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To be ceremonially “clean,” the Israelite also had to abstain from eating certain
animals and even from touching them (Lev. 11; Deut. 14:3- 21). After the Israelites
settled in the Promised Land, some modifications were made in the regulations (Deut.
12:15, 22; 15:22).
Purification rites frequently involved the use of water. The person to be cleansed was
required to wash himself and his clothes (Lev. 15:27). Water was sprinkled on the
individual, on his tent, and on all its furnishings: “And a clean person shall take hyssop,
and dip it in the water, and sprinkle it upon the tent, and upon all the vessels, and upon
the persons that were there, and upon him that touched a bone, or the slain, or one dead,
or a grave” (Num. 19:18). Sometimes the person being cleansed also had to change
garments (Lev. 6:11).
However, the rites were not meritorious deeds, earning God’s favor and forgiveness.
Nor did the ceremonies serve their intended purpose if performed mechanically. Unless
the rites expressed a person’s contrite and sincere desire to be cleansed from the
defilement of sin, they were an abomination to God and only aggravated a person’s guilt.
Anyone who appeared before Him in ritual and ceremony with “hands … full of blood”
(Isa. 1:15) and did not plead for cleansing of his crimes was judged to be as wicked as the
people of Sodom and Gomorrah. Zion’s hope lay in this cleansing by means of an
offering: “And they shall bring all your brethren for an offering unto the Lord out of all
nations upon horses … as the children of Israel bring an offering in a clean vessel into the
house of the Lord” (Isa. 66:20).
TO CLEAVE, CLING
%
(
(
, 1692), “to cling, cleave, keep close.” Used in modern Hebrew in the
sense of “to stick to, adhere to,”
%
yields the noun form for “glue” and also the more
abstract ideas of “loyalty, devotion.” Occurring just over 60 times in the Hebrew Old
Testament, this term is found very early in the text, in Gen. 2:24: “Therefore shall a man
leave his father and his mother, and shall
2
unto his wife: and they shall be one
flesh.” This usage reflects the basic meaning of one object’s (person’s) being joined to
another. In this sense, Eleazar’s hand “cleaved” to the sword as he struck down the
Philistines (2 Sam. 23:10). Jeremiah’s linen waistcloth “clung” to his loins, symbolic of
Israel’s “clinging” to God (Jer. 13:11). In time of war and siege, the resulting thirst and
famine caused the tongue “to cleave” to the roof of the mouth of those who had been so
afflicted.
The literal statement, “My soul cleaveth unto the dust” (Ps. 119:25;
RSV
, “cleaves”),
is better understood as one consults the other English versions: “I lie prone in the dust”
(
NEB
); “Down in the dust I lie prostrate” (
JB
); “I lie prostrate in the dust” (
NAB
); “I lie
defeated in the dust” (
TEV
).
The figurative use of
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in the sense of “loyalty” and “affection” is based on the
physical closeness of the persons involved, such as a husband’s closeness to his wife
(Gen. 2:24), Shechem’s affection for Dinah (Gen. 34:3), or Ruth’s staying with Naomi
(Ruth 1:14). “Cleaving” to God is equivalent to “loving” God (Deut. 30:20).
TO CLEAVE, SPLIT
%
(
, 1234), “to cleave, split, break open, break through.” This word occurs in
all the periods of the Hebrew language and is also found in ancient Ugaritic or Canaanite.