Bible Lexicons

Girdlestone's Synonyms of the Old TestamentGirdlestone's OT Synonyms

Purity

Barar (ברר , Ass. baru), literally to separate, and hence to manifest or make clean, is sometimes used in the sense of cleansing in David's hymn (2 Samuel 22:21; 2 Samuel 22:25; 2 Samuel 22:27; Psalms 18:20; Psalms 18:24; Psalms 18:26) it is used in respect of the cleanness of his hands, i.e. his freedom from evil deeds. Job says, 'If I make my hands never so clean, yet shalt thou plunge me in the ditch' (9:30); here the word is made the more emphatic by being used with Zacac (on which see below) in Psalms 73:1 we read, 'Truly God is good to Israel, even to suc has are of a clean heart;' the word is used in the expression, 'Fair as the mo on and clear as the sun,' in ; also in Isaiah 52:11, 'Be ye clean, that bear the vessels of the Lord.' These passages chiefly refer to moral purity, not to ceremonial cleanness, in which sense the word is never used. It evidently applies to the thoughts of the heart as well as to the outward actions, and it is sometimes used of that moral cleansing or purgation which consists of separating the evil from the good, the dross from the ore; see Psalms 24:4; Isaiah 1:25; Ezekiel 20:38; Daniel 11:35; Daniel 12:10. The word is used of 'a pure language' in Zephaniah 3:9, where perhaps clearness or plainness is what is referred to.

There are three roots closely connected together which all represent purity, cleanness, or freedom from pollution, namely (1) Zakak: (זקק ), which is used in Psalms 12:6, and Malachi 3:3; (2) Zacac (זכך ), which is found in Job 8:6; Job 11:4; Job 16:17 ('My prayer is pure'), 15:15 ('The heavens are not clean in his sight'), 33:9; Proverbs 16:2; Proverbs 20:11; Proverbs 21:8; Lamentations 4:7 ('Purer than snow'); also Exodus 27:20; Exodus 30:34; Leviticus 24:4; Leviticus 24:7; (3) Zacah (זכה ), which we find in Job 15:14 ('What is man, that he should be clean?'); 25:4 ('How can he be clean that is born of a woman?'); Proverbs 20:9 ('Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?'); Psalms 51:4 ('That thou mightest be clear when thou judgest'); 73:13 ('I have cleansed my heart in vain'); Psalms 119:9 ('Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?'); Isaiah 1:16 ('Wash you, make you clean').

These passages refer to moral purity and transparency of heart. They point to a character free from taint or sully, as the object which man aims at, but which he fails to obtain by his own devices; and even at the best, that which seems perfectly pure in his sight is proved vile when seen in the light of God.