Clean and Unclean: Moral Significance

The purity laws in the first five books of the Bible (the Pentateuch) are not moral rules. They are primarily rules for religious life, rules for relations with God. In later times, however, purity became a symbol of the moral order, largely under the influence of the prophetic books and the wisdom literature.

Impurity as Sin

Related Bible passages

Psalms 15.2 - Psalms 15.5 Psalms 24.4 Jeremiah 2.23 Ezekiel 23.30 Ezekiel 36.25 Amos 7.17

Religion of Israel

Clean and Unclean

Clean and Unclean: Impurity of Objects

Clean and Unclean: Impurity of Persons

Clean and Unclean: Impurity of Places

Clean and Unclean: Moral Significance

Clean and Unclean: The Origin of the Biblical Purity Laws

Dietary Laws in the Old Testament

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