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Bible Dictionaries
Clean, Cleanness, Cleanse, Cleansing
Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words
or "free from impure admixture, without blemish, spotless," is used (a) physically, e.g., Matthew 23:26; 27:59; John 13:10 (where the Lord, speaking figuratively, teaches that one who has been entirely "cleansed," needs not radical renewal, but only to be "cleansed" from every sin into which he may fall); John 15:3; Hebrews 10:22; Revelation 15:6; 19:8,14; 21:18,21; (b) in a Levitical sense, Romans 14:20; Titus 1:15 , "pure;" (c) ethically, with the significance free from corrupt desire, from guilt, Matthew 5:8; John 13:10,11; Acts 20:26; 1 Timothy 1:5; 3:9; 2 Timothy 1:3; 2:22; Titus 1:15; James 1:27; blameless, innocent (a rare meaning for this word), Acts 18:6; (d) in a combined Levitical and ethical sense ceremonially, Luke 11:41 , "all things are clean unto you." See CLEAR , C, Note (2), PURE.
akin to A, signifies (1) "to make clean, to cleanse" (a) from physical stains and dirt, as in the case of utensils, Matthew 23:25 (figuratively in Matthew 23:26 ); from disease, as of leprosy, Matthew 8:2; (b) in a moral sense, from the defilement of sin, Acts 15:9; 2 Corinthians 7:1; Hebrews 9:14; James 4:8 , "cleanse" from the guilt of sin, Ephesians 5:26; 1 John 1:7; (2) "to pronounce clean in a Levitical sense," Mark 7:19 , RV; Acts 10:15; 11:9; "to consecrate by cleansings," Hebrews 9:22,23; 10:2 . See PURGE , PURIFY.
"to cleanse thoroughly," is used in Matthew 3:12 , RV.
Note: For kathairo, John 15:2 , RV, See PURGE , No. 1. For diakathairo, Luke 3:17 , RV, see PURGE , No. 3.akin to A, denotes "cleansing," (a) both the action and its results, in the Levitical sense, Mark 1:44; Luke 2:22 , "purification;" 5:14, "cleansing;" John 2:6; 3:25 , "purifying;" (b) in the moral sense, from sins, Hebrews 1:3; 2 Peter 1:9 , RV, "cleansing." See PURGE , PURIFICATION , PURIFYING.
akin to B, "cleannes, purity," is used in the Levitical sense in Hebrews 9:13 , RV, "cleanness." See PURIFY.
Note: In 2 Peter 2:18 , some inferior mss. have ontos, "certainly" (AV, "clean"), for oligos, "scarcely" (RV, "just").These files are public domain.
Vines, W. E., M. A. Entry for 'Clean, Cleanness, Cleanse, Cleansing'. Vine's Expository Dictionary of NT Words. https://www.studylight.org/dictionaries/eng/ved/c/clean-cleanness-cleanse-cleansing.html. 1940.
