, pure and defiled. Paul uses katharos in this sense when he declares that “all food is clean” (Rom. 14:20). Here he certainly does not mean that all food is free from physical dirt, but that all foods are ceremonially clean and thus are able to be eaten.

Third, closely connected to the previous notion of ritual purity, katharos can refer to an individual who is free from moral guilt. In this sense one is “morally pure.” Jesus washes his disciples’ feet demonstrating how they are now in fact morally clean (Jn. 13:10, 11) through the words that he has spoken to them (Jn. 15:3). Jesus announces that the morally pure in heart will see God (Mt. 5:8). Furthermore, Paul professes his moral integrity: “I am innocent (katharos) of the blood of all men” (Acts 20:26; see also 18:6). Similarly, the notion of moral uprightness may be expressed by relating “purity” as a characteristic of the heart (1 Tim. 1:5; 2 Tim. 2:22; 1 Pet. 1:22) and the conscience (1 Tim. 3:9; 2 Tim. 1:3). See NIDNTT-A, 278-279.--Mounce's Complete Expository Dictionary of OT/NT Words: Expository Dictionary [7]

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ΚΑΘΑΡΟ᾿Σ

ΚΑΘΑΡΟ᾿Σ, ά, όν:

1. clear of dirt, clean, spotless, unsoiled, Odyssey, Herodotus, Euripides.

2. clear, open, free, ἐν καθαρῷ (sc. τόπῳ) in a clear, open space, Iliad; ἐν καθαρῷ βῆναι to leave the way clear, Sophocles; διὰ καθαροῦ ῥέειν, of a river whose course is clear and open, Herodotus; τὸ ἐμποδὼν ἐγεγόνεε καθαρόν the hindrance was cleared away, Id.:—c. gen., γλῶσσα καθαρὴ τῶν σημηΐων clear of the marks, Id.

3. in moral sense, clear from shame or pollution, pure, καθαρῷ θανάτῳ Odyssey: especially clear of guilt or defilement, clean, pure, Theognis, Aeschylus; καθαρὸς χεῖρας Herodotus:—so, of persons purified after pollution, ἱκετὴς προσῆλθες κ. Aeschylus; of things, βωμοί, θύματα, δόμοι, μέλαθρα Id., Euripides:—c. gen. clear of or from a charge, κ. ἐγκλημάτων, ἀδικίας, κακῶν, etc., Horace’s sceleris purus, Plato, Xenophon.

4. opposed to θολερός, clear of admixture, clear, pure, of water, Herodotus, Euripides; so, κ. φάος, φέγγος Pindar; κ. ἄρτος χρυσός Herodotus; ἀργύριον Theocr.

5. of birth, opposed to ξένος, pure, genuine, Pindar, Euripides; τῶν Ἀθηναίων ὅπερ ἐστράτευε καθαρὸν ἐξῆλθε, i.e. who were citizens of pure blood, Thucydides:—καθαρόν a real, genuine saying, Id.

6. without blemish, τὸ καθαρὸν τοῦ στρατοῦ the sound portion of the army, Herodotus.

7. clear, exact, ἂν καθαραὶ ὦσιν αἱ ψῆφοι if the accounts are clear, exactly balanced, Demosthenes.

II. Adv. καθαρῶς, Hesiod; καθαρῶς γεγονέναι to be of pure blood, Herodotus.

2. with clean hands, honestly, Theognis, Plato.

3. clearly, plainly, λέγειν Aristophanes; γνῶναι, εἰδέναι Id., Plato. Hence the word καθαρότης

Hebrew words are used for the washing of Ahab's chariot and for the cleansing of his armour. Were the two washed at the same place? The chariot was washed in the pool of Samaria; but probably his armour was taken to be cleaned at his palace at Jezreel, and doubtless the dogs licked the blood that was rinsed from it at or near the pool of Jezreel, according to the prophecy of Elijah, which otherwise would not have been literally fulfilled. But see R. V. in Job 14:19, of the destruction of the surface of the land by floods of water; and in Ezek. 16:9, of the 'thorough washing' which represented the care with which God dealt with His people Israel at their first beginning.

We now come to the two words which were in most ordinary use among the Jews, namely, cavas (‏כָּבַס‎, <H3526>), for which the LXX has πλύνω or ἀποπλύνω, which was applied to the washing of garments; and rachats (‏רָחַץ‎, <H7364>, Ass. rahatsu), generally rendered νίπτω or λούω,148 but in seven passages πλύνω, which represented the bathing or washing of the body.

Cavas is the term applied to the 'fuller,' and is supposed to refer in the first place to the treading whereby clothes were cleaned. This cleansing of garments was an important ceremonial action. We have already seen its meaning under a slightly different form in Gen. 35:2, where Jacob told his household to put away their false gods, and to change their garments; evidently the latter action was taken as the external symbol of the former. Of the 'divers washings' of the Levitical dispensation, some had to do with the garments, and are described under the word cavas; while others had to do with the flesh, and are represented by rachats. The following come under the first head: the ceremonial cleansing of the garments before the people were allowed to approach Mount Sinai (Exod. 19:10, 14); the cleansing of the garment sprinkled with the blood of the offering (Lev. 6:27); the cleansing of men's clothing after leprosy or after contact with that which was pronounced unclean (Lev. 17:15); the cleansing of the Levites' clothing for their service (Num. 8:7), where it was connected with the sprinkling of 'holy water' over their flesh.

Under the second head (rachats, the washing of the flesh) come the washing or bathing of the body, the hands, and the feet generally; the washing of the sacrifices (Exod. 29:17); of the priests before their consecration, and also before their daily ministration (Exod. 29:4, and 30:19, 

--Liddell and Scott's Greek-English Lexicon [8]

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Appendix / Bibliography

[1] Zodhiates, Spiros. New Testament. Chattanooga, TN: AMG Publishers, 1993. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.

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[2]Girdlestone, R. B. Girdlestone's Synonyms of the Old Testament. Grand Rapids, MI: Wm. B. Eerdmans, 1897. WORDsearch CROSS e-book. 

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[3] Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon

Joseph Henry Thayer (November 7, 1828—November 26, 1901), an American biblical scholar, was born in Boston, Massachusetts. Thayer's Greek–English Lexicon of the New Testament is one of the greatest achievements in biblical scholarship

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[4] Bromiley, Geoffrey W., trans., Gerhard Kittel, Gerhard Friedrich, ed. Theological Dictionary of the New Testament: Abridged in One Volume Grand Rapids, MI: William B. Eerdmans, 2003. WORDsearch CROSS e-book. 

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[5]--Mounce, William D., ed. Mounce's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words: Expository Dictionary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.

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[6]--Mounce, William D., ed. Mounce's Complete Expository Dictionary of Old and New Testament Words: Expository Dictionary. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2006. WORDsearch CROSS e-book.

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[7.]Trench, Richard. Trench's Synonyms of the New Testament. Eleventh ed. London: Kegan Paul, Trench, Trubner & Co., 1890. WORDsearch CROSS e-book. 

 

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[8] Liddell, H. G. and R. Scott. An Intermediate Greek-English Lexicon: Founded Upon the Seventh Edition of Liddell and Scott's Greek-English Lexicon. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1889. WORDsearch CROSS e-book. 

 

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