HEBREW WORD STUDY – UNCLEAN – ‘ERWATH  ערות 

Deuteronomy 24:1 “ When a man hath taken a wife and married her, and it come to pass that she find no favor in his eyes, because he hath found some uncleanness in her: then let him write her a bill of divorcement, and give it in her hand, and send her out of his house.”

In an earlier study, I pointed out that the Jewish commentator Rashi said that Miriam was unclean when God suddenly spoke to her, Aaron and Moses.  That word sudden has the idea of catching one off guard.  So why was it so horrible that Miriam did not bath after she had relations with her husband?  It wasn’t a matter of finding water, but a matter of the heart. Let’s look at this word uncleanness.

In Deuteronomy 24:1 we find that a man is allowed to divorce his wife if he finds some uncleanness in her.  Divorce is still a hot issue among Evangelical Christians but in all that debate I never really heard anyone quote Deuteronomy 24:1. Yet, the law clearly allows divorce if the wife is unclean does this goes beyond just adultery?  Miriam was unclean before God but there was no indication of adultery.  Is that what Deuteronomy 24:1 is referring to? 

The word rendered as uncleanness is a word that Christians and Jews have argued for thousands of years as to just what it means.  The word in Hebrew is ‘erwath (unclean).  That word is also used elsewhere in the Bible for nakedness, however in its Semitic origins, in extra-Biblical literature, and in the Akkadian language, it is used for the pulling of a sword from its sheath.  This could express nakedness in the sense of exposing the sword.  It could also express the sense of a threat.  In ancient times a sword was drawn to call attention to someone, just as sheriff walking into a barroom brawl and shooting his gun in the air so everyone stops fighting and looks at him.   Modern translations vary greatly in its renderings, for instance, uncleanness KJV, indecent NIV, improper Holman, wrong Living Bible, objectionable ISU, unseemingly Douay and nakedness Young’s Literal; just for starters.   

In fact, the debate over the meaning of ‘erwath dates back to the time of Jesus where the two major schools of Judaism had two very different opinions as to what ‘erwath means.  The School of Shammai interpreted ‘erwath (uncleanness) as adultery as opposed to the School of Hillel which interpreted ‘erwath (uncleanness) as an offense as mundane as using too much seasoning or burning a man’s dinner.  I don’t have to tell you which school was the most popular school.  The Mishnah in Gittin 14:10 instructs that a man may divorce his wife if he happens to find a woman prettier than his wife and prefers her.  Try that one out in your next Bible Study.   

If the best of the best scholars cannot come up with a definition of ‘erwath (uncleanness) in two thousand years, I certainly am not about to do it in this humble study.  Heck, they could not even agree on the definition of n’aph (adultery) in Jesus’s day.  The definition ran all the way from a man sleeping with another man’s wife to a man dishonoring his ex-wife by sleeping with another woman before giving her a bill of divorcement.  Well, Jesus put that one to rest quite easily by speaking as He always did, not in actual physical acts but in matters of the heart.  In Matthew 5:27-28 He equates looking upon a woman in lust to adultery.  Actually, in the Aramaic, the word used is chamed and is identical to the Hebrew word chamed and the Septuagint even uses the Greek word used in Matthew, epithumeo, for chamed.  Chamed does not mean lust but to covet, strongly desire something.   Jesus was simply repeating one of the Ten Commandments, thou shalt not covet thy neighbor’s wife (Exodus 20:17).  Like Martin Luther said: “You can’t stop the bird from flying over your head, but you can prevent him from making a nest in your hair.”  A man may not be able to avoid sudden thoughts of lust when he sees a woman, but he can control his desire so he does not covet her. A woman who loves her husband will know if her husband is coveting another man’s wife and it will wound her heart.  

So back to ‘erwath (uncleanness), why did God give us His Word in a language that has so many possible meanings?  Perhaps God wants to speak to us personally and individually about such matters.   The Bible clearly says that God has written the law upon the hearts of man (Jeremiah 10:16, Romans 2:15 and Hebrews 10:16).  Maybe the true definition of ‘erwath (uncleanness) is found in your own heart and not the guesswork of man.  Sometimes man’s best guess is not as demanding as the revelation of God in one’s own heart.