of valuable records, such as the deed to Jeremiah’s property. (Jer. 32:14) The preservation of the Dead Sea Scrolls was due in large measure to the clay jars in which they were found. Jesus made use of clay in healing a blind man.—John 9:6, 11, 14, 15.

The earthy nature of clay is alluded to in expressions such as ‘the clay of the streets,’ ‘man is made of clay,’ or man is ‘brought down to the clay.’ (Job 10:9; 30:19; 33:6; Isa. 10:6) Another metaphorical significance attached to the saying that man is made of clay is the fact that Jehovah is the Potter. (Isa. 29:16; 45:9; 64:8; Rom. 9:21) Clay, even when baked hard, is not a strong material, and a mixture of iron and clay is worthless. (Dan. 2:33-35, 41-43, 45) Clay affords little or no protection. (Job 4:19; 13:12; Isa. 41:25) Being a very common commodity, its commercial value is rather insignificant.—Job 27:16.

CLEAN, CLEANNESS

A number of Hebrew and Greek words describe that which is clean and pure, or the act of purification, that is, restoring to a condition without blemish, spotless, free from anything that soils, adulterates or corrupts. All together these words in their different forms occur more than two hundred times in the Scriptures and describe not only the state of physical cleanliness but, more often, moral or spiritual cleanness. Often physical and ceremonial cleanness overlap.

PHYSICAL CLEANNESS

Their personal habits made the nation of Israel a comparatively healthy people, notwithstanding their nomadic wanderings in the wilderness for forty years. God’s laws governing their camp life, including the diagnosis and treatment of diseases, were unquestionably responsible for this. The importance of clean water was emphasized under this arrangement. Not all animals were classified as clean for food. (See ANIMALS.) Precautionary regulations governed the handling and disposal of dead bodies. Quarantines acted as barriers against the spread of contagious diseases. The law of circumcision also had hygienic merits. (See CIRCUMCISION.) Sewage disposal by burying excreta was a sanitation requirement far in advance of the times. (Deut. 23:12-14) Frequent bathing and washing of clothes were also beneficial provisions in that nation’s code of laws.

The Scriptures often use physical cleanness as a symbol or representation of spiritual cleanness. For example, mention is made of “bright, clean, fine linen,” and it is said to represent “the righteous acts of the holy ones.” (Rev. 19:8) Jesus also drew upon a principle of physical cleanness when pointing out the spiritual uncleanness and hypocrisy of the Pharisees. Their deceitful conduct was likened to cleaning the outside of a cup or dish without doing the same thing to the inside. (Matt. 23:25, 26) Jesus used a similar illustration during the last Passover meal when talking to his disciples with Judas Iscariot present. Even though they had bathed and had their feet washed by the Master, and were therefore “wholly clean” physically, yet spiritually speaking, “Not all of you are clean,” Jesus said.—John 13:1-11.

The Bible lists some seventy causes of physical uncleanness and ceremonial defilement. To mention but a few: contact with dead bodies (Lev. 11:32-40; Num. 19:11-19); contact with unclean persons or things (Lev. 15:4-12, 20-24; Num. 19:22); leprosy (Lev. 13:1-59); physical discharges of the sex organs, including emission of semen during sexual intercourse (Lev. 15:1-3, 16-19, 32, 33); childbirth (Lev. 12:1-5); eating the flesh of unclean birds, fish or animals. (Lev. 11:41-47) The priests were especially obligated to be physically as well as ceremonially clean when serving before Jehovah. (Ex. 30:17-21; Lev. 21:1-7; 22:2-8) In a special sense the land could be polluted by acts of murder and idolatry.—Num. 35:33, 34; Ezek. 22:2-4; 36:25.

CEREMONIAL CLEANNESS

This was observed among the Israelites under the penalty of death. “You must keep the sons of Israel separate from their uncleanness, that they may not die in their uncleanness for their defiling of my tabernacle, which is in their midst.” (Lev. 15:31) Cleansing was usually performed by the use of water and ashes of a red cow, and the ceremony was administered in behalf of persons, places and things. (Num. 19:2-9) Three of the most common causes of uncleanness involving persons are enumerated at Numbers 5:2 as, “[1] every leprous person and [2] everyone having a running discharge and [3] everyone unclean by a deceased soul.”

Leprosy

This was the most loathsome of all diseases and required severe measures of control, including prolonged isolation with careful and repeated examination to determine when a cure had been effected. (Lev. 13:1-46; Deut. 24:8) It, therefore, required a great deal of faith for the unclean leper to say to Jesus: “Lord, if you just want to, you can make me clean.” Jesus not only wanted to, he showed he had the ability to cure this loathsome disease by commanding: “Be made clean.” Jesus then told this restored man: “Go, show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses appointed.”—Matt. 8:2-4; Mark 1:40-44; see LEPROSY.

Originally, under the prescribed regulations of the Law, before a cured victim of leprosy could return to normal living, an elaborate two-part ceremony was necessary, the first part involving the use of water, cedarwood, coccus scarlet material, hyssop and two birds. These things were supplied by the recovered leper when he presented himself to the priest outside the camp of Israel. One of the birds was then killed over running water and its blood was caught in an earthenware vessel. The cedar, scarlet material, hyssop and the living bird were dipped in the blood; the cured leper was spattered seven times by the priest with the blood, and the live bird was turned loose. Upon being pronounced clean, the man shaved, bathed and washed his garments and entered the camp, but was required to dwell seven days outside his tent. On the seventh day he again shaved off all his hair, including his eyebrows. The next day he brought two rams and a female lamb, less than a year old, together with a little flour and oil, as a guilt offering, sin offering, burnt offering and grain offering. The guilt offering consisting of one ram and the oil was first presented as a wave offering before Jehovah by the priest, who then killed the ram, put some of its blood on the lobe of the right ear, the right thumb and the right big toe of the one being cleansed. Similarly, some of the oil was then placed on top of the blood in the three above-mentioned places; some of the oil was also sprinkled seven times before Jehovah, and the balance of it was put on the head of the one being cleansed. The priest then offered up the sin, burnt and grain sacrifices, making atonement and pronouncing the cured leper clean. If, because of circumstances, the candidate was very poor, he could substitute two turtledoves or two male pigeons for the lamb and one of the rams used as the sin and burnt offerings.—Lev. 14:1-32.

Discharges

There were laws governing both the natural and diseased discharges from the bodies of both sexes, that is, discharges from the sex organs. If a man had an involuntary emission of semen during the night, he was to bathe and wash his garments and remain unclean until the following evening. A woman was to count seven days as the period of uncleanness for her regular menstruation.

However, if a woman had an irregular, abnormal or prolonged flow, then she was to count also seven days after it stopped. So also the male was to count seven days after a running discharge