Words Mean Things
ANE = Ancient Near East, at the time the Torah was writtenThere's a common expression in modern Hebrew, yi-hi-ye be-se-der. It gives the idea of "don't worry," "trust me,", "all will be fine," and the like. Did you notice the "seder" at the end? Seder means "order." The Passover Seder is the Passover Order, as in what you say when. In Protestant religions, the Order of Worship is the printed program (what comes when) for worship that morning. The expression literally means "will be in order."
Prayer (tefilah, תְּפִלָּה) and to pray (hitpael, לְהִתְפַּלֵּל) are very interesting words in Biblical Hebrew. The verb form is reflexive, that is the action goes back onto the subject. For example, "I cleanse" as reflexive means "I cleanse myself". So, praying comes back to the person praying. The other wrinkle is that there are two forms of reflexive verbs, direct and indirect. Direct is when the subject acts on himself. Indirect is when someone else acts on the subject. So depending on which form of reflexive you think this is, you are asking yourself to have an effect back on you, or, you are asking an effect on you from someone/something else. The key to understanding prayer is that it is for you, the one praying. God does not need our prayers. It's additionally interesting to note that "to pray" in Biblical Hebrew can also mean to think or assess, to intervene, or to judge.
The Hebrew for the names Joshua and Jesus are very similar, but not the same. Joshua is Ye-ho-shu-a (יְהוֹשֻׁ֙עַ֙), and Jesus is Ye-shu-a (יֵשׁ֨וּעַ). The interesting thing is that both names share a common root which means "to save." Jesus' "saving" is probably familiar to most. Joshua is the person who took over leading the Israelites into the Promised Land after Moses died, including leading all the conquering along the way, i.e. "saving" them. The Exodus narrative that ends in Numbers picks up again in the book of Joshua.
Proper translation can make a world of difference. Translations of Deuteronomy 4:19 sometimes include "to other nations/people" (e.g. CEV, GNT, TLB, NCB, and ERV). The actual translation is "to all nations/peoples." The difference is huge. The former might suggest that the other nations can have their gods (the stars, etc.), but no, the stars, etc. are for everyone and not to be worshipped by anyone. God is the one god for all.
Host, as in heavenly host, refers to army (tsaba, צָבָא).
The word for image in the Creation story (of God, tselem, צֶלֶם) is different from the word used for image (graven/idol, pesel, פֶסֶל). They're different concepts.
Sometimes, the lack of a word is interesting. For instance, there is no word in Biblical Hebrew for "atheist." In the ANE, there was no need for the word as there was no such thing as an atheist. Everyone believed in one god, or gods, or another.
The word honor, as in "honor your father and mother," is kabad, כָּבַד. It's literal meaning is more like "make heavy or weighty" It's being VERY respectful, showing how important or weighty something is, in this case your parents.
When the Torah says "laws and statutes" (e.g., Deuteronomy 6:1), the two words are often huqqim [מִּשְׁפָּטִים] and mishpatim [מִּשְׁפָּטִים] (plurals of hoq and mishpat). The latter is fairly clear and understood as you might think for statute, ordinance, etc. The former, hoq (hoke), is different in that it's understood differently by different folks. Some think it refers to God's laws that are not understandable, period; just follow them. Others, including Prager, suggest that huqqim refers to laws between God and Man (G-M), like "have no other gods," versus laws between Man and Man (M-M) like "do not steal."
The words charity/righteous (tsed-aw-kaw, צְדָקָה), justice (tzedek, צֶ֖דֶק), and righteous one (tsaddik, צַדִּיק) all share the same root with a fundamental meaning of straightness or firmness. In Deuteronomy 6:25, "it will be our righteousness," the righteousness, tsa-da-ka, is a feminized form of this root and could be translated as "compassionate justice."
Ever hear something like "the great kahuna"? I always thought that kahuna was an Hawaiian term. It may be, but it's also a derivative of a Biblical Hebrew word for priest: ko-hane.
Ra (רָע) means bad/evil. It gets translated using other words such as wretched, harm, and hurt. It's an interesting Hebrew word in that it's just two letters. Is there a 3-letter root? Actually, there are about ten possible Hebrew letters that could be added to RA to make a root, but this also makes for ten different meanings. Fortunately, and understandably, all of these various definitions relate to some specific kind of evil. It's also interesting that this is the name of a key Egyptian god, Ra, the Sun God. Here's a good, brief article.
The ancient Hebrew word for sin is cha-taah (חַטָּאָה). But it's not exactly what we think of as sin today. There's an element of "failure" to it, or "missing the mark." This may console us to some extent that sinning is not such a damning notion, but rather simply a miss or failure; try again.
The word "torn" (terephah, טְרֵפָה) includes a notion of torn from a beast, as in "do not eat flesh torn by a beast" (Exodus 22:31). The word trafe/treyf (spelled lots of ways) which you may hear today comes from the same root and is often meant as "non-kosher." Indeed, the flesh of animals torn by beasts is not kosher, along with lots of other things.
Generally in the Torah, when you see the word "angel" (malek, מֲלְאָךְ) think "messenger." These were not winged, human-looking figures. They were whatever God was speaking through. In the case of the Burning Bush story, the "angel" was likely the burning bush itself through which God spoke. The Hebrew is mal-ak. See also Exodus 23:20.
In Exodus 26:1, God instructs that an "artist" makes the curtains of the Tabernacle. But the word (ho-seb, מֲלְאָךְ) often translated as "artist" really means more like "thinker" with a sense of wisdom included. It's thinking and wisdom that are also required, not just artistic ability. The curtains must be beautiful and meaningful.
The word for sacrifice is kor-ban (קָרְבָּן). The 3-letter root means "close." Sacrifice is for getting close to God, or close to anything for that matter. We get closer to that for which we sacrifice. Identifying for what you sacrifice is a very good clue as to what you worship.
Yeshiva is the name for a Jewish school. Shiva means seven (the number). It's interesting that in both yeshiva (a school) and "sitting shiva" (seven days of mourning), everyone is seated.
In Exodus 28:2, God explains why all the detail for the priests' garments: dignity (kaw-bode, כָב֖וֹד) and beauty (pa-ret, תִּפְאָרָה). The former describes a spiritual reason: dignity, honor, and "heavy" (as in the Ten Commandments). The latter describes the physical: beauty, adornment, and the like. Both realms, spiritual and physical, are important in the sanctuary.
In Exodus 23:12, the Sabbath commandment is reiterated using an interesting phrase, that you "may be refreshed." The 'refreshed' part comes from a 3-letter root that is also used for 'soul,' nephesh (נֶפֶשׁ). This indicates a certain action that's included in resting. It's not just sleeping all day. It's to refresh yourself, or as Prager put it, to be ensouled or re-ensouled.
You may have noticed that sometimes LORD is all caps and sometimes it's simply Lord. The all-caps version (LORD) is usually reserved for translating the tetragrammaton (יִרְאֶה), the 4-letter name of God that the Jews don't say out loud and others will say Jehovah (or a variant like Jahweh, JHWH). The lower-case Lord is generally translated from adonai (אֲדֹנָי) and is often considered a personal name for God, the God of the Jews, as it were. The term 'God' is usually a translation from elohim (אֱלהִים) referring to the universal God, the creator, mighty, all-powerful. It's interesting to note that the word a-done is generically "master, servant, lord." If you really want to get down in the weeds on this, read this article.
But, elohim (אֱלהִים) doesn't always refer to the universal God of Creation. For example, in Exodus 22:27, elohim probably means "judges" (or rulers, chieftains, etc.). Note: Hebrew letters do not have case (upper/lower).
In prepping to build the Tabernacle (Exodus 25:1-2), God tells Moses to have the people take (לָקַח) the gold, silver, etc. for God. Translations of this sentence often use 'bring' or 'give'. The key point is that you take from yourself to give to God, sacrifice!
The Biblical word for "cover" (on the Ark of the Covenant) is ka-por-et (כַּפֹּרֶת). You may notice the similar three consonants to the word kee-por (כִּפֻּר) as in Yom Kippur. The 3-letter root of both words refers to atone(ment). Yom (יוֹם) is day, so Yom Kippur (יוֹם כִּיפּוּר) is the Jewish Day of Atonement. In short, atonement means "covering up one's sins."
Lex Talionus, Law of Equivalent Retaliation. Or as the Torah puts it, an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth. This was a major advancement in the ANE. With this approach, a noble's eye is worth no more and no less than a commoner's eye. It also limited "over" revenge (you kill my son, I kill your clan). Only the quilty party suffers, and no more than fair, equivalent. One might say it is "perfectly" just, certainly balanced. Prager would also make clear that it is impossible to bruise you exactly as you bruised me, or damage my eye just as I damaged yours. That's why a court could establish a ransom ("payment for") that would be deemed the equivalent of "an eye." It's also interesting to note that in the Torah references, the instructions are to the judge/court, and those say you can "give" an eye for an eye, not "take," making it clear that giving the victim money makes more sense than taking an eye.
Not exactly a word issue, but... I ran across a handy acronym: ANE. It stands for Ancient Near East. Understanding the setting in which the Torah was written, ANE, is critical to understanding what it has to say to us today. You may see "ANE" now and then in my writings. I became aware of "ANE" in a book, The Manifold Beauty of Genesis 1 by Gregg Davidson, professor of geology, and Kenneth J. Turner, professor of biblical languages and Old Testament (two of my favorite subjects!).
In Exodus 20:18, immediately following God speaking the Ten Commandments, the Bible says, "And all the people witnessed the thunder and lightning." The word translated as witnessed, ro-im (רָאָה), more commonly in the ANE meant "saw." They saw the thunder/voice. Something very unique, miraculous maybe, happened here that the people could see sound. Made me think of seeing the ripples in the water in Jurassic Park.
The ancient Hebrew word for "the word" is ha-de-va-reem (הַדְּבָרִ֗ים). It means "word" as we think of it, but also means "thing." It's almost as if words actually were what they represent, alive.
Sometimes it's the use of seemingly unnecessary or unimportant words rather than a word's particular meaning or nuance that indicates something. Take, for example, the "excessive" repetition of "the God of" in the common description: "I am the God of your father, the God of Abraham, the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob" (e.g. Exodus 3:6). Couldn't it have simply read "I am the God of your father, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob."? Of course it could have. So what does it mean that all those "the God of"s are added? The best explanation I've heard is Prager's: it's to indicate that each of these patriarchs had a different relationship with God. God is a personal God who relates with each of us differently, just like siblings have different relationships with their parents. This repetitive phrase is used throughout both testaments.
The word for Passover in Biblical Hebrew is Pesach (פֶסַח). This is where we get Pascal Lamb. If you know the word for Easter in other languages, you may recognize the similarity: Paska, Pascoa, Pascua, Paques, Pascha, etc. So where did the word/name "Easter" come from? Unknown, but maybe the pagan goddess of spring, sunrise, and/or fertility: Eostre/Eostare/Ostara. Also, Eastre is thought to be an ancient word for dawn. New wine in old vessels. It is thought that an original meaning of pesach was "protect."
When Pharoah demands the same brick quota without supplying any straw, he uses the word "heavier" (כָּבַד) to describe the new level of work demanded of the Hebrews. This same word is used to describe God making Pharoah's heart "heavier" or hardened or strengthened.
In Exodus 6:7, God says "I will take you as My people." The verb "take" here (לָקַח) is the same verb used for a man taking a woman as a spouse. The bridegroom notion is not new in the New Testament. In the bigger picture, the Jewish nation is nothing apart from God. They are not a color, a race, an ethnicity, nor a "nation" except vis-a-vis God.
In Exodus 2:11, Moses sees an Egyptian beating a Hebrew slave. The word nakah (נָכָה) is translated as beating. In the next verse, Moses kills the Egyptian, but the same verb is used (nakah). Nakah can mean beat or kill, but either way, Moses did to the Egyptian what the Egyptian did to the Hebrew slave. Nakah should be translated the same in each verse. Translating the word differently in each verse suggests incorrectly that Moses' response was inappropriate.
In Exodus 2:6, the verb "to cry" (bo-keh) is used with a child, baby Moses. It's the only time in the Torah it's used with a child. All other uses are for adults crying.
In Exodus 1:11, Pharoah set taskmasters to oppress them (the Hebrews). The word translated as oppress (anah, עָנָה) has a more sadistic nature to it, like torture or defile. Most great evil has a sadistic nature to it.
You may have heard the word goyim (גּוֹיִ֔ם). Jews often refer to non-Jews as the goyim, often with a little deragatory tone. But the word is not at all pejurative in the Torah. It is simply the plural form of nation or people. Moses uses this word, goyim, to argue with God about God's first inclination to destroy the Israelites in the wilderness. Moses argues "what might the nations (goyim) think of You if You destroy them now (after taking them out of Egypt)." Numbers 14:15.
There are two Hebrew words for nation or people, am and goy (see discussion immediately above). The am word includes a blood tie notion in addition to the basic nation idea. Pharoah uses am when he says the Hebrews are a blood nation that is getting too big and strong for Egypt. He's being racist, in much the same way that Hitler viewed the Jews.
"Truth" in Biblical Hebrew is emet (אֶמֶת), spelled with the first letter, last letter, and middle letter of the alphabet. "False" is sheqer (שֶׁקֶר), spelled with the next to the last three letters of the alphabet. Truth is everything, similar to "alpha to omega" and everything in between. False is "nothing."
Numbers can be fascinating, too, as they had great meaning to the ancients. Take the ages of the Patriarchs: Abraham 175, Isaac 180. and Jacob 147. You may not have picked up on the factoring involved - because you're not an ancient.
175 = 5 x 5 x 7
180 = 6 x 6 x 5
147 = 7 x 7 x 3
The squared number increases by one and the other factor decreases by two. Additionally, the sum of the factors in each case is 17. There is a lot of such "numbers have meaning" in Genesis. It suggests that this is not coincidence, but that the hand of God is involved. Regardless to whom you credit the Torah, it was pretty sharp to include such things.
In Genesis 47:9, Jacob/Israel tells Pharoah "the years of my sojourn has been 130" meaning he his 130 years old (when Pharoah asked). The word translated as sojourn is from the root "gare" (גֵּר) meaning stranger. It's the same root language used numerous times when the text reminds the Israelites that they, too, were strangers in the land (e.g. Ex. 23:9, Lev. 19:34, and Deut. 10:19). The message each time: Have empathy!
The word "torah" (תּוֹרָה) does appear throughout the Torah itself and means instruction or teaching. Law is a reasonable translation, but I gather not as good. The 3-letter root (y-r-h) means 'to guide' or 'to teach' and is the same root for teacher (morah) and parent (horah). I saw an interesting discussion that suggested way back when the word meant 'to cause something to move straight or true,' like an arrow. The Torah 'directs.' So how did the Torah get to be known as the Books of the Law? Here's one path suggested by Woudstra: the Greeks translated torah as nomos which in turn was translated into Latin as lex which leads to legal or legalistic. From the Latin it leads to "something that is written and needs to be obeyed." A lexicon describes how words are (or should be) used whether in general or within a discipline.
In Genesis 39:19, Joseph's master in Egypt becomes "furious" when his wife tells him that Joseph tried to come to her. The word translated as furious literally means "his nostrils flared."
In Genesis 40:15 the word "dungeon" (in which Joseph is currently interpreting dreams) is the same Hebrew word as the pit/well into which his brothers threw him (bowr/bore, בּוֹר). A bowr is anything that traps something.
Remember Joseph and the interpretations of dreams by the baker and the cup-bearer? There's a fun play-on words in the interpretations. To the cup-bearer, "within three days Pharoah will lift up your head." To the baker, "within three days Pharoah will lift up your head...from you." Ouch.
In Genesis 37:31-32, the Hebrew says the brothers sent the (Joseph's) tunic and took it to their father. Sent and then took? What does that mean, what's the difference? In Biblical Hebrew, the word "sent" can also mean "cut." This would make more sense. The brothers cut the tunic to make it look damaged as well as blood-soaked and then took it to their father.
At the end of Genesis 37:27, it often says Joseph's brothers agreed (with the idea of selling Joseph away). But the Hebrew says they "heard" the plan, not that they agreed to it.
Shalom (שָׁלוֹם), (peace, hello, goodbye) is also translated as "friendly." In Genesis 37:4 Joseph's brothers "could not speak a friendly word to him." The "friendly" is shalom. A few verses later (37:14), Jacob sends Joseph to see how his brothers are and in that phrase is the word shalom.
In Biblical Hebrew, the books of the Bible are generally titled by the first word or phrase in the book. If we used an English translation of those first Hebrew words/phrases, the book titles would be:
Genesis - In the Beginning (רֵאשִׁית, beresheit)
Exodus - Names (שְׁמוֹת֙, shemowt)
Leviticus - And He Called (וַיִּקְרָ֖א, wayriqya)
Numbers - In the Wilderness (בְּמִדְבַּ֥ר, bemidbar, not the very first word)
Deuteronomy - Words/Things (הַדְּבָרִ֗ים, hadebarim), "Second Teaching/Law" in Greek
There are two words translated as forgive in the Old Testament: salah (סָלַח) and nasa (נָשָׂא). Salah is the easy one. It appears 45 times and means essentially what we mean by forgive or pardon. The other word, nasa, appears 513 times but only about 30 times does it mean what we think of forgiveness. The other 480 times it means to carry or lift up or bear. This gets to a key difference in understanding forgiveness between Judaism and Christianity. The latter thinks more in terms of wiping out the punishment or even acquital. Judaism does not wipe out the crime or the punishment, it demands atonement. It requires that the guilt and the related punishment be "lifted off" or "carried" away through atonement. Click here for more.
The word "holy" in Biblical Hebrew (OT) is ka-dosh (קָדוֹשׁ). The Greek word "hagios" (ἅγιος) has the same meaning in the New Testament (NT). We commonly think today that "holy" means: divine, pious, Godly, righteous, perfection, and the like. But that's not what ka-dosh and hagios meant. "Holy" in the OT and the NT meant set apart for a special purpose. The Israelites were to be a holy nation, set apart to carry God's message to the world. Holy Communion is where bread and wine are set apart to remember the resurrection. Sabbath is the first time in history that time is made holy, the 7th day is set apart for gratitude (of Creation), rest, and reflection. Holy marriage is a contract/agreement between two people that is set apart as special. The Holy Spirit, an attribute of God, is set apart to more directly communicate with people. Ant the Holy Land is a special place set apart for the Jews (assuming they stick to the mission).
In the Creation story, does "day" mean 24 hours? No, and it can be seen just from the text. There can't be a 24-hour day before the 4th day of Creation when the sun was created. In Genesis 2:4, the wording implies 6 days equals 1 day; that can't be unless "day" is understood as a period of time, an era, or just "a long time." In the Adam/Eve story, God says, paraphrased, "if you eat from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil on that day you shall die"; but they clearly don't die on that day. Often "day" means "when."
The word Shabbat (Sabbath) comes from "ceased" as in God ceased creating on the 7th day and rested.
"Kosher" means "compromise," suggesting God's ideal for mankind is to be vegetarian (as in the Garden) but He acquiesces in a way with, "OK, you can eat animals, but not all animals" in the laws of kashrut (kosher). Generally speaking, the distinction between kosher and non-kosher animals is whether they relate to death/killing (not kosher) or not, e.g. whether they are prey (kosher) or predator. Animals that don't cross or confuse natural order or boundaries are kosher. Examples of those that do confuse the order (non-kosher) are amphibious animals in that it is not clear whether they are of the sea or of the land.
In the Garden of Eden, God "gently" put Adam down in the Garden. You would not read this in most translations. It's touching.
Adam is from adama, "the earth." It could be translated as "Earthling." Eve means "life," mother of all living things."
Genesis 4:13 is usually translated as "my punishment is too great." It's actually "my sin/iniquity is too great." Sinning is the problem, not the punishment.
There is no word for "hell" in Biblical Hebrew.
No one knows what gopher wood is in the Flood story.
The word "Hebrew" is first used in Genesis 14:13. We don't know what it means exactly, but the root suggests "to pass, wander."
The Hebrew word for covenant is brit, or bris. When you go to a brit, you're going to a covenant, not a circumcision. Circumcision is milah, so the full name of the event is Brit Milah, Covenant of Circumcision.
An unusual name for God is used in the Hagar story. She calls God "El-Roi," which means "God sees me." Indeed, God did see and save Hagar and her son Ishmael.
In the Sodom story, we read that God hears their cry (of the Sodomites). But it's "her" cry, not "their" cry. Jewish tradition holds it was the cry of one girl from within that evil city.
In Genesis 19:2, the Sodom story, Lot tells the men/angels to turn (or turn aside) to his home. The "turn" part is really "go circuitously" to his home, to avoid other Sodomites.
The name Lot (of Sodom fame) means "Flee."
When the Torah says, "And God remembered," it means God chose to act at that point. Obviously, God does not forget as we think of forgetting.
In Genesis 20:13 there is an unusual use of a plural verb with the singular Elohim (God) subject. This is when Abraham is talking to Ave-Melek, a pagan. Pagans would relate much better to "many gods" than to "one God." BTW, Elohim is actually plural, but is used for the singluar God.
In Genesis 22:6, Abraham raises his knife to sacrifice Isaac. The word for knife here (ham-ma-ka-ke-let) is unusual and means something like "the eater." This term would be more associated with slaughtering animals to eat. This is yet another indication that the Torah (therefore God) sees child sacrifice as disgusting.
We typically understand that God took a rib from Adam, but the literal suggests He took an unspecified chunk of his "side."
Like English, Hebrew has both a word for murder and a differemt word for kill. In the Ten Commandments, it's "thou shalt not murder," not "thou shalt not kill." Exodus 20:13. Well, that's the simple version, but it's a little more complicated than that. The Hebrew word "murder" is also used with accidental killing (Numbers 35). A better translation for the 6th Commandment to understand it properly today is: No taking of human life except in self defense and capital punishment.
After Cain kills Abel, God says to Cain, "the voice of thy brother's bloods crieth unto me from the ground." It's plural, bloods! This emphasizes the infinite value of a human life. It's not just one life, it's all the lives that would have descended (from Abel) had the victim lived. Genesis 4:10.
When you see the word Prophet throughout the Old Testament, think Spokesperson. The Hebrew word being translated means spokesman, not some kind of soothsayer or fortune teller. A "prophet" is a spokesman for God, one who brings a message from God to people.
The original Biblical Hebrew had no vowel markings and no punctuation. Vowel markings were added much later (without disturbing the original letters in the slighest!) as well as some punctuation. In addition, cantillation marks were added. These cantillation marks (also called trope) indicate how to sing the text (the word cantillation is from the same root as cantor and relates to the French chanter), and in some cases adds meaning to the text. For instance, in the story of Lot and Sodom, Lot was surprisingly hesitant to leave Sodom. The angels had to "lift him up" and "place him" outside the walls. One verse says, "Lot dawdled" (Genesis 19:16). There is a cantillation mark there (a shalshelet), one rarely used, that draws out the word for a very long time, like "d-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-a-wdled." He reeeeeeeally hesitated! A similar interesting occurence of this drawn-out cantillation mark occurs in Genesis 39:8 where Joseph refuses the advances of Mrs. Potiphar. The rabbis have argued whether this meant he thought about it a long time (yes-no-yes-no-yes-etc.) or that he profusely, emphatically refused.
Genesis 19:14 speaks of Lot's sons-in-law who are "pledged" to his daughters. The actual Hebrew means more like "takers" of Lot's daughters which indicates a less-than-ideal relationship.
In Biblical Hebrew, when it's translated "heart" it means to us today mind or brain. The center for feelings in ancient Hebrew is the kidneys. This is why we sometimes call memorizing, clearly a mind/brain thing, "learning by heart."
One of the Hebrew words translated as "worship" (hallah) includes elements of bragging or boasting. When was the last time you bragged about God?
The Hebrew word often translated as "the law" (halakhah) would be more accurately translated as "the way to go, the path." Think of the laws of the Torah as a map or pathway to goodness.
The term Ark (tay-vah) is used twice in the Torah: Noah's ark and baby Moses' ark (basket) on the Nile. An ark is an uncrewed, rudderless, powerless boat guided solely by God. (The Ark of the Covenant is an entirely different word.)
When you see the translation "people of the land," it refers to the regular folks.
Numbers/Digits in the Torah are not necessarily for specificity or accuracy. Rather, they often have a special meaning that the ancients would have understood immediately. For example, "40" means "a lot." 120 is the ideal lifespan, not exactly 120 years. 7 is very meaningful throughout the Torah and suggests holy or sanctified. So, when it says Sarah lived 127 years it would be shockingly significant to the ancients about how great she was, both the ideal age plus of holiness.
Many times in the Torah (and elsewhere in the Bible), you will run into English words like clean, impure, etc. These do not mean what we moderns would assume they mean - nothing to do with dirty, or unhealthy. Rather, they mean things associated with life (clean) and things associated with death (unclean). The Hebrew words are tahor (טָהֵר) and tamay (טָמֵא֒) which have no good English word translation but mean effectively "life focused or life capable" (tahor) and "death oriented, unrecoverable" (tamay).
More coming... which will be added at the top as we go along.