Bath, Bathing

This was a prescribed part of the Jewish ritual of purification in cases of accident, or of leprous or ordinary uncleanness, (Leviticus 15; 16:28; 22:6; Numbers 19:7; 19; 2 Samuel 11:2,4; 2 Kings 5:10) as also after mourning, which always implied defilement. (Ruth 3:3; 2 Samuel 12:20) The eastern climate made bathing essential alike to health and pleasure, to which luxury added the use of perfumes. (Esther 2:12) Judith 10:3; Susan 17. The “pools,” such as that of Siloam and Hezekiah, (2 Kings 20:20; Nehemiah 3:15,16; Isaiah 22:11; John 9:7) often sheltered by porticos, (John 5:2) are the first indications we have of public bathing accommodation.

BATH, BATH'ING. In Eastern lands bathing is a necessity as well as a luxury. It is characteristic of the Mosaic cultus that it enjoins such frequent washings; e.g. Lev 14:8; Lev 15:5; Lev 17:15. The high priest on the day of atonement must pay particular attention to this regulation. Lev 16:4, Lev 16:24. The Jews bathed in running water or in pools in courts. It was not until their subjection to Greece and Rome that public baths were known. Then came in also the luxurious bathing-customs of those peoples.