Topical Encyclopedia
Soap, a cleansing agent, is mentioned in the Bible as a symbol of purification and spiritual cleansing. In ancient times, soap was made from natural ingredients such as ashes and oils, and it played a significant role in both physical and ritual cleanliness.
Biblical References:1.
Jeremiah 2:22 : "Although you wash with lye and use an abundance of soap, the stain of your guilt is still before Me," declares the Lord GOD. This verse highlights the inadequacy of physical cleansing agents like soap to remove the spiritual stain of sin. It underscores the need for divine intervention and repentance for true purification.
2.
Malachi 3:2 : "But who can endure the day of His coming? And who can stand when He appears? For He will be like a refiner’s fire, like a launderer’s soap." Here, soap is used metaphorically to describe the purifying work of God. Just as soap cleanses garments, God’s refining process purifies the hearts of His people, preparing them for His presence.
Cultural and Historical Context:In biblical times, soap was not the commercial product we know today but was made from natural substances. The process involved combining animal fats or vegetable oils with alkaline substances like ashes. This mixture would create a crude form of soap used for washing clothes and personal hygiene.
The use of soap in the Bible often carries a deeper spiritual meaning. It serves as a metaphor for the cleansing power of God’s forgiveness and the transformative work of the Holy Spirit. The physical act of washing with soap symbolizes the inner cleansing that believers experience through faith and repentance.
Theological Significance:The references to soap in Scripture emphasize the importance of purity and holiness in the life of a believer. While physical cleanliness is necessary, the Bible teaches that spiritual cleanliness is paramount. The imagery of soap in the Bible points to the need for a heart cleansed by God’s grace, highlighting the insufficiency of human efforts to achieve righteousness on their own.
The concept of cleansing is central to the Christian faith, as seen in the sacrament of baptism, which symbolizes the washing away of sin and the believer’s new life in Christ. Just as soap removes dirt from the body, the blood of Christ cleanses the soul from sin, as stated in 1
John 1:7 : "But if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin."
In summary, while soap in the Bible is a practical tool for physical cleanliness, its symbolic use underscores the profound need for spiritual purification through God’s redemptive work.
Smith's Bible Dictionary
SoapThe Hebrew termborith is a general term for any substance of cleansing qualities. As, however, it appears in (Jeremiah 2:22) in contradistinction tonether , which undoubtedly means "natron" or mineral alkali, it is fair to infer thatborith refers to vegetable alkali, or some kind of potash, which forms one of the usual ingredients in our soap. Numerous plants capable of yielding alkalies exist in Palestine and the surrounding countries; we may notice one namedhubeibeh (theSalsola kali of botanists) found near the Dead Sea, the ashes of which are calledel-kuli , from their strong alkaline properties.
ATS Bible Dictionary
SoapMalachi 3:2, Hebrew, borith, the cleanser; inJeremiah 2:22 distinguished from nitre, which see. It is well known that the ancient used certain vegetables and their ashes for the purpose of cleansing linen, etc. The ashes of seashore plants contain carbonate of potash. Combined with oil or fat the alkalies produced soap; but it is not known in what forms the Jews used them.
Easton's Bible Dictionary
(
Jeremiah 2:22;
Malachi 3:2; Hebrews borith), properly a vegetable alkali, obtained from the ashes of certain plants, particularly the salsola kali (saltwort), which abounds on the shores of the Dead Sea and of the Mediterranean. It does not appear that the Hebrews were acquainted with what is now called "soap," which is a compound of alkaline carbonates with oleaginous matter. The word "purely" in Isaiah 1:25 (R.V., "throughly;" marg., "as with lye") is lit. "as with bor." This word means "clearness," and hence also that which makes clear, or pure, alkali. "The ancients made use of alkali mingled with oil, instead of soap (
Job 9:30), and also in smelting metals, to make them melt and flow more readily and purely" (Gesenius).
Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary
1. (
n.) A substance which dissolves in water, thus forming a lather, and is used as a cleansing agent. Soap is produced by combining fats or oils with alkalis or alkaline earths, usually by boiling, and consists of salts of sodium, potassium, etc., with the fatty acids (oleic, stearic, palmitic, etc.).
2. (v. t.) To rub or wash over with soap.
3. (v. t.) To flatter; to wheedle.
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia
SOAPsop (borith; the King James Version sope): Borith is a derivative of bor, "purity," hence, something which cleanses or makes pure. Soap in the modern sense, as referring to a salt of a fatty acid, for example, that produced by treating olive oil with caustic soda, was probably unknown in Old Testament times. Even today there are districts in the interior of Syria where soap is never used. Cooking utensils, clothes, even the body are cleansed with ashes. The ashes of the household fires are carefully saved for this purpose. The cleansing material referred to inJeremiah 2:22 (compare Septuagint at the place, where borith is rendered by poia = "grass") andMalachi 3:2 was probably the vegetable lye called in Arabic el qali (the origin of English alkali). This material, which is a mixture of crude sodium and potassium carbonates, is sold in the market in the form of grayish lumps. It is produced by burning the desert plants and adding enough water to the ashes to agglomerate them. Before the discovery of Leblanc's process large quantities of qali were exported from Syria to Europe.
For washing clothes the women sprinkle the powdered qali over the wet garments and then place them on a flat stone and pound them with a wooden paddle. For washing the body, oil is first smeared over the skin and then qali rubbed on and the whole slimy mixture rinsed off with water. Qali was also used in ancient times as a flux in refining precious metals (compareMalachi 3:2). At the present time many Syrian soap-makers prefer the qali to the imported caustic soda for soap-making.
In Susanna (verse 17) is a curious reference to "washing balls" (smegmata).
James A. Patch
Strong's Hebrew
1287. borith -- lye, alkali, potash,soap... 1286, 1287. borith. 1288 . lye, alkali, potash,
soap. Transliteration: borith
Phonetic Spelling: (bo-reeth') Short Definition:
soap. Word Origin fem.
...1253. bor -- lye, potash
... never so, purely The same as bor; vegetable lye (from its cleansing); used as a
soap for washing, or a flux for metals -- X never so, purely. see HEBREW bor....
8562. tamruq -- a scraping, rubbing
... Or tamruq {tam-rook'}; or tamriyq {tam-reek'}; from maraq; properly, a scouring,
ieSoap or perfumery for the bath; figuratively, a detergent -- X cleanse...
Library
On Re-Reading My Protest, which I Honestly Think Much Needed...
... I do not attack the positive but the relative position ofsoap.... If we want to give
poor peoplesoap we must set out deliberately to give them luxuries....
These are the False Accusations; the Accusation of Classicism...
... There are so many of these public-school superstitions that I have here only space
for one of them, which may be called the superstition ofsoap....
For this Deep and Disabling Reason Therefore, Its Cynical and...
... that right or wrong the thing can be done; the factory is working, the wheels are
going around, the gentlemen are being produced, with theirsoap, cricket and...
The Common Conception among the Dregs of Darwinian Culture is that...
... The essential argument is "Specialists must be despots; men must be specialists.
You cannot have equality in asoap factory; so you cannot have it anywhere....
The Purifying Influence of Hope
... To take a very homely illustration"soap and water wash your hands clean, and what
you have to do is simply to rub thesoap and water on to the hand, and...
Religious and Social State.
... country. So are the "oil and washing balls" of v.17 (AV and RV); this last
term is peculiar, and is used apparently forsoap.... art.Soap)....
The Lord Coming to his Temple
... For he is like a refiner's fire, and like a fuller'ssoap,.... III. The searching power
of it in general, expressed by a refiner's fire and by fuller'ssoap. IV....
The Blood of Sprinkling
... of God. Usually when we read of cleansing, we think merely of our common
process of removing stains by water andsoap. But this...
Now Let us Shew Briefly, if You Will, that These Things were...
... For He doth come as the fire of a furnace and as fuller'ssoap: and He shall sit,
refining and purifying as it were gold and silver." But that thou mayest know...
To the Rev. A. Brandram
... Is itsoap?' I replied, 'Yes; it issoap to wash souls clean.' She demanded what
I meant; whereupon I told her that I carried cheap and godly books for sale....
Thesaurus
Soap (4 Occurrences)... It does not appear that the Hebrews were acquainted with what is now called "
soap,"
which is a compound of alkaline carbonates with oleaginous matter.
...Fuller's (4 Occurrences)
... Fuller'ssoap.... Mention is made (Proverbs 25:20; Jeremiah 2:22) of nitre and also
(Malachi 3:2) ofsoap (Hebrews borith) used by the fuller in his operations....
Fuller (5 Occurrences)
... This art is one of great antiquity. Mention is made of "fuller'ssoap"
(Malachi 3:2), and of "the fuller's field" (2 Kings 18:17)....
Lye (4 Occurrences)
... Noah Webster's Dictionary 1. (n.) A strong caustic alkaline solution of potassium
salts, obtained by leaching wood ashes. It is much used in makingsoap, etc....
Wash (105 Occurrences)
... The "washing balls" of Susanna verse 17 (smegma, a very rare word) were ofsoap.
SeeSOAP. Burton Scott Easton. Multi-Version Concordance Wash (105 Occurrences)...
Soar (5 Occurrences)
Soaked (7 Occurrences)
Washing (56 Occurrences)
... 24. The "washing balls" of Susanna verse 17 (smegma, a very rare word) were
ofsoap. SeeSOAP. Burton Scott Easton. WASHING OF FEET....
Nitre (2 Occurrences)
... (KJV JPS DBY WBS YLT). Jeremiah 2:22 For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take
thee muchsoap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD....
Niter (1 Occurrence)
... Jeremiah 2:22 For though thou shalt wash thee with niter, and take thee muchsoap,
yet thy iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD. (WBS)....
Resources
What is the significance of the refiner's fire and launderer's soap in Malachi 3:2? | GotQuestions.orgWhat does the Bible say about finding satisfaction in life? | GotQuestions.orgQuestions about Malachi | GotQuestions.orgSoap: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.comBible Concordance •
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