The purification of the leper was a yet more formal proceeding, and indicated the highest pitch of un- cleanness. The rites are thus described in Lev. xiv, 4-32 : The priest having examined the leper and pro- nounced him clear of his disease, took for him two birds "alive and clean," with cedar, scarlet, and hys- sop. One of the birds was killed under the priest's directions over a vessel filled with spring-water, into which its blood fell; the other, with the adjuncts, ce- dar, etc., was dipped by the priest into the mixed blood and water, and, after the unclean person had been seven times sprinkled with the same liquid, was permitted to fly away " into the open field." The leper then wash- ed himself and his clothes, and shaved his head. The above proceedings took place outside the camp, and formed the first stage of purification. A probation- ary interval of seven days was then allowed, which period the leper was to pass " abroad out of his tent :" on the last of these days the washing was repeated, and the shaving was more rigidly performed, even to the eyebrows and all his hair. The second stage of the purification took place on the eighth day, and was performed " before the Lord at the door of the taber- nacle of the congregation." The leper brought thither an offering consisting of two he-lambs, a yearling ewe- lamb, fine flour mingled with oil, and a log of oil. In cases of poverty the offering was reduced to one lamb, and two turtle-doves, or two young pigeons, with a less quantity of fine flour, and a log of oil. The priest slew one of the he-lambs as a trespass-offering, and applied a portion of its blood to the right ear, right thumb, and great toe of the right foot of the leper; he next sprin- kled a portion of the oil seven times before the Lord, applied another portion of it to the parts of the body already specified, and poured the remainder over the
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leper's head. The other he-lamb and the ewe-lamb, | or the two birds, as the case might be wore then offer- ed as a sin-offering and a burnt-offering, together with the meat-offering. The significance of the cedar, the scarlet, and the hyssop, of the running water, and of the "alive (full of life) and clean" condition of the birds, is the same a.s in the case previously described. The two stages of the proceedings indicated, the first, which took place outside the camp, the readmission of the leper to t lie community of men; the second, before the sanctuary, his readmission to communion with < iod. In the first stage, the slaughter of the one bird and the dismissal of the other symbolized the punishment of death deserved and fully remitted. In the sec. ml. the use of oil and its application to the same parts of the body as in the consecration of priests (Lev. viii, 23, -1) Bymbolized the rededication of the leper to the service of Jehovah. See Purification-offering.
The ceremonies to be observed in the publication of a house or a garment infected with leprosy were iden- tical w ith the tirst stage of the proceedings used for the leper (Lev. xiv, 33-53). See Leprosy.
The necessity of purification was extended in the post- Babylonian period to a variety of unauthorized cases. Cups and pots, brazen vessels and couches, were washed as a matter of ritual observance (Mark vii. I). The washing of the hands before meals was conducted in a formal manner (vii. 3), and minute regulations are laid down on this subject in a treatise of the Mish- na entitled Vadaim. These ablutions required a large supply of water, and hence we find at a marriage least no less than six jars containing two or three firkins apiece, prepared for the purpose (John ii, G). We meet with references to purification after childbirth (Luke ii. 22), and after the cure of leprosy (Matt viii. 4; Luke xvii, 14), the sprinkling of the water mixed with ashes being still retained in the latter case (Heb. ix, 13). What may have been the specific causes of nncleanness in those who came up to purify themselves before the 1'assover (John xi, 55), or in those who had taken upon themselves the Nazarite's vow (Acts xxi, 24, 2G), we are not informed; in either ease it may have been contact with a corpse, though in the latter it would rather appear to have been a general purifi- cation preparatory to the accomplishment of the vow.
Sic W VsIIINC.
In conclusion, it may be observed that the distinc- tive feature in the Mosaic rites of purification is their
expiatory character. The idea of nncleanness was not peculiar to the dew: it was attached by the Greeks to the events of childbirth and death (Thucyd. iii, 104; Enrip. //)//. in Taur. 383), and by various nations to the case of sexual intercourse (Herod, i, LIS; ii. 64; Pers. ii, lil>. But with all these nations simple ablu- tion sufficed: no sacrifices were demanded. The Jew alone was taught by the. use of expiatory offerings to discern to its lull extent the connection between the outward sign and the inward fount, of impurity. — Smith.
See Af.l. N.
PURIFICATION in the Christian Church. The Protestant Church recognises no ceremonial purifica- tions, because it does not seek lor anything emblematic to poinl to the necessity of holiness in the people of the Lord. Christ taught purification of the heart only, and /angelical Christians teach purity of heart as the. tit condition in which to approach the Deity in wor- ship; the blood of the Son of ( cod has Ulg cleansed from