Verse 6
6. Washed them with water Physical purity is desirable in itself. Cleanliness is next to godliness. But this washing of the outer man symbolizes the purgation of the inner man from all filthiness of the spirit, by the washing of regeneration and the renewing of the Holy Ghost. Nearly all pagan nations employ water as an indication of a moral cleansing, either borrowing the practice from the Hebrews or because the symbolism is naturally suggested to the mind. The Egyptian priests bathed in cold water twice each day and twice each night. Exodus 2:5, note. The supposition that this washing of the priests in the wilderness was by the immersion of the entire person is too violent to be entertained. Nevertheless the Hebrew word רחצ here used is the same as that found in 2 Kings 5:10, “Go wash in Jordan.” For its bearing on the meaning of βαπτω see Methodist Quarterly, January, 1874, and January, 1875, p. 67.
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