Greek word · G1571

ἐκκαθαίρω

ekkathairō

to cleanse

To clean out thoroughly; to purge something by removing what makes it dirty (here) or to remove the dirt itself. Used only here and in 2 Tim 2:21 in the NT.

Appears 2 times in 2 verses of the Greek New Testament. ·

What it means

ἐκ-καθαίρω

[in LXX for בָּעַר, etc. ;]

1. to cleanse thoroughly, cleanse out: with accusative, ἑαυτόν, 2 Timothy 2:21; of the impurity removed, ζυμήν, 1 Corinthians 5:7.†

(AS)

From G. Abbott-Smith, A Manual Greek Lexicon of the New Testament (1922), via STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0).

In depth

From the study of 1 Corinthians 5:7

Range of meaning

To clean out thoroughly; to purge something by removing what makes it dirty (here) or to remove the dirt itself. Used only here and in 2 Tim 2:21 in the NT.

Against the English

KJV/WEB 'purge out,' ESV 'cleanse out,' NASB 'clean out,' BSB/NIV 'get rid of.' 'Get rid of' is clear but loses the household picture of sweeping and searching the house before the festival.

Used elsewhere in the period

Classical and Hellenistic Greek use it for clearing out a place or purging a house. The action matches the pre-Passover search for leaven described in Mishnah Pesaḥim 1:1–4, where the leaven was found by lamplight and then destroyed.

From the study of 2 Timothy 2:21

Range of meaning

To clean out thoroughly, purge, clear away. It is used of clearing a place of dirt, refuse, pests or unwanted contents. The ek- prefix ('out') gives the sense of removing something from a space, not just rinsing a surface.

Against the English

KJV and WEB 'purge' keep the force of thorough removal. BSB, ESV, NIV and NASB 'cleanse' is accurate but softer. NLT's 'keep yourself pure' turns a decisive act of clearing out into ongoing maintenance and drops the 'from these'.

Used elsewhere in the period

It appears only twice in the New Testament. The other use is 1 Cor 5:7, 'clean out the old leaven', which pictures a Jewish household sweeping every trace of leaven out of the house before Passover. LXX Deut 26:13 uses it for removing the holy portion out of one's house. The word lives in the world of household clearing.

Where it appears

1 Corinthians · 1

  1. 1 Corinthians 5:7 ἐκκαθάρατε do cleanse out

    Get rid of the old leaven, that you may be a new unleavened batch, as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed.

    Here: A one-time, decisive command (aorist imperative, plural): 'clean out, completely.' The prefix ek- ('out') pictures sweeping something out of the house, exactly what a Jewish household did with leaven before Passover.

2 Timothy · 1

  1. 2 Timothy 2:21 ἐκκαθάρῃ shall cleanse

    So if anyone cleanses himself of what is unfit, he will be a vessel for honor: sanctified, useful to the Master, and prepared for every good work.

    Here: 'Clean out, purge away.' The prefix ek- ('out') gives the picture of clearing something out of a space, the way leaven was swept out of a house before Passover (1 Cor 5:7). The aorist form treats it as a decisive act.

Word data: STEPBible.org (CC BY 4.0), main text only.