Why did the time period of being unclean end in the evening?

Response

On several occasions in the Book of Leviticus, a person who had become unclean would only remain so until evening. The reason for this is rooted in the Jewish concept of how days are reckoned. In Genesis 1, God’s creation week is described, with each day consisting of an evening followed by a morning. The Jewish tradition marks sunset or evening as the boundary between one day and the next.

This practice is also why the Sabbath commences at sunset on Friday and concludes at sunset on Saturday in Jewish custom. Jesus’ crucifixion occurred on a Friday, and His body was laid to rest before that day’s sunset. No one visited the tomb on Saturday due to it being the Jewish Sabbath, during which no work was permitted.

According to the Mosaic Law, certain actions led to a person being ritually unclean until evening. For instance, Leviticus 11:24–25 declares, “And by these you shall become unclean. Whoever touches their carcass shall be unclean until the evening. And whoever carries any part of their carcass shall wash his clothes and be unclean until the evening.” If someone killed a fly and touched its carcass in the morning, let’s say at 10:00 A.M., that individual had to launder their clothes and would remain ritually unclean until evening. By nightfall, they would be considered clean once more.

If that same person killed another fly and handled it at 10:00 that night, they would once again be deemed unclean. They would need to wash their clothes again and stay unclean until the following night, at sundown. In Western thinking, both incidents would be viewed as occurring on the same day at 10:00 A.M. and 10:00 P.M., but Hebrew thought regarded these events as happening on two distinct days. Consequently, the individual who swatted the fly would be unclean for two days.

Consider how frequently individuals would have to launder their clothes—especially in a time when handwashing was the sole method available.

(in a desert)! The Israelites would have taken the commands concerning uncleanness very seriously as a consequence.

An “unclean” individual could not present offerings before the Lord, nor could they take part in the festivals. For minor transgressions, like touching a bug, the state of “uncleanness” only persisted for the remainder of that particular day, ceasing at sunset.