Washing

"(Mark 7:1-9). The Jews, like other Orientals, used their fingers" "when taking food, and therefore washed their hands before doing" "so, for the sake of cleanliness. Here the reference is to the" "ablutions prescribed by tradition, according to which "the" "disciples ought to have gone down to the side of the lake," "washed their hands thoroughly, `rubbing the fist of one hand in" "the hollow of the other, then placed the ten finger-tips" "together, holding the hands up, so that any surplus water might" "flow down to the elbow, and thence to the ground.'" To neglect" "to do this had come to be regarded as a great sin, a sin equal" to the breach of any of the ten commandments. Moses had "commanded washings oft, but always for some definite cause; but" the Jews multiplied the legal observance till they formed a large body of precepts. To such precepts about ceremonial washing Mark here refers. (See [663]ABLUTION.)