Washing

How Nave’s arranged it

• Of hands, a token of innocenceDeuteronomy 21:6Psalms 26:6Psalms 73:13Matthew 27:24
• See Ablution
• See Purification
• FIGURATIVE
• Of regenerationPsalms 51:7Proverbs 30:12Isaiah 1:16Isaiah 4:4Zechariah 13:11 Corinthians 6:11Ephesians 5:26Titus 3:5

The passages, in Bible order (12)

The same references, sorted Genesis to Revelation. The first 12 are quoted in full; the rest are one click beneath them, book by book.

1. Deuteronomy 21:6

   Then all the elders of the city nearest the victim shall wash their hands by the stream over the heifer whose neck has been broken,

   ›Commentary on Deuteronomy 21:61 voice

   “Shall wash their hands over the heifer - Washing the hands, in reference to such a subject as this, was a rite anciently used to signify that the persons thus washing were innocent of the crime in question. It was probably from the Jews that Pilate learned this symbolical method of expressing his innocence.

   Everything gathered on Deuteronomy 21:6→

   Verse page →Original language →

2. Psalms 26:6

   I wash my hands in innocence that I may go about Your altar, O LORD,

   ›Commentary on Psalms 26:61 voice

   “You have seen the deacon who gives to the priest water to wash, and to the presbyters who stand around God's altar. He gave it not at all because of bodily defilement; it is not that, for we did not enter the church at first with defiled bodies. But the washing of hands is a symbol that you ought to be pure from all sinful and unlawful deeds; for since the hands are a symbol of action, by washing them, it is evident, we represent the purity and blamelessness of our conduct.

   Everything gathered on Psalms 26:6→

   Verse page →Original language →

3. Psalms 51:7

   Purify me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.

   ›Commentary on Psalms 51:72 voices

   After this white robes were given to you as a sign that you were putting off the covering of sins and putting on the chaste veil of innocence, of which the prophet said, "Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be cleansed; wash me, and I shall be made whiter than snow."

   “Purge me with hyssop,.... Or "thou shalt purge me with hyssop" (f); or "expiate me"; which was used in sprinkling the blood of the paschal lamb on the door posts of the Israelites in Egypt, that the destroying angel might pass over them, Exo 12:22; and in the cleansing of the leper, Lev 14:4; and in the purification of one that was unclean by the touch of a dead body, &c.

   Everything gathered on Psalms 51:7→

   Verse page →Original language →

4. Psalms 73:13

   Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure; in innocence I have washed my hands.

   Verse page →Original language →

5. Proverbs 30:12

   There is a generation of those who are pure in their own eyes and yet unwashed of their filth.

   ›Commentary on Proverbs 30:121 voice

   “A generation that seems pure to itself, etc. Because God scatters the bones of men pleasing to themselves.

   Everything gathered on Proverbs 30:12→

   Verse page →Original language →

6. Isaiah 1:16

   Wash and cleanse yourselves. Remove your evil deeds from My sight. Stop doing evil!

   ›Commentary on Isaiah 1:162 voices

   “(Verse 16.) Wash yourselves, be clean. For the previous sacrifices, and burnt offerings, and the fat of the rich, and the blood of bulls and goats: and for the incense and new moons, sabbaths, feast days and fasts, calends and other solemnities, the religion of the Gospel is pleasing to me: that you may be baptized in my blood through the washing of regeneration, which alone can forgive sins. For unless one is born again of water and the Spirit, they will not enter the kingdom of heaven (John 3:5) .

   “Wash you - Referring to the preceding verse, “your hands are full of blood;” and alluding to the legal washing commanded on several occasions. See Lev 14:8, Lev 14:9, Lev 14:47.

   Everything gathered on Isaiah 1:16→

   Verse page →Original language →

7. Isaiah 4:4

   when the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains from the heart of Jerusalem by a spirit of judgment and a spirit of fire.

   ›Commentary on Isaiah 4:42 voices

   “(Verse 4.) When the Lord has washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the blood of Jerusalem from its midst with the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning, then the remnant of Israel shall be saved when their sins are forgiven in the baptism of the Savior and that blood is cleansed, the blood that the wandering people invoked upon themselves saying: His blood be upon us and upon our children (Matthew 27:25).

   “The spirit of burning - Means the fire of God’s wrath, by which he will prove and purify his people; gathering them into his furnace, in order to separate the dross from the silver, the bad from the good. The severity of God’s judgments, the fiery trial of his servants, Ezekiel (Eze 22:18-22) has set forth at large, after his manner, with great boldness of imagery and force of expression. God threatens to gather them into the midst of Jerusalem, as into the furnace; to blow the fire upon them, and to melt them.

   Everything gathered on Isaiah 4:4→

   Verse page →Original language →

8. Zechariah 13:1

   “On that day a fountain will be opened to the house of David and the people of Jerusalem, to cleanse them from sin and impurity.

   ›Commentary on Zechariah 13:11 voice

   “(Chapter 13, Verse 1) On that day there will be a flowing fountain for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for cleansing from sin and impurity. LXX: On that day there will be an open fountain for the house of David and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, for transformation and purification.

   Everything gathered on Zechariah 13:1→

   Verse page →Original language →

9. Matthew 27:24

   When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but that instead a riot was breaking out, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “You bear the responsibility.”

   ›Commentary on Matthew 27:241 voice

   “Pilate - took water, and washed his hands - Thus signifying his innocence. It was a custom among the Hebrews, Greeks, and Latins, to wash the hands in token of innocence, and to show that they were pure from any imputed guilt. In case of an undiscovered murder, the elders of that city which was nearest to the place where the dead body was found, were required by the law, Deu 21:1-10, to wash their hands over the victim which was offered to expiate the crime, and thus make public protestation of their own innocence.

   Everything gathered on Matthew 27:24→

   Verse page →Original language →

10. 1 Corinthians 6:11

    And that is what some of you were. But you were washed, you were sanctified, you were justified, in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ and by the Spirit of our God.

    ›Commentary on 1 Corinthians 6:112 voices

    “And such were some of you,.... Not all, but some of them; and of these everyone was not guilty of all these crimes; but some had been guilty of one, and others of another; so that they had been all committed by one or another of them.

    “And such - Such drunkards, lascivious, and covetous persons. This shows: (1) The exceeding grace of God that could recover even such persons from sins so debasing and degrading. (2) It shows that we are not to despair of reclaiming the most abandoned and wretched people. (3) It is well for Christians to look back on what they once were.

    Everything gathered on 1 Corinthians 6:11→

    Verse page →Original language →

11. Ephesians 5:26

    to sanctify her, cleansing her by the washing with water through the word,

    ›Commentary on Ephesians 5:261 voice

    “That he might sanctify and cleanse it - The Church is represented as the spouse of Christ, as the woman is the spouse of the man; and, to prepare this Church for himself, he washes, cleanses, and sanctifies it. There is certainly an allusion here to the ancient method of purifying women, who were appointed to be consorts to kings; twelve months, it appears, were in some instances spent in this purification: Six months with oil of myrrh, and six months with sweet odors and with other things, for the purifying of women.

    Everything gathered on Ephesians 5:26→

    Verse page →Original language →

12. Titus 3:5

    He saved us, not by the righteous deeds we had done, but according to His mercy, through the washing of new birth and renewal by the Holy Spirit.

    ›Commentary on Titus 3:52 voices

    “Who is the one who is born of the Spirit and is made Spirit? It is one who is renewed in the Spirit of his mind. It is one who is regenerated by water and the Holy Spirit. We receive the hope of eternal life through the laver of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. And elsewhere the apostle Peter says: "You shall be baptized with the Holy Spirit." For who is he that is baptized with the Holy Spirit but he who is born again through water and the Holy Spirit?

    “Not by works of righteousness which we have done - The plan was not based on our own good works, nor are our own good works now the cause of our salvation. If people could have been saved by their own good works, there would have been no need of salvation by the Redeemer; if our own deeds were now the basis of our title to eternal life, the work of Christ would be equally unnecessary.

    Everything gathered on Titus 3:5→

    Verse page →Original language →