- CLAY This word is used of sediment found in pits or in streets (Isaiah
57:20; Jeremiah 38:60), of dust mixed with spittle (John 9:6), and of
potter’s clay (Isaiah 41:25; Nah. 3:14; Jeremiah 18:1-6; Romans 9:21).
Clay was used for sealing (Job 38:14; Jeremiah 32:14). Our Lord’s tomb
may have been thus sealed (Matthew 27:66). The practice of sealing doors
with clay is still common in the East. Clay was also in primitive times
used for mortar (Genesis 11:3). The “clay ground” in which the large
vessels of the temple were cast (1 Kings 7:46; 2 Chronicles 4:17) was a
compact loam fitted for the purpose. The expression literally rendered is,
“in the thickness of the ground,”, meaning, “in stiff ground” or in clay. - CLEAN The various forms of uncleanness according to the Mosaic law
are enumerated in Leviticus 11-15; Numbers 19. The division of animals
into clean and unclean was probably founded on the practice of sacrifice. It
existed before the Flood (Genesis 7:2). The regulations regarding such
animals are recorded in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14:1-21.
The Hebrews were prohibited from using as food certain animal
substances, such as (1) blood; (2) the fat covering the intestines, termed
the caul; (3) the fat on the intestines, called the mesentery; (4) the fat of
the kidneys; and (5) the fat tail of certain sheep (Exodus 29:13, 22;
Leviticus 3:4-9; 9:19; 17:10; 19:26).
The chief design of these regulations seems to have been to establish a
system of regimen which would distinguish the Jews from all other
nations. Regarding the design and the abolition of these regulations the
reader will find all the details in Leviticus 20:24-26; Acts 10:9-16; 11:1-10;
Hebrews 9:9-14.
- CLEMENT mild, a Christian of Philippi, Paul’s “fellow-labourer,” whose
name he mentions as “in the book of life” (Phil. 4:3). It was an opinion of
ancient writers that he was the Clement of Rome whose name is well
known in church history, and that he was the author of an Epistle to the
Corinthians, the only known manuscript of which is appended to the
Alexandrian Codex, now in the British Museum. It is of some historical
interest, and has given rise to much discussion among critics. It makes
distinct reference to Paul’s First Epistle to the Corinthians. - CLEOPAS (abbreviation of Cleopatros), one of the two disciples with
whom Jesus conversed on the way to Emmaus on the day of the
resurrection (Luke 24:18). We know nothing definitely regarding him. It is