RITUAL PURITY AND IMPURITY. — From the ritual or legal point of view, most non-Christian religions consider “pure” whatever they regard as close to God and imbued with his power; “impure” whatever is foreign and opposed to his sphere. In the Bible, the precepts concerning purity, even in cases where an indication of the reason is lacking, tend to make Yahwistic worship exclusive, opposing whatever occurs in magic and polytheistic cults. Whatever belongs to the God of Israel is considered sacred and holy, and therefore exalted, powerful, radiant.
Impure are bodily effluvia insofar as, bringing about a diminution of physical strength, they are opposed to sacredness understood as power. Impure are the dead, considered “powerful,” that is, in possession of forces opposed to that of Yahwistic cultic sacredness. Foreign gods are “excrement”; they are “nothing.” Impure are the pagan peoples, their land, and their foods. Certain animals sacred in paganism are impure. An attempt is then made to classify these animals on the basis of outward signs: split hooves and cud-chewing among quadrupeds, fins and scales among fish. The supposed concern for “hygiene” is the product of speculations by modern scholars.
Water, sacrificial blood, oil, and confession, insofar as it expresses evil, almost in a physical sense, serve for catharsis. With these, at sunset, the end of the state of impurity is marked. The ashes obtained from a red cow possess cathartic power, as does red in itself. Crimson-colored threads, as well as cedar wood, serve to combat impurity. A bird, a dove, brought into contact with the impure object, serves to carry impurity away. The confession of sins over running water serves the same purpose. The use of water in cathartic rites is constant; water is by nature an element antithetical to impurity, so much so that in Lev. 11, 36 it is stated that springs, cisterns, and reservoirs will not contract uncleanness. The changing of garments is likewise constant, and the obligation to shave is frequent. The action of the cathartic rite is certainly effective.
The laws concerning impurity are treated extensively in chaps. 11–16 of Leviticus. In them impurity appears as a fluid that penetrates human beings, animals, and things through contagion.
Among living beings, impurity may be intrinsic or acquired. A person may become impure for physical reasons (leprosy: Lev. 13, 3; Num. 5, 2), through natural necessities (childbirth: Lev. 12, 2–5), independently of his or her will (ibid. 15, 25), or through necessary and undesired contacts (e.g., with a dead person: Num. 6, 7; 9, 6). Certain animals are impure by nature (Lev. 11, 10 ff.). In things, impurity may be acquired through contact (the saddle of a man suffering from gonorrhea, his bed, and that of a menstruating woman: ibid. 15, 9.21.24.26); the leprosy of houses and garments is also mentioned (ibid. 14, 34; 13, 47).
In Ezekiel it is said that impurity is contracted through idolatrous acts (Ez. 20, 7.18.30.31; 22, 3.4; 23, 7.17) or, in any event, through straying from God (ibid. 15, 11; 20, 43). In Ps. 24, 4, purity of heart is spoken of. The concept of purity becomes interiorized. The struggle between pure and impure, which plays so large a part in the “priestly code,” foreshadows the struggle between good and evil.
The state of purity restores to the impure person the missing element: Naaman is declared pure after being cured of leprosy (II Reg. 5, 14); “Cleanse me from my sin,” David prays (Ps. 50 [51], 4), that is: restore in me what is missing and deficient. The state of purity is the necessary prelude to entering the sphere of sacred forces (II Par. 30, 17).