HYGIENE, QUARANTINE AND SANITATION.
DEFINITION OF PURITY

SANITATION

1. Num.5:2 Command the children of Israel that they put out of the camp every leper, everyone who has a discharge, and whoever becomes defiled by a corpse. Lev.15:31 In this way you will separate the people of Isra’el from their uncleanness, so that they will not die in a state of uncleanness for defiling My dwelling which is there with them.

2. Num.5:3 You shall put out both male and female; you shall put them outside the camp, that they may not defile their camps in the midst of which I dwell.

3. Num.19:22 Whatever the unclean person touches shall be unclean. And the person who touches it shall be unclean until evening.

Today, YHWH does not cancel our responsibility to keep ourselves clean even though some of us do not fully understand the meaning of these commandments.

4. Deut.23:12 Also you shall have a place outside the camp, where you may go out (for a latrine).

5. Deut.23:13 You shall have an implement among your equipment, and when you sit down outside, you shall dig with it and turn and cover your refuse. For YHWH your Elohim walks in the midst of your camp, to deliver you and give your enemies over to you. Therefore your camp shall be holy, that He may see no unclean thing among you, and turn away from you.

DISCHARGE FROM THE BODY

6. Lev.15:2 When any man has a discharge from his body, his discharge is unclean. And this shall be his uncleanness in regard to his discharge – whether his body runs with his discharge, or his body is stopped up by his discharge, it is his uncleanness. 

7. Lev.15:4 Every bed on which the one who has the discharge lies is unclean, and everything on which he sits shall be unclean.

8. Lev.15:5 Whoever touches that person’s bed shall wash his clothes, and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.

These instructions pay close attention to the rules of cleaning yourself with water. In the ancient times people possessed tremendous and truthful knowledge from YHWH unlike the knowledge that it taught in secular schools… Water is the most effective cleaning tool in nature and it can be used not only for cleaning oneself but also for cleaning the clothes, dishes and the house. We encounter these rules in our daily life without even realizing it. For instance, the surgeons wash their hands, body and clothes after contact with blood or discharges (Leviticus chapter 15); all of use bathing or showers daily. Moreover, these instructions are related to the rite of water ‘baptism’ –  (submersion into water, ‘mikva’). This solemn ceremony did not start with Yochanan (John the Baptist) or Yeshua, but it was a ‘priestly action’ which has its roots in the Torah and was known to all the people of Israel.

Religious teachings have added a lot of details about how exactly one should keep himself clean, for example, about the behavior in the toilet, in the truck or in the ritual washing of the hands. All these rules are only the religious precepts which are not the commandments of the Torah. By following the simple and wise commandments of purity from the Torah, we can protect ourselves and others from unnecessary problems.

9. Lev.15:6 Whoever sits on anything on which he who has the discharge has sat shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until the evening.

10. Lev.15:7 And he who touches the body of him who has the discharge shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 

11. Lev.15:8 If he who has the discharge spits on him who is clean, then he shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.

12. Lev.15:9 Any saddle on which he who has the discharge rides shall be unclean.

13. Lev.15:10 Whoever touches anything that has been under him shall be unclean until evening. And he who carries those things shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until evening.

14. Lev.15:11 Whomever he who has the discharge touches without rinsing his hands in water shall wash his clothes and bathe himself in water, and be unclean until evening.

15. Lev.15:12 Any clay pot touched by the man with the discharge must be broken, and every wooden utensil he touches must be rinsed with water.

16. Lev.15:13 And when he who has a discharge is cleansed of his discharge, then he shall count for himself seven days for his cleansing, wash his clothes, and bathe his body in running water. Then he shall be clean.

EMISSION OF SEMEN 

17. Lev.15:16 Whenever a man has an emission of semen, he must wash his entire body, and be unclean until evening.

18. Lev.15:17 And every garment and every skin on which the sperm comes shall be washed with water, and be unclean until evening.

19. Lev.15:18 When a woman lies with a man, and there is an emission of semen, they shall bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. 

1Sam.21:4  And the priest (cohen) answered David, ‘I don’t have any regular bread; however, there is consecrated bread – but only if the guards have abstained from women.

Rev.14:4 These are the ones who were not defiled with women, for they are virgins. These are the ones who follow the Lamb wherever He goes.

Also the Levites practiced this rule: Lev.22:1 And  YHWH said to Moses, Say to Aaron and his sons that they shall stay away from the holy things which the Israelites dedicate to Me, that they may not profane My holy name; […]  Whatever man of the descendants of Aaron, who is a leper or has a discharge, shall not eat the holy offerings until he is clean. And whoever touches anything made unclean by a corpse, or a man who has had an emission of semen, or whoever touches any creeping thing by which he would be made unclean, or any person by whom he would become unclean, whatever his uncleanness may be – the person who has touched any such thing shall be unclean until evening, and shall not eat the holy offerings unless he washes his body with water. And when the sun goes down he shall be clean;

MENSTRUAL PERIOD

20. Lev.15:19 If a woman has a discharge (menstrual period), and the discharge from her body is blood, she shall be set apart seven days. And whoever touches her shall be unclean until evening.

One must be very careful with things that have something to do with blood. True knowledge about blood and its qualities was open to most of the ancient Israelites and this is why they had no questions or doubts regarding these commandments. The blood is our soul and this is why diseases or curses can be transmitted through it. Looking at these commandments from a non-religious mindset one might spot important preventative measures and the importance of a ‘clean environment’.

21. Lev.15:25 And if a woman has an issue of blood for many days, not during the time of her separation, or if she has a discharge beyond the time of her regular impurity, all the days of the issue of her uncleanness she shall be as in the days of her impurity. She shall be unclean.

22. Lev.15:28 When the woman’s menstrual discharge stops, she must count off a period of seven days. After that, she shall be clean.

23. Lev.18:19 Also you shall not have intercourse with a woman during her menstrual period (when she is unclean). Lev.20:18 If a man lies with a woman during her sickness and uncovers her nakedness, he has exposed her flow, and she has uncovered the flow of her blood. Both of them shall be cut off from their people.

Hebr.13:4 Marriage is honorable among all, and the bed undefiled (kept undishonored).

If looking at these commandments with non-religious eyes, one can see a lot of wise things, including, for example, a calendar of female ovulation, the knowledge of which can be used for natural family planning methods, created by YHWH, instead of witchcraft, or all sorts of contraception.

24. Lev.15:20 Everything that she lies on during her impurity shall be unclean. Also everything that she sits on shall be unclean.

It is important to note and understand that the commandments about purity were known long the covenant with Moses at Mount Sinai:Gen.31:34 Now Rachel had taken the household gods, put them in the saddle of the camel and was sitting on them. Lavan felt all around the tent but did not find them. She said to her father, ‘Please don’t be angry that I’m not getting up in your presence, but it’s the time of my period.’ (And he did not start to search her). Ex.19:15 He said to the people, ‘Prepare for the third day; don’t approach a woman’(abstain from having sexual intercourse).
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25. Lev.15:21 Whoever touches her bed shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.

26. Lev.15:22 And whoever touches anything that she sat on shall wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening.

27. Lev.15:23 If anything is on her bed or on anything on which she sits, when he touches it, he shall be unclean until evening.

28. Lev.15:24 And if any man lies with her at all, so that her impurity is on him, he shall be unclean seven days. And every bed on which he lies shall be unclean.

GIVING BIRTH

29. Lev.12:2 If a woman has conceived, and borne a male child, then she shall be unclean seven days (7 days). As in the days of her customary impurity she shall be unclean.

30. Lev.12:4 Then the woman must wait for thirty-three days (33 days) until the time of her purification from the blood of childbirth is completed. 

The Book of Jubilees Chapter 3 In the first week was Adam created, and the rib – his wife: in the second week He (YHWH) showed her unto him: and for this reason the commandment was given to keep in their defilement, for a male seven days, and for a female twice seven days. And after Adam had completed forty days (7+33=40) in the land where he had been created, we brought him into the garden of Eden to till and keep it […] And for this reason the commandment is written on the heavenly tablets in regard to her that gives birth: “If she bears a male, she shall remain in her uncleanness seven days (7 days)  according to the first week of days, and thirty and three days (33 days) shall she remain in the blood of her purifying, and she shall not touch any hallowed thing, nor enter into the sanctuary, until she accomplishes these days which (are enjoined) in the case of a male child.

Lk.2:22 When the time came for their purification according to the Torah, they took him up to Yerushalayim to present him to YHWH. 

31. Lev.12:5 But if she bears a female child, then she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her customary impurity, and she shall continue in the blood of her purification sixty-six days (66 days).

The Book of Jubilees Chapter 3 […] but his wife they brought in on the eightieth day (after 80 days), and after this she entered into the garden of Eden […] But in the case of a female child she shall remain in her uncleanness two weeks of days (14 days), according to the first two weeks, and sixty-six days (66 days) in the blood of her purification, and they will be in all eighty days (80 days).

BODY OF THE DEAD MAN

32. Num.19:14 When a man dies in a tent: All who come into the tent and all who are in the tent shall be unclean seven days.

That which does not bring life defiles us and we ought to stay away from it. We have obtained the spiritual purity before YHWH through Yeshua, meaning that for Him we have become pure. However, it does not mean that everything around us automatically becomes clean for us. The physical world is full of clean and unclean things. We also need to pay close attention to things that are ‘polluted’ by the spiritual uncleanness in the world that surrounds us. It is naive to suppose that we can easily enter certain places which are full of debauchery and defiled idols and that it will not harm us in any way. It is the same as entering a place where a dead man lies. If one is wise, he can prevent unnecessary problems and consequences which he might have no idea about.

33. Num.19:15 And every open vessel (in the tent), which has no covering fastened upon it, is unclean.

34. Num.19:16 And whoever in the open field touches one who is slain with a sword, or a dead body, or a bone of a dead man, or a grave, shall be unclean for seven days.

CARCASS OF THE UNCLEAN INSECT

35. Lev.11:24 Whoever touches the carcass of them (unclean insects) shall be unclean until the evening.

36. Lev.11:25 And whoever carries any part of their carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening.

CARCASS OF ANY ANIMAL AND UNCLEAN FOUR-FOOTED BEAST

37. Lev.11:39 If any animal of which you may eat dies (unslaughtered), he who touches its carcass shall be unclean until the evening. 

38. Lev.11:27 And all that go on their paws, among all kinds of four-footed beasts, are unclean to you. Whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening.

39. Lev.11:28 And he who carries their (unclean four-footed beasts) carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening.

40. Lev.11:40 And he who eats of its carcass ignorantly (any part of their carcass falls on it) shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening; he also who carries its carcass shall wash his clothes, and be unclean until the evening. 

41. Lev.17:15 And every person who eats what died naturally (what dies of itself ) or what was torn by beasts, whether he is a native of your own country or a stranger, he shall both wash his clothes and bathe in water, and be unclean until evening. Then he shall be clean. But if he does not wash them or bathe his body, then he shall bear his own iniquity.

CARCASS OF THE CREEPING THINGS

42. Lev.11:31 These are unclean to you among all that creep; whoever touches them when they are dead shall be unclean until the evening.

43. Lev.11:32 And upon whatever they (unclean creeping things) may fall when they are dead, it shall be unclean, whether it is an article of wood or clothing or skin (bottle) or sack, any vessel in which work is done. It must be put in water, and it shall be unclean until the evening; so it shall be cleansed.

44. Lev.11:33 And every earthen vessel (a clay pot) into which any of these (unclean creeping things) falls, whatever may be in it shall be unclean, and you shall break the vessel.

45. Lev.11:34 Of all the food (in one of these unclean vessels) which may be eaten, that on which such water comes shall be unclean, and all drink that may be drunk from every such vessel shall be unclean.

46. Lev.11:35 And everything upon which any part of their carcass (unclean) falls shall be unclean. Whether an oven, or pan with a lid, or hearth for pots, it shall be broken in pieces. They are unclean, and shall be unclean to you.

47. Lev.11:36 Nevertheless a fountain (a spring) or pit wherein there is plenty of water remains clean. but whoever touches their carcass (unclean) shall be unclean.

48. Lev.11:37 If a part of their carcass falls on seed which is to be sown, it shall be clean.

49. Lev.11:38 But if any water be put on the seed and any part of their carcass (unclean) falls on it, it shall be unclean to you.