Clean, Cleanness, Cleanse, Cleansing - Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words
Clean, Cleanness, Cleanse, Cleansing
[ A-1,Adjective,G2513, katharos ]free from impure admixture, without blemish, spotless," is used
(a) physically, e.g., Matthew 23:26; Matthew 27:59; John 13:10 (where the Lord, speaking figuratively, teaches that one who has been entirely "cleansed," needs not radical renewal, but only to be "cleansed" from every sin into which he may fall); John 15:3; Hebrews 10:22; Revelation 15:6; Revelation 19:8, Revelation 19:14; Revelation 21:18, Revelation 21:21;
(b) in a Levitical sense, Romans 14:20; Titus 1:15, "pure;"
(c) ethically, with the significance free from corrupt desire, from guilt, Matthew 5:8; John 13:10-John 13:11; Acts 20:26; 1 Timothy 1:5; 1 Timothy 3:9; 2 Timothy 1:3; 2 Timothy 2:22; Titus 1:15; James 1:27; blameless, innocent (a rare meaning for this word), Acts 18:6;
(d) in a combined Levitical and ethical sense ceremonially, Luke 11:41, "all things are clean unto you." See CLEAR, C, Note
(2), PURE.
[ B-1,Verb,G2511, katharizo ]
akin to A, signifies
(1) "to make clean, to cleanse"
(a) from physical stains and dirt, as in the case of utensils, Matthew 23:25 (figuratively in Matthew 23:26); from disease, as of leprosy, Matthew 8:2;
(b) in a moral sense, from the defilement of sin, Acts 15:9; 2 Corinthians 7:1; Hebrews 9:14; James 4:8, "cleanse" from the guilt of sin, Ephesians 5:26; 1 John 1:7;
(2) "to pronounce clean in a Levitical sense," Mark 7:19, RV; Acts 10:15; Acts 11:9; "to consecrate by cleansings," Hebrews 9:22-Hebrews 9:23; Hebrews 10:2. See PURGE, PURIFY.
[ B-2,Verb,G1245, diakatharizo ]
"to cleanse thoroughly," is used in Matthew 3:12, RV.
Note: For kathairo, John 15:2, RV, See PURGE, No. 1. For diakathairo, Luke 3:17, RV, See PURGE, No. 3.
[ C-1,Noun,G2512, katharismos ]
akin to A, denotes "cleansing,"
(a) both the action and its results, in the Levitical sense, Mark 1:44; Luke 2:22, "purification;" Luke 5:14, "cleansing;" John 2:6; John 3:25, "purifying;"
(b) in the moral sense, from sins, Hebrews 1:3; 2 Peter 1:9, RV, "cleansing." See PURGE, PURIFICATION, PURIFYING.
[ C-2,Noun,G2514, katharotes ]
akin to B, "cleannes, purity," is used in the Levitical sense in Hebrews 9:13, RV, "cleanness." See PURIFY.
Note: In 2 Peter 2:18, some inferior mss. have ontos, "certainly" (AV, "clean"), for oligos, "scarcely" (RV, "just").