Exodus 19:14

19:14 Then Moses went down from the mountain to the people and sanctified the people, and they washed their clothes.

Genesis 35:2

35:2 So Jacob told his household and all who were with him, “Get rid of the foreign gods you have among you. ¹  Purify yourselves and change your clothes. ² 

Leviticus 11:25

11:25 and anyone who carries their carcass must wash his clothes and will be unclean until the evening.

Leviticus 15:5

15:5 Anyone who touches his bed ³  must wash his clothes, bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. ⁴ 

Numbers 8:7

8:7 And do this ⁵  to them to purify them: Sprinkle water of purification ⁶  on them; then have them shave ⁷  all their body ⁸  and wash ⁹  their clothes, and so purify themselves. ¹⁰ 

Numbers 8:21

8:21 The Levites purified themselves ¹¹  and washed their clothing; then Aaron presented them like a wave offering before the Lord, and Aaron made atonement for them to purify them.

Numbers 31:24

31:24 You must wash your clothes on the seventh day, and you will be ceremonially clean, and afterward you may enter the camp.’”

Zechariah 3:3-4

3:3 Now Joshua was dressed in filthy clothes ¹²  as he stood there before the angel. 3:4 The angel ¹³  spoke up to those standing all around, “Remove his filthy clothes.” Then he said to Joshua, “I have freely forgiven your iniquity and will dress you ¹⁴  in fine clothing.”

Hebrews 10:22

10:22 let us draw near with a sincere heart in the assurance that faith brings, ¹⁵  because we have had our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience ¹⁶  and our bodies washed in pure water.

Revelation 7:14

7:14 So ¹⁷  I said to him, “My lord, you know the answer.” ¹⁸  Then ¹⁹  he said to me, “These are the ones who have come out of the great tribulation. They ²⁰  have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb!

¹ tn Heb “which are in your midst.”

² sn The actions of removing false gods, becoming ritually clean, and changing garments would become necessary steps in Israel when approaching the Lord in worship.

¹ tn Heb “And a man who touches in his bed”; NLT “touch the man’s bedding.”

² tn Heb “he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water and be unclean until the evening” (cf. also vv. 6-8, 10-11, etc.).

¹ tn Or, more literally, “and thus you shall do.” The verb is the imperfect tense of instruction or legislation. Here it introduces the procedures to be followed.

² tn The genitive in this expression indicates the purpose of the water – it is for their purification. The expression is literally “the waters of sin.” The word “purification” is the same as for the “sin/purification offering” – חַטָּאת (khatta’at). This water seems to have been taken from the main laver and is contrasted with the complete washing of the priests in Lev 8:6.

³ tn The verb is the Hiphil perfect with a vav (ו) of sequence. This verb, and those to follow, has the force of a jussive since it comes after the imperative. Here the instruction is for them to remove the hair from their bodies (“flesh”). There is no indication that this was repeated (as the Egyptian priests did every few days). It seems to have been for this special occasion only. A similar requirement was for the leper (Lev 14:7-9).

⁴ tn Heb “flesh.”

⁵ tn Or “let/have them wash”; the priests were given new clothes (Lev 8:13), but the Levites simply washed their own.

⁶ tn The verb is a reflexive (or possibly passive) in this verse, indicating the summary of the process. The ritual steps that have been prescribed will lead to this conclusion. The verb could be treated as a final imperfect (being a perfect with vav [ו] consecutive), and so translated “that they may….” The major difference here is that the ritual made the Levites “clean,” whereas the ritual for the priests made them “holy” or “sanctified” (Lev 8:12).

¹ tn The verb is the Hitpael of חָטָּא (khatta’). In this stem the meaning of the root “to sin” is likely to be connected to the noun “sin/purification” offering in a denominative sense, although some would take it as a privative usage, “to remove sin.” The idea is clear enough: They performed all the ritual in order to purify themselves ceremonially.

¹ sn The Hebrew word צוֹאִים (tso’im) means “excrement.” This disgusting figure of speech suggests Joshua’s absolute disqualification for priestly service in the flesh, but v. 2 speaks of his having been rescued from that deplorable state by God’s grace. He is like a burning stick pulled out of the fire before it is consumed. This is a picture of cleansing, saving grace.

¹ tn Heb “and he”; the referent (the angel, cf. v. 1) has been specified in the translation for clarity.

² tn The occurrence of the infinitive absolute here for an expected imperfect 1st person common singular (or even imperative 2nd person masculine plural or preterite 3rd person masculine plural) is well-attested elsewhere. Most English translations render this as 1st person singular (“and I will clothe”), but cf. NAB “Take off…and clothe him.”

¹ tn Grk “in assurance of faith.”

² sn The phrase our hearts sprinkled clean from an evil conscience combines the OT imagery of the sprinkling with blood to give ritual purity with the emphasis on the interior cleansing provided by the new covenant: It is the heart that is cleansed and the conscience made perfect (cf. Heb 8:10; 9:9, 14; 10:2, 16).

¹ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “so” to indicate the implied result of the previous question.

² tn Though the expression “the answer” is not in the Greek text, it is clearly implied. Direct objects in Greek were frequently omitted when clear from the context.

³ tn Here καί (kai) has been translated as “then” to indicate the implied sequence of events within the vision.

⁴ tn Because of the length and complexity of the Greek sentence, a new sentence was started here in the translation. Here καί (kai) has not been translated because of differences between Greek and English style.