(Lev. 16:4, 23, 24) Those who took the goat for Azazel, the remains of the animal sacrifices and the sacrificial red cow outside the camp had to bathe their flesh and wash their garments before reentering the camp.—Lev. 16:26-28; Num. 19:2-10.

Ceremonial bathing on the part of the Israelites in general was required for various reasons. Anyone who recovered from leprosy, or who contacted things touched by those with a “running discharge,” or a man who had an emission of semen, or a woman after menstruation or hemorrhaging, or any having sexual intercourse, were “unclean” and had to bathe. (Lev. 14:8, 9; 15:4-27) One in a tent with, or touching a human corpse was “unclean” and had to be purified with cleansing water. If anyone refused to comply with this regulation he “must be cut off from the midst of the congregation, because it is Jehovah’s sanctuary that he has defiled.” (Num. 19:20) Appropriately, then, washing is used figuratively to denote a clean standing before Jehovah. (Ps. 26:6; 73:13; Isa. 1:16; Ezek. 16:9) Bathing with Jehovah’s word of truth, symbolized by water, has power to cleanse.—Eph. 5:26.

Passing references in the Bible are made to individuals bathing: Pharaoh’s daughter in the Nile (Ex. 2:5); Ruth before presenting herself to Boaz (Ruth 3:3); Bath-sheba unwittingly in the sight of David (2 Sam. 11:2, 3); David before prostrating himself in the house of Jehovah (2 Sam. 12:20); prostitutes at a pool in Samaria. (1 Ki. 22:38) Leprous Naaman, at Elisha’s command, ‘Bathe and be clean,’ did so seven times in the Jordan River. (2 Ki. 5:9-14) It was a custom to bathe newborn babes, and the bodies of the dead before burial.—Ezek. 16:4; Acts 9:37.

In the hot climate of the Near East where people walked dusty roads in open sandals, it was a mark of hospitality and kindness to provide for washing the feet of one’s guests. Abraham extended this kindness to angels (Gen. 18:1-4); other examples included Lot, Laban and Abigail. (Gen. 19:1, 2; 24:29-32; 1 Sam. 25:41; Luke 7:38, 44; 1 Tim. 5:10) Jesus also washed the feet of his disciples.—John 13:5-17; see WASHING OF FEET.

The Pharisees washed “their hands up to the elbow,” not for hygienic reasons, but strictly because of Rabbinical traditions.—Mark 7:1-5; Matt. 15:1, 2.

Archaeology also supplies some information on ancient bathing customs; for example, bathtubs have been found in the ancient palace of Mari in Babylonia, some even equipped with drains, though common people bathed in canals and cisterns. Findings in Egypt indicate bathrooms, but no elaborate public bathhouses; Egyptian priests bathed four times a day. Remains of baths have also been discovered in Palestine, but only dating back to the time that Grecian influence penetrated the land. Herod the Great, in rebuilding the temple, provided bathrooms for the priests. Toward the end of his life, he went to the hot baths at the Dead Sea. Antipas established a health resort at the Sea of Galilee, and at Emmaus there were hot baths.

The Athenians originated the public baths as we understand them in connection with their gy·mna·siʹa; the Romans made them more attractive with added luxuries of the times. Christians reportedly did not frequent these Roman baths because of the corrupt morals and lewd entertainment that were part of the institution. Diocletian built a luxurious bath to accommodate 18,000 persons at the expense of 10,000 professed Christians who were employed as forced labor during the seven years of its construction about 300 C.E.

BATH-RABBIM

(Bath-rabʹbim) [daughter of multitudes, or, of the many].

In the Song of Solomon the Shulammite maiden’s eyes are likened to “the pools in Heshbon, by the gate of Bath-rabbim.” (7:4) Heshbon was a city in the territory of Gad but assigned to the Levites. (Josh. 21:38, 39) While some believe the name Bath-rabbim is the name of a gate of Heshbon facing toward the city of Rabbah (modern Amman) to the NE, others suggest that Bath-rabbim (daughter of multitudes) is used figuratively to mean the populous city of Heshbon itself and that the gate is so called because of the multitude passing in and out of the city or gathering at the gate for assembly. Around the present ruins of the city, evidence remains of ancient pools as well as of a large reservoir. The poetic description gives an apt picture of limpid, serene beauty seen in the shining eyes of the Shulammite, the city gate perhaps representing the forehead.

BATH-SHEBA

(Bath-sheʹba) [daughter of an oath; daughter of abundance].

Daughter of Eliam (Ammiel, 1 Chron. 3:5); possibly a granddaughter of Ahithophel. (2 Sam. 11:3; 23:34) First the wife of Uriah the Hittite, one of David’s mighty men; later married to David after being involved in one of the blackest episodes of David’s life.—2 Sam. 23:39.

Late one spring day, Bath-sheba was bathing herself, when a neighbor, King David, on the rooftop of his palace, caught sight of this beautiful woman, described as “very good in appearance.” Upon learning that her husband was off to war, the passion-aroused king had Bath-sheba brought to the palace, where he cohabited with her. “Later she returned to her house,” and after some weeks informed David she was pregnant. Thereupon David plotted to have Uriah sleep with his wife as a cover-up for the adulterous crime, but when this scheme failed, the king had Uriah killed in battle. Her mourning period over—probably a week (1 Sam. 31:13)—Bath-sheba became David’s wife and bore the child.—2 Sam. 11:1-27.

“But the thing . . . appeared bad in the eyes of Jehovah.” His prophet Nathan rebuked the king with an illustration in which he represented Bath-sheba as the “one female lamb” of the poor man, Uriah, that the rich man, David, took to entertain a visitor. In great sorrow David repented (Psalm 51), but by divine decree the adulterine child, which remains nameless, died. Further distress also came to David for his sin, his own concubines being defiled by his son Absalom.—2 Sam. 11:27–12:23; 16:21, 22.

Bath-sheba found comfort in her repentant husband, repeatedly addressed him as “my lord,” as Sarah had done to her husband (1 Ki. 1:15-21; 1 Pet. 3:6), and in time bore him a son named Solomon, whom Jehovah loved and blessed. (2 Sam. 12:24, 25) She also had three other sons, Shimea, Shobab and Nathan, the latter being an ancestor of Jesus’ mother Mary. Since Joseph descended from Solomon, both Jesus’ earthly parents traced their ancestry to Bath-sheba as well as David.—1 Chron. 3:5; Matt. 1:6, 16; Luke 3:23, 31.

Bath-sheba comes forward in the account again toward the close of David’s forty-year reign. David had sworn to her: “Solomon your son is the one that will become king after me.” So when Solomon’s older half-brother Adonijah attempted to usurp the throne just before David’s death, Bath-sheba, on the suggestion of the prophet Nathan, reminded David of his oath. Immediately David put Solomon on the throne and Bath-sheba thus became the queen mother.—1 Ki. 1:5-37.

After Solomon’s throne was firmly established, Bath-sheba appeared before him as an influential intermediary with a request in behalf of Adonijah. Solomon immediately “rose to meet her and bowed down,” and ordered that a throne be placed for his mother, “that she might sit at his right.”—1 Ki. 2:13-25.

BATTERING RAM

See ARMS, ARMOR.

BATTLE-AX

See ARMS, ARMOR.

BAVVAI

(Bavʹvai).

A Levite worker on Nehemiah’s wall-rebuilding project in Jerusalem. He was from