I am using the daily Bible reading schedule from “The Bible.net” for my daily Bible reading.

Today, I am reading and commenting on Numbers 19-21.

Today’s passage describes the way to make the water of purification and how it was to be used.  Reading the recipe for the water of purification reminds me of how soap is made.  It does not seem quite like it would work, but I wonder if that is a result of bad translation from the Hebrew.  In particular, Ancient Hebrew had a very limited vocabulary relative to modern languages.  In addition, the meaning of certain procedures change over time.  As an example, I have some friends who take recipes they have found from pre-1600 and attempt to figure out how to prepare the food described in them.  They have discovered that the word for certain food items refer to a different item today than they did when the recipe was written (sometimes because we know that the food item referred to by that word today was not known in the area where and when the recipe was written).  They have also discovered that the term used for certain cooking methods meant something different when the recipe was written (sometimes because the method referred to today was not technologically possible then).  So, that being said, the ingredients listed for the water of purification are the ingredients for making a soap with antiseptic properties,