What was Ritual Purity in First Century Judaism?

As I’ve said in previous posts, I’m in no way a Jewish scholar. Yet learning about the practice of ritual purity can give us a fuller view of what life was like for Jews in Jesus’ time.
Ritual purity was part of daily life of Jews in the first century and is referred to often in both the Old and the New Testament. In my research for The Tomb, the third book in The Living Water Series, I found that ritual purity is still a subject of historical and religious debate.
One aspect, though, is not debated: ritual purity and impurity are not concepts related to personal cleanliness, hygiene, or health. Although some of them seem to make sense in these spheres, that is not their primary purpose. Ritual purity was about sanctity. Purity in an object or person meant it was closer to sanctity or ‘life’. Impurity increased as an object or person came closer or in contact with death.
In general, there were three areas where ritual purity was to be observed:

1. Purifying the body and hands
2. Purifying vessels used for food preparation and serving
3. Eating only pure animals

 
Some ways in which impurity could be contracted were through:

• A corpse

• A leper

• A victim of a deadly illness

• The carcass of an animal

• Menstruation and childbirth

• Sexual relations

• Eating unclean animals

• Using ritually impure vessels

If a person came into contact with impurity, either by accident or on purpose, they were required to be cleansed. There were several ways to cleanse impurities, but the most common was through immersion in water and waiting a certain period of time. There were 3 types of water immersion:

Full immersion

This could be in a body of living water such as a spring, river, or sea, or in a mikveh which contained at least 40 se’ahs (about 120 gallons) of water. This was not for the purposes of cleanliness, but for purity. Vessels used for the preparation of food also were immersed.
 

Immersion of hands and feet

This was required for the priests before they participated in Temple services

Immersion of the hands

This was debated among the rabbis, but many said that the hands should be immersed immediately upon rising from bed, before praying, and before meals. Both hands must be immersed up to the wrist in water, or water could be poured three times over each hand.
Immersion was accompanied by prayer and was to be done deliberately and reverently, thanking and praising God.
Ritual purity was what set the Jewish people—the Chosen People of God—apart from the pagans. It was more than a ritual, more than a set of rules. It was who they were and what they believed in.

What do we, as Christians, do to set us apart and show that we are God’s people?

 
CLICK TO TWEET THIS: How was ritual purity practiced in first century Israel? #Bible #History http://www.stephanielandsem.com/?p=1003
CLICK TO TWEET THIS: What was ritual purity and how was it practiced in first century Judaism? #Bible #History http://www.stephanielandsem.com/?p=1003