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ablution

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ablution

 

  3  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Ablution  \Ab*lu`tion\,  n.  [L.  ablutio,  fr  abluere:  cf  F. 
  ablution.  See  {Abluent}.] 
  1.  The  act  of  washing  or  cleansing;  specifically,  the  washing 
  of  the  body,  or  some  part  of  it  as  a  religious  rite. 
 
  2.  The  water  used  in  cleansing.  ``Cast  the  ablutions  in  the 
  main.''  --Pope. 
 
  3.  (R.  C.  Ch.)  A  small  quantity  of  wine  and  water,  which  is 
  used  to  wash  the  priest's  thumb  and  index  finger  after  the 
  communion,  and  which  then,  as  perhaps  containing  portions 
  of  the  consecrated  elements,  is  drunk  by  the  priest. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  ablution 
  n  :  the  act  of  washing  yourself  (or  another  person)  [syn:  {washup}, 
  {bathing}] 
 
  From  Easton's  1897  Bible  Dictionary  [easton]: 
 
  Ablution 
  or  washing,  was  practised,  (1.)  When  a  person  was  initiated  into 
  a  higher  state:  e.g.,  when  Aaron  and  his  sons  were  set  apart  to 
  the  priest's  office,  they  were  washed  with  water  previous  to 
  their  investiture  with  the  priestly  robes  (Lev.  8:6). 
 
  (2.)  Before  the  priests  approached  the  altar  of  God,  they  were 
  required,  on  pain  of  death,  to  wash  their  hands  and  their  feet 
  to  cleanse  them  from  the  soil  of  common  life  (Ex.  30:17-21).  To 
  this  practice  the  Psalmist  alludes,  Ps  26:6. 
 
  (3.)  There  were  washings  prescribed  for  the  purpose  of 
  cleansing  from  positive  defilement  contracted  by  particular 
  acts  Of  such  washings  eleven  different  species  are  prescribed 
  in  the  Levitical  law  (Lev.  12-15). 
 
  (4.)  A  fourth  class  of  ablutions  is  mentioned,  by  which  a 
  person  purified  or  absolved  himself  from  the  guilt  of  some 
  particular  act  For  example,  the  elders  of  the  nearest  village 
  where  some  murder  was  committed  were  required,  when  the  murderer 
  was  unknown,  to  wash  their  hands  over  the  expiatory  heifer  which 
  was  beheaded,  and  in  doing  so  to  say  "Our  hands  have  not  shed 
  this  blood,  neither  have  our  eyes  seen  it"  (Deut.  21:1-9).  So 
  also  Pilate  declared  himself  innocent  of  the  blood  of  Jesus  by 
  washing  his  hands  (Matt.  27:24).  This  act  of  Pilate  may  not 
  however,  have  been  borrowed  from  the  custom  of  the  Jews.  The 
  same  practice  was  common  among  the  Greeks  and  Romans. 
 
  The  Pharisees  carried  the  practice  of  ablution  to  great 
  excess,  thereby  claiming  extraordinary  purity  (Matt.  23:25). 
  Mark  (7:1-5)  refers  to  the  ceremonial  ablutions.  The  Pharisees 
  washed  their  hands  "oft,"  more  correctly,  "with  the  fist"  (R.V., 
  "diligently"),  or  as  an  old  father,  Theophylact  explains  it 
  "up  to  the  elbow."  (Compare  also  Mark  7:4;  Lev.  6:28;  11:  32-36; 
  15:22)  (See  {WASHING}.)




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