Bath, Bathing
Bath, Bathing
BATH, BATHING.The immersing or washing of the whole person may be a matter of cleanliness, or of luxury, or of religious observance, or of health.
(1) Cleanliness per se may be set aside. It is possible to be cleanly with less elaborate apparatus; and the majority in OT (or even NT) times would have neither privacy nor inclination for bathing. (2) Luxury in the classical world (diffused even among the people, under Roman influence, at least subsequently to NT times) included plunge-baths and much besides. When Greek culture tried to invade Judaea under Antiochus Epiphanes (circa (about) 168 b.c.), it doubtless brought Greek bathing establishments with it. And when Western culture came in resistlessly under Herod (b.c. 404), it must have introduced the practice in many places; cf. an anecdote of Gamaliel ii. in Schrer, HJP [Note: JP History of the Jewish People.] ii. i. 18, 53. (3) Religious observance, under OT law, according to Professor Kennedy (art. Bath, Bathing in Hasting’s Dictionary of the Bible i. 257b), required a partial washing, or a washing with water rather than bathing. The Heb. of the OT does not distinguish between bathing and a partial washing. Both are expressed by . However, Schrer insists that Talmudic usage codifies the custom which had long been in vogue; and Kennedy grants that the bath became, even for the laity an all-important factor in the religious life. Nay, proselyte baptism must be earlier than the NT, and it requires a bath, tblh (tbal is used in one unambiguous OT passage, the miracle of Naamans cleansing, 2Ki 5:14). We hear also of daily bathing among the Essenes (Josephus BJ ii. viii. 5). And, finally, Johns baptism was by immersion (as was that also of the early Christian Church, Act 8:38, Rom 6:3-4). (4) The use of mineral baths for healths sake is always popular. There are remains of such baths near Tiberias; those at Gadara and at Callirrho were very celebrated in ancient times. Joh 5:2-7 gives us an example of such bathing, though Christs miracle dispensed with the waters of Bethesda. In another passage (Joh 9:7) we have a partial washing (at the Pool of Siloam) as a stage towards completion of a miracle.
Thus bathing was well enough known in NT times. Our Lords language in Joh 13:10 turns on the distinction between bathing (the whole person) and washing (the feet). Quite conceivably a Christian sacrament might have grown out of this incident. Nothing is more impressive at Oberammergan than the threefold journey of the Christus round the companyso it is representedministering to the disciples (1) the feet-washing, (2) the bread, (3) the cup. See, further, artt. Bason, Purification.
Robert Mackintosh.
Fuente: A Dictionary Of Christ And The Gospels
Bath, Bathing
BATH, BATHING.The latter term is most frequently used in our EV [Note: English Version.] in connexion with purification from ceremonial defilementcontact with holy things, with the dead, etc. (see article Clean and Unclean)and in this sense denotes the washing of the body with water, not necessarily the total immersion of the body in water. Hence RV [Note: Revised Version.] has rightly introduced wash in many cases for bathe. Bathing in the modern and non-religious sense is rarely mentioned (Exo 2:5 Pharaohs daughter, 2Sa 11:2 [RV [Note: Revised Version.] ] Bathsheba, and the curious case 1Ki 22:38). Public baths are first met with in the Greek periodthey were included in the place of exercise (1Ma 1:14)and remains of such buildings from the Roman period are fairly numerous. Recently a remarkable series of bath-chambers have been discovered at Gezer in connexion with a building, which is supposed to be the palace built by Simon Maccabus (illust. in PEFSt [Note: Quarterly Statement of the same.] , 1905, 294 f.).
The Hebrews were well acquainted with the use of mineral and vegetable alkalis for increasing the cleansing properties of water (Jer 2:22, RV [Note: Revised Version.] soap, lye). In the History of Susanna Jer 2:17 is a curious reference to washing-balls.
A. R. S. Kennedy.
Fuente: Hastings’ Dictionary of the Bible
Bath, Bathing
bath, bathing.
1. Ordinary Bathing
Bathing in the ordinary, non-religious sense, public or private, is rarely met with in the Scriptures. We find, however, three exceptional and interesting cases: (1) that of Pharaoh’s daughter, resorting to the Nile (Exo 2:5); (2) that of Bath-sheba, bathing on the house-top (2Sa 11:2 the Revised Version (British and American)); (3) The curious case mentioned in 1Ki 22:38. (To wash with royal blood was supposed to be beneficial to the complexion.)
The dusty, limestone soil of Palestine and the open foot-gear of the Orient on stockingless feet, called for frequent washing of the feet (Gen 24:32; Gen 43:24; Jdg 19:24; 1Sa 25:41; 2Sa 11:8; Son 5:3, etc.), and bathing of the body for refreshment; but the chief concern of the writers of Scripture was with bathing of another sort. Indeed, something of the religious sense and aspect of bathing, in addition to that of bodily refreshment, seems to have entered into the ordinary use of water, as in the washing of the hands before meals, etc. (see Gen 18:4; Gen 19:2; Luk 7:44).
2. Bathing Resorts
The streams and ponds, when available, were the usual resorts for bathing (Exo 2:5; 2Ki 5:10, etc.), but the water-supply of large cities, stored up in great pools or large cisterns, was certainly available at times to some degree for bathing (2Sa 11:2); though, as Benzinger says, no traces of bathrooms have been found in old Hebrew houses, even in royal palaces. In Babylon, it would seem from Susanna 15, there were bathing pools in gardens, though this passage may refer simply to bathing in the open air. Certainly public baths as now known, or plunge-baths of the Greek type, were unknown among the Hebrews until they were brought in contact with the Greek civilization. Such baths first come into view during the Greek-Roman period, when they are found to be regularly included in the gymnasia, or places of exercise (1 Macc 1:14). Remains of them, of varying degrees of richness and architectural completeness, may be seen today in various parts of the East, those left of the cities of the Decapolis, especially at Gerash and Amman, being excellent examples (compare also those at Pompeii). A remarkable series of bath-chambers has recently been discovered by Mr. R. A. S. Macalister at Gezer in Palestine, in connection with a building supposed to be the palace built by Simon Maccabeus. For an interesting account of it see PEFS, 1905, 294 f.
3. Greek Versus Semitic Ideas
When we consider that in Palestine six months of the year are rainless, and how scarce and pricelessly valuable water is during most of the year, and in many places all the year round; and when we recall how the Bedouin of today looks on the use of water for cleansing in such times and places of scarcity, viewing it as a wanton waste (see Benzinger, Hebrew. Arch., 108, note), the rigid requirement of it for so many ritual purposes by the Mosaic law is, to say the least, remarkable (see ABLUTION; CLEAN and UNCLEAN, etc.). Certainly there was a marked contrast between the Greek idea of bathing and that of the Hebrews and Asiatics in general, when they came in contact. But when Greek culture invaded Palestine under Antiochus Epiphanes (circa 168 bc), it brought Greek ideas and Greek bathing establishments with it; and under Herod (40-44 bc) it was given the right of way and prevailed to no mean degree (see Anecdote of Gamaliel II in Schrer, HJP, II, i, 18, 53).
4. Ceremonial Purification
But bathing in the Bible stands chiefly for ritual acts – purification from ceremonial uncleanness, from contact with the dead, with defiled persons or things, with holy things, i.e. things devoted, or under the ban, etc. (see CLEAN and UNCLEAN, etc.). The Hebrew of the Old Testament does not sharply distinguish between bathing and partial washing – both are expressed by rahac, and the Revised Version (British and American) rightly renders wash instead of bathe in some cases. Talmudic usage simply codified custom which had been long in vogue, according to Schrer. But Kennedy grants that the bath at last became, even for the laity, an important factor in the religious life of Israel. We read of daily bathing by the Essenes (Josephus, BJ, II, viii, 5). Then later we find John, the Baptizer, immersing, as the record clearly shows the apostles of Christ did also (Act 8:38; Rom 6:3 f); compare Luk 11:38 where , baptzo, in passive = washed.
5. Bathing for Health
In Joh 5:2-7 we have an example of bathing for health. There are remains of ancient baths at Gadara and at Callirrhoe, East of the Jordan, baths which were once celebrated as resorts for health-seekers. There are hot baths in full operation today, near Tiberias, on the southwestern shore of the Lake of Galilee, which have been a health resort from time immemorial. It is probably true, however, as some one has said, that in Old Testament times and in New Testament times, the masses of the people had neither privacy nor inclination for bathing.