The next occasion on which these rites come into notice, is recorded by Luke. In the course of our Lord’s second tour through Galilee, after having preached the gospel to a vast concourse, “a certain Pharisee besought him to dine with him: and he went in, and sat down to meat. And when the Pharisee saw it, he marveled that he had not first baptized (ebaptisthē), before dinner. And the Lord said unto him, Now do ye Pharisees make clean the outside of the cup and the platter; but your inward part is full of ravening and wickedness. Ye fools, did not he that made that which is without make that which is within also? But rather give alms of such things as ye have; and behold all things are clean unto you.”—Luke xi, 37-41.
The next incident is mentioned very briefly by Matthew (xv, 1-9), and more fully in Mark. The apprehensions of the rulers at Jerusalem seem to have been aroused by reports of Christ’s ministry, and the excitement caused by it among the people of Galilee. And as they had formerly sent messengers to challenge John, so, now, scribes and Pharisees from Jerusalem were on the watch to find occasion against Jesus. And “when they saw some of his disciples eat bread with defiled, that is to say, with unwashen hands, they found fault. For the Pharisees and all the Jews, except they wash their hands oft, eat not, holding the tradition of the elders. And when they come from the market, except they baptize (ean mē baptisōntai), they eat not, and many other things there be which they have received to hold, as the baptisms (baptismous), of cups and pots, brazen vessels and tables” (or “beds.” So the margin and the Greek.)—Mark vii, 1-4.
These are the only places in which the ritual purifyings of the Pharisees are so mentioned as to shed light upon the subject of our inquiry. In them, we trace three distinct observances. These are enumerated by Mark, who represents them as common to “the Pharisees and all the Jews.” They are, (1) Washing the hands, before meals; (2) Baptism, after coming from the markets; (3) The baptisms of utensils and furniture.
Section XLVIII.—Washing the Hands before Meals.
It appears to have been a custom, enjoined by tradition and observed by all the Jews, always to wash the hands ritually before eating. The origin and meaning of the tradition may probably be inferred from a few Scriptural facts. (1.) Flesh was used for sacrifice, before it was given to man for food. Compare Gen. i, 29; iv, 4; viii, 20; ix, 3. It was thus transferred from the altar to the table. (2.) One essential idea in the Levitical system as to sacrifice, was communion of Israel with God at his table. Of this, the passover was but one among many illustrations which the books of Moses contain. (Deut. xii, 17, 18, 27, etc.) (3.) Hence, all eating of flesh was treated as sacrificial in its nature, and, therefore, the prohibition of blood—a prohibition perpetuated in the church by the apostles. (Gen. ix, 4; Lev. xvii, 3-14; Deut. xii, 20-27; Acts xv, 20, 29.[[67]]) If, to these facts be added the rule which required the priests to wash themselves before entering upon their official duties, one of which was the eating of the sacrificial flesh in the holy place, and the words of the Psalmist,—“I will wash mine hands in innocency, so will I compass thine altar, O Lord” (Psa. xxvi, 6), we will have the probable foundation of the ritualistic structure.
As to the mode of these washings, the rules given in the ritual law are very significant. But two cases in which the washing of the hands was required are there found. One of these is the washing of the hands of the elders in expiation of a concealed murder. (Deut. xxi, 3-9.) Here the circumstances render it certain that the water was poured on the hands. The other is mentioned in Lev. xv, 11, where the English, “rinsed,” represents the Hebrew, shātaph, to dash, or pour on with violence. If the Jews imitated the Levical rites they did not immerse their hands. Mark throws but little light upon the mode of the Pharisaic washing. In the expression, “except they wash their hands oft,” the last word of the original (pugmē,—“oft”), probably had a technical meaning, by which the mode was designated. But if such was the case, that meaning has been lost. By some writers, it is interpreted, “to the elbows,”[“to the elbows,”] “to the wrist,” “with closed fist,” etc. But all this is mere conjecture, as is the opinion of Dr. Lightfoot, that it denoted a certain form of the affusion of water upon the hands.
The account of the marriage feast affords ground for surer deductions. There were set six water pots of stone, holding two or three firkins apiece. Whatever were the rites referred to by Mark, under the two designations of “washing the hands,” and “baptism,” it was necessary that sufficient water should be provided for all occasions of both kinds which were likely to occur, in the large concourse of wedding guests, of whom Christ and the apostles were but a small proportion. For, whilst the guests, generally, were expected, of course, to make use of the ordinary rite, by washing their hands, there might be numbers who had incurred such exposure as to require the appointed baptism. What, then, are the indications as to the nature of the rites thus provided for?
The capacity of the water-pots, according to the most probable estimate, was not more than ten gallons each. The highest supposition sets them at about eighteen. They were, therefore, altogether too small to have been used as bath-tubs, for the immersion of the guests. The possibility, therefore, of such a necessity, did not enter into the calculations of those who provided for the occasion. Were the waterpots, then, used for immersing the hands? The customs of the east, then and to this day,—the fact that Jesus and his disciples evidently appear as but a small proportion of the guests,—and the quantity of wine miraculously made by Jesus for their supply, unite to certify that the great body of the community of Cana was present at the feast. The first suggestion, therefore, that presents itself is, that the supposed process must soon have rendered the water disgusting, from its use in the manner supposed, by a succession of persons. Another and conclusive fact is the use made by our Savior of these waterpots. The feast had been some time in progress, so that the guests had “well drunk,” before the exhausting of the wine. All had been purified, and the pots, appropriated to that use, stood with the remaining water, as thus left. When, Jesus said to the servants,—“Fill the waterpots with water,” “they filled them to the brim,” and immediately carried the wine to the governor of the feast. The servants were ignorant of the purpose of Jesus, and, as the narrative shows, simply did as they were directed. There was no emptying of foul water. There was no cleansing of the waterpots. There is no consciousness, manifested in the narrative, of occasion for it. Nor was there time. It was in the midst of the feast; and the wine was already exhausted, although the ruler of the feast and the guests were unaware of it. (V. 9.) The account of the transaction was written by John, an eye-witness, for the information of cotemporaries who were familiar with the rites of purifying, whatever they were. And had they been performed in the water, in any way, an explanation was necessary, or the inference became inevitable that the vessels were used just as they stood. In these circumstances, is it to be imagined that the waterpots already contained the washings of the guests; or even that they were emptied of these and then appropriated as recepticles of the wine, which was immediately served to the very persons who had just washed in them? Clearly, the facts compel the conclusion that “the purifyings of the Jews,” here provided for were not done in the waterpots, but with water taken from them, and poured or sprinkled on the guests.
This conclusion is confirmed by the explicit testimony of the rabbins. Rabbi Akiva was a doctor of the law of the most eminent reputation, his disciples being numbered by thousands. He was president of the sanhedrim, less than one hundred years after the death of Christ. Being made prisoner by the Romans, upon the suppression of the insurrection of Bar Kokeba, of which he was an active promoter, he was thrown into prison awaiting execution. When food was brought to him, the jailer thinking the supply of water too liberal, poured the greater part on the ground. The rabbi although famishing of thirst, directed what remained to be poured upon his hands, saying, “It is better to die with thirst than to transgress the traditions of the elders.”