Clean Sanctuary

[GHansen]

The  most extensive narrative on the cleansing of the sanctuary occurs in 2 Chronicles 29. There we see Hezekiah order that the temple be cleansed and the services, which had been stopped by his father Ahaz, begin again. He commanded that the temple be sanctified [vs. 5] by carrying the filthiness out of the temple. In verses 15 and 16 the priests and Levites together "cleansed" the temple and deposited the filth in the brook Kidron. These words translated as "cleansed" and "sanctified" appear together in Leviticus 16:19.

A similar cleansing is recorded  during the reign of Manasseh in 2 Chronicles 33:15,16.

The temple was also cleansed during the reign of Josiah  according to 2 Chronicles 34:8

In the days of Nehemiah, Tobiah was given chambers in the courts of the Lord. Nehemiah [13:4-9] had him cast out and the chambers "cleansed."

In all these examples, when the temple is cleansed, the Hebrew word taher  [SN 2891]. The events in Manasseh's time are described but  the term cleanse is not used. It's obvious, though, that the temple was being cleansed.

 

 

 

[GHansen]

Daniel 8: 14 refers to the "cleansing" of the sanctuary in some English versions. The Hebrew word there [SN#6663, tsadaq] translated as "cleansed" is usually translated with some form of the English words "justify" or "righteous". This word is used about 40 times in the OT. It never refers to the justification of things, except, perhaps, in Daniel 8:14. It normally refers to the justification of people.

The Hebrew word taher [SN 2891] is the word normally used in the OT to refer to the cleansing of the temple. It is used twice in Leviticus 16 to describe the DOA; the word in Daniel 8:14 is not used there at all. Taher is used about 80 times in the OT. While normally referring to the cleansing of people, it sometimes refers to the cleansing of  a house from leprosy [Lev. 14:48,53], the altar [Lev. 16: 18,19; Ez. 43:26], the land [Ez. 39: 12, 14, 16].

[GHansen]

Noted above is that two different Hebrew words are used to describe the cleansing of the sanctuary in 2 Chronicles:

taher [Online Bible# 02891] 2 Chronicles 29:15,18; 34:8

Qadash Online Bible# 06942 2 Chronicles 29:5,15

The LXX translates these words:

 katharizo [OLB # 2511 LXXA] 2 Chronicles 29:15; 34:8

hagnizo [OLB# 48 LXXA] 2 Ch. 29:15; 34:8

 

The LXX word in Daniel 8:14 translated "cleansed" is καθαρίζω, the same word used in 2 Chronicles 29:15 and 34:8.