Then Jacob said unto his household, and to all that were with him, Put away the strange gods that are among you, and be clean, and change your garments:
Then Jacob said unto his household ... Put away the strange gods - Hebrew, gods of the stranger-of foreign nations (cf. Joshua 24:20; Joshua 24:23; Deuteronomy 30:11-12; Psalms 81:10, where the word occurs in the singular). Besides the idols which would he obtained among the plunder of Shechem, Jacob had brought, in his service, a number of Mesopotamian retainers, who were addicted to superstitious practices; and there is some reason to fear that the same high testimony as to the religious superintendence of his household could not have been borne of him as was done of Abraham (Genesis 35:18-19). He might have been too negligent hitherto in winking at these evils in his servants; or, perhaps, it was not until his arrival in Canaan that he had learned, because the first time, that one nearer and dearer to him was secretly infected with the same corruption (Gen. 35:31,34
). Be that as it may, he resolved on an immediate and thorough reformation of his household; and in commanding them to put away the strange gods, he added, "be clean, and change your garments;" as if some defilement, from contact with idolatry, should still remain about them.
In the law of Moses many ceremonial purifications were ordained, and observed by persons who had contracted certain defilements, and without the observance of which, they were reckoned unclean and unfit to join in the social worship of God (Leviticus 14:4; Numbers 8:7; Ezra 6:20; Nehemiah 12:30; Nehemiah 13:22). These bodily purifications were purely figurative; and as sacrifices were offered before the law, so also were external purifications observed, as appears from the words of Jacob; hence, it would seem that types and symbols were used from the fall of man, representing and teaching the two great doctrines of revealed truth-namely, the atonement of Christ, and the sanctification of our nature (cf. Exodus 19:10-15; 1 Samuel 16:5; Job 1:5; Psalms 26:6).
Be clean, [Hebrew, hiTahªruw (H2891)] - wash, or purify yourselves (Exodus 19:10).