Pure; Purely; Purity

pûr , pûr´li , pû´ri - ti : This group of words has in the Old Testament and the New Testament an almost exclusively ethical significance, though the word "pure" is of course used also in its literal sense of freedom from alloy or other alien matter ( Exodus 25:11 , etc.). "Pure" in the Old Testament represents many Hebrew words, most frequently טהור , ṭāhōr ; "purely," occurs once only in the King James Version, as the translation of בּר , bōr , properly "that which cleanses" (compare Job 9:30 , the Revised Version margin "Hebrew 'cleanse my hands with lye,' " i.e. alkali for soap) in Isaiah 1:25 , the Revised Version (British and American) "thoroughly (margin "as with lye," the King James Version "purely") purge away thy dross"; "pureness" is the King James Version translation of the same word in Job 22:30 , the Revised Version (British and American) "cleanness." In the New Testament "pure" is the translation chiefly of καθαρός , katharós (Matthew 5:8 , Blessed are the pure in heart," etc.), but also of ἀγνός , hagnós (Philippians 4:8; 1 Timothy 5:22; James 3:17; 1 John 3:3 - always in an ethical sense). A different word ( eilikrinḗs ) is used in 2 Peter 3:1 , the Revised Version (British and American) "sincere." "Purity" (hagneı́a ) occurs only in the King James Version in 1 Timothy 4:12; 1 Timothy 5:2; in the Revised Version (British and American) in 2 Corinthians 11:3 (as the translation of tḗs hagnótēlos ). See CLEAN; PURITY .