ISBE
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International Standard Bible Encyclopedia · 1915

Guiltless

gilt'-les:

The primary meaning of the Hebrew word is "to be clean." Sometimes the meaning is "freedom from blame," at other times to be "free from punishment," these two ideas running over into each other as with the word "guilt." The latter meaning seems to predominate in Exodus 20:7; Deuteronomy 5:11; 2 Samuel 14:9; 1 Kings 2:9. The other meaning holds in Numbers 32:22; Joshua 2:19; 2 Samuel 3:28; Matthew 12:5,7.

The International Standard Bible Encyclopedia, James Orr, general editor (Chicago: Howard-Severance, 1915). Public domain. Text as published by biblestudytools.com. From the Encyclosphere, the open network of encyclopedias run by the Knowledge Standards Foundation.