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can signify not only a “village consisting of permanent houses” but also one in a
permanent place, even though the dwellings are tents: “And Saul came to a
of
Amalek, and laid wait in the valley” (1 Sam. 15:5).
In Gen. 4:17 (the first occurrence), the word means a “permanent dwelling center”
consisting of residences of stone and clay. As a rule, there are no political overtones to
the word; simply represents the “place where people dwell on a permanent basis.” At
some points, however, represents a political entity (1 Sam. 15:5; 30:29).
This word can represent “those who live in a given town”: “And when he came, lo,
Eli sat upon a seat by the wayside watching: for his heart trembled for the ark of God.
And when the man came into the city, and told it,
cried out” (1 Sam. 4:13).
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can also signify only “a part of a city,” such as a part that is surrounded by a wall:
“Nevertheless David took the stronghold of Zion: the same is the
of David” (2 Sam.
5:7). Ancient cities (especially larger ones) were sometimes divided into sections
(quarters) by walls, in order to make it more difficult to capture them. This suggests that,
by the time of the statement just cited, normally implied a “walled city.”
TO BE CLEAN
A. Verb.
(
+
, 2891), “to be clean, pure.” The root of this word appears over 200 times
in various forms—as a verb, adjective, or noun.
Since the fall of Adam and Eve, none of their offspring is clean in the sight of the
holy God: “Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?” (Prov.
20:9). Reminding Job that protestations of innocence are of no avail, Eliphaz asked:
“Shall mortal man be more just than God? Shall a man be more pure than his Maker?”
(Job 4:17).
There is hope, however, because God promised penitent Israel: “And I will cleanse
them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me …” (Jer. 33:8). He
said: “… I will save them out of all their dwelling places, wherein they have sinned, and
will cleanse them: so they shall be my people, and I will be their God” (Ezek. 37:23).
The baleful effect of sin was recognized when a person contracted the dread disease
of leprosy. After the priest diagnosed the disease, he could declare a person “clean” only
after cleansing ceremonies had been performed: “… And he shall wash his clothes, also
he shall wash his flesh in water, and he shall be clean” (Lev. 14:9).
God required that His people observe purification rites when they came into His
presence for worship. On the Day of Atonement, for example, prescribed ceremonies
were performed to “cleanse” the altar from “the uncleanness of the children of Israel” and
to “hallow it” (Lev. 16:17-19; cf. Exod. 29:36ff.). The priests were to be purified before
they performed their sacred tasks. Moses was directed to “take the Levites … and cleanse
them” (Num. 8:6; cf. Lev. 8:5-13). After they had been held captive in the unclean land
of Babylon, “… the priests and the Levites purified themselves, and purified the people,
and the gates, and the wall [of the rebuilt city of Jerusalem]” (Neh. 12:30).
Cleansing might be achieved by physically removing the objects of defilement.
During the reform of King Hezekiah, “the priests went into the inner part of the house of