Topical Encyclopedia
In biblical terms, the concept of being "discharged" can relate to various contexts, including ceremonial cleanliness, military service, and the fulfillment of vows or obligations. The term is often associated with the completion or release from a duty, condition, or state.
Ceremonial Cleanliness:In the Old Testament, the concept of discharge is frequently associated with ceremonial laws concerning cleanliness.
Leviticus 15 provides detailed instructions regarding bodily discharges and the resulting impurity. These laws were given to the Israelites to maintain ritual purity and to distinguish them from other nations. For example,
Leviticus 15:2-3 states, "Speak to the Israelites and tell them: When any man has a bodily discharge, the discharge is unclean. This impurity is from his discharge, whether his body allows the discharge to flow or blocks it."
The laws concerning discharges were not only about physical health but also had spiritual implications, symbolizing the need for purity before God. The discharge rendered a person ceremonially unclean, requiring specific rituals for purification, as outlined in
Leviticus 15:13 : "When the man with the discharge is cleansed of his discharge, he must count off seven days for his cleansing, wash his clothes, and bathe himself in fresh water, and he will be clean."
Military Service:The concept of discharge also appears in the context of military service. In ancient Israel, men were called to serve in the army, but certain conditions allowed for discharge from this duty.
Deuteronomy 20:5-8 provides guidelines for exemptions from military service, stating, "The officers are to address the army, saying: 'Has anyone built a new house and not dedicated it? Let him go home, or he may die in battle and another man dedicate it. Has anyone planted a vineyard and not begun to enjoy its fruit? Let him go home, or he may die in battle and another man enjoy its fruit. Has anyone become pledged to a woman and not married her? Let him go home, or he may die in battle and another man marry her.'"
These exemptions highlight the importance of personal and familial responsibilities, recognizing that certain life circumstances warranted a discharge from military obligations.
Fulfillment of Vows and Obligations:In a broader sense, discharge can refer to the fulfillment or release from vows and obligations.
Numbers 30 discusses the binding nature of vows made to the Lord and the conditions under which they may be annulled. The discharge from a vow required specific conditions to be met, emphasizing the seriousness with which vows were regarded in biblical times.
Spiritual Implications:The concept of discharge, particularly in the context of ceremonial cleanliness, points to the broader biblical theme of purity and holiness. The laws concerning discharges served as a constant reminder of the need for spiritual cleanliness and the separation from sin. In the New Testament, Jesus Christ fulfills the law, offering cleansing from sin through His sacrifice.
Hebrews 10:22 reflects this spiritual cleansing: "Let us draw near with a sincere heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled to cleanse us from a guilty conscience and our bodies washed with pure water."
In summary, the biblical concept of discharge encompasses various aspects of life, including ceremonial laws, military service, and vows, each carrying significant spiritual and practical implications for the people of God.
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
(
imp. & p. p.) of Discharge.
Greek
422. anepaischuntos -- not to be put to shame... 422 (from 1 "not" and 1870, "ashamed") -- properly, not ashamed, because having
discharged responsibility which accomplishes what God assigns (note the prefix
...1607. ekporeuomai -- to make to go forth, to go forth
... From ek and poreuomai; to depart, bedischarged, proceed, project -- come (forth,
out of), depart, go (forth, out), issue, proceed (out of). see GREEK ek....
Strong's Hebrew
4916. mishlowach -- outstretching... out, ie (abstractly) presentation (favorable), or seizure (unfavorable); also
(concretely) a place of dismissal, or a business to be
discharged -- to lay, to
...5310. naphats -- to shatter
... A primitive root; to dash to pieces, or scatter -- be beaten in sunder, break (in
pieces), broken, dash (in pieces), cause to bedischarged, dispersed, be...
Library
How MosesDischarged the Part of a Military Leader.
... The Stromata, or Miscellanies: Book I Chapter XXIV."How MosesDischarged
the Part of a Military Leader. Our Moses then is a prophet...
After These, and Several Others who haveDischarged for us the...
... The Doubtful Letters Of Sulpitius Severus. Chapter VI. After these, and several
others who havedischarged for us the duties of instruction?...
Whether Suffrages Profit those who are in Purgatory?
... For it cannot be said that they profit him before they aredischarged; and after
they are fulfilled, he no longer needs them, since he is already released....
The Next Petition Is, Forgive us Our Debts. ...
... To sins he gives the name of debts, because we owe the punishment due to them, a
debt which we could not possibly pay were we notdischarged by this remission...
The Object of Theology
... Since, therefore, it has pleased him to call me, his unworthy servant, from the
ecclesiastical functions which I have for some yearsdischarged in the Church...
Of Scrupulosities About External Duties, as the Office, Fasting...
... to submit willingly thereto. But the obligation under sin to see that duty
discharged lies only upon superiors. 5. Again, when they...
Why Jesus Called them an Adulterous Generation. The Law as Husband...
... under the law, "is bound to the husband while he liveth," to the husband who is
the law; but if the husband"that is, the law die"she isdischarged from the...
To the Presbyter Archibius.
... So Idischarged this debt for the time, not that I may cease to be a debtor
but that I may increase the debt. For this obligation...
The Life of Mr. John Craig.
... what he had said before the council, and took heaven and earth to witness, that
he detested that scandalous marriage, and that he haddischarged his duty to...
"Therefore, Brethren, we are Debtors, not to the Flesh, to Live...
... And this debt, you see, is whollydischarged to them that are in Christ, by another
sentence repealing the former curse,"ver.1 "There is no condemnation to...
Thesaurus
Discharged (8 Occurrences)... Noah Webster's Dictionary (imp. & pp) of Discharge. Multi-Version Concordance
Discharged (8 Occurrences). Luke 16:4 I see what to
...Mouth (534 Occurrences)
... 3. (n.) The opening of a vessel by which it is filled or emptied, charged ordischarged;
as, the mouth of a jar or pitcher; the mouth of the lacteal vessels...
Discharge (30 Occurrences)
... a prisoner. 20. (n.) The state of beingdischarged or relieved of a debt,
obligation, office, and the like; acquittal. 21. (vt) That...
Released (52 Occurrences)
... Romans 7:2 For the woman that has a husband is bound by law to the husband while
he lives, but if the husband dies, she isdischarged from the law of the...
Mediator (7 Occurrences)
... This office involves the three functions of prophet, priest, and king, all of which
aredischarged by Christ both in his estate of humiliation and exaltation....
Bound (175 Occurrences)
... (WEY). Romans 7:2 For the woman that has a husband is bound by law to the husband
while he lives, but if the husband dies, she isdischarged from the law of the...
Kick (8 Occurrences)
... 6. (n.) A projection in a mold, to form a depression in the surface of the brick.
7. (n.) The recoil of a musket or other firearm, whendischarged. Int....
Oldness (1 Occurrence)
... Romans 7:6 But now we have beendischarged from the law, having died to that in
which we were held; so that we serve in newness of the spirit, and not in...
Lord's (548 Occurrences)
... Matthew 26:27), and generally by the Latin Church "mass," a name derived from the
formula of dismission, Ite, missa est, ie, "Go, it isdischarged."....
Letter (112 Occurrences)
... Romans 7:6 But now we have beendischarged from the law, having died to that in
which we were held; so that we serve in newness of the spirit, and not in...
Resources
What was a Roman legion? | GotQuestions.orgWho was Pliny the Younger? | GotQuestions.orgWho was Jonathan Edwards? | GotQuestions.orgDischarged: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.comBible Concordance •
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