The term "putrid" is not directly found in the Bible; however, the concept of decay, corruption, and foulness is prevalent throughout the Scriptures. In a biblical context, putridity often symbolizes spiritual decay, moral corruption, and the consequences of sin. The imagery of decay serves as a powerful metaphor for the spiritual state of individuals or nations that have turned away from God.

Old Testament Context

In the Old Testament, the imagery of decay and corruption is frequently used to describe the consequences of sin and disobedience to God. For instance, in Isaiah 1:6, the prophet Isaiah uses the metaphor of wounds and sores to describe the spiritual condition of Israel: "From the sole of your foot to the top of your head, there is no soundness—only wounds and welts and festering sores, not cleansed or bandaged or soothed with oil." This vivid imagery highlights the nation's spiritual putridity due to their rebellion against God.

The book of Job also uses the imagery of decay to express the human condition and the inevitability of death. Job laments his suffering and the frailty of human life, acknowledging the reality of physical decay as a metaphor for the deeper spiritual truths about human mortality and the need for divine redemption.

New Testament Context

In the New Testament, the concept of putridity is often associated with the moral and spiritual corruption of individuals who reject the truth of the Gospel. Jesus frequently confronted the Pharisees and religious leaders of His time, exposing their hypocrisy and spiritual decay. In Matthew 23:27, Jesus declares, "Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but on the inside are full of dead men’s bones and every kind of impurity." Here, Jesus uses the imagery of a tomb, which is outwardly clean but inwardly decayed, to illustrate the inner corruption of those who appear righteous but are spiritually dead.

The Apostle Paul also addresses the theme of spiritual decay in his epistles. In Ephesians 4:22, he exhorts believers to "put off your former way of life, your old self, which is being corrupted by its deceitful desires." Paul emphasizes the transformative power of the Gospel, which renews and purifies believers, contrasting the putrid state of the old self with the new life in Christ.

Symbolism and Application

The symbolism of putridity in the Bible serves as a stark reminder of the consequences of sin and the need for repentance and spiritual renewal. It underscores the reality that without God's intervention, humanity is subject to moral and spiritual decay. The call to holiness and purity is a recurring theme, urging believers to seek God's cleansing and to live lives that reflect His righteousness.

The imagery of decay also points to the hope of resurrection and renewal through Jesus Christ. While sin leads to death and corruption, the Gospel offers the promise of new life and restoration. Believers are called to live in the light of this truth, rejecting the putrid ways of the world and embracing the transformative power of God's grace.1. (a.) Tending to decomposition or decay; decomposed; rotten; -- said of animal or vegetable matter; as, putrid flesh. See Putrefaction.

2. (a.) Indicating or proceeding from a decayed state of animal or vegetable matter; as, a putrid smell.

4550. sapros -- rotten, worthless
... rotten, useless, corrupt, depraved. 4550 -- properly, (putrid), over-ripe;
(figuratively) (ripened); hence, . "4550 () is (akin ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4550.htm - 7k

Spiritual Resurrection
... Just as the body is dead, incapable, unable, unfeeling, and soon about to become
corrupt and putrid, so are we if we be unquickened by divine grace; dead in ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 3 1857/spiritual resurrection.htm

Survival of the Fittest
... bones gather, and the clay-heaps heave, rattling and adhering into half-kneaded
anatomies, that crawl and startle, and struggle up among the putrid weeds, with ...
/.../berkhof/new evangelism and other papers/survival of the fittest.htm

The Stony Heart Removed
... If the heart were a putrid ulcer, if the very vitals of the man were rotten, what
human surgery, what marvellous medicine could touch a defect so radical as ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 8 1863/the stony heart removed.htm

Of Obscene Talk.
... 3. The crime is comprehensive enough to afford abundance of matter for the most
Satyrical zeal, but I consider the dissecting of putrid Bodies may cast such ...
/.../allestree/the government of the tongue/section xii of obscene talk.htm

Fearlessness.
... We need men who will rip the mask off the putrid face of corruption and pronounce
God's sentence upon it; who will lift up the trap-door of the cess-pools of ...
/...//christianbookshelf.org/rees/the heart-cry of jesus/chapter vi fearlessness.htm

The Waterpots at Cana
... Lord multiplied loaves and fishes, they must eat the loaves and fishes directly,
or else the bread would grow mouldy, and the fish would be putrid; but wine ...
/.../spurgeon/spurgeons sermons volume 26 1880/the waterpots at cana.htm

Disputed Questions About the Limits of Knowledge and Certainty in ...
... perceptual illusions when we think something is smooth which is actually rough,
or something sweet which is bitter, something fragrant which is putrid, that a ...
/.../handbook on faith hope and love/chapter vii disputed questions about.htm

The Calumny against the Christians Illustrated in the Discovery of ...
... cut out, too, from the very root, with her throat [591] mutilated, which cannot
be wounded even on the outside without danger, and the putrid gore flowing back ...
/.../tertullian/ad nationes/chapter viii name calumny against.htm

'de Profundis'
... It is a torturing disgusting disease, which gives his flesh no health, and
his bones no rest, and his wounds are putrid and corrupt. ...
/.../kingsley/the good news of god/sermon viii de profundis.htm

Epistle xiii. --To Hierax, a Bishop in Egypt.
... blood and slaughters and the drowning struggles of men, just as it did of old, when
on Pharaoh's account it was changed by Moses into blood, and made putrid. ...
/.../dionysius/the works of dionysius/epistle xiii to hierax a bishop.htm

Putrid (3 Occurrences)
... 1. (a.) Tending to decomposition or decay; decomposed; rotten; -- said of animal
or vegetable matter; as, putrid flesh. ...Putrid (3 Occurrences). ...
/p/putrid.htm - 7k

Corrupt (59 Occurrences)
... 1. (a.) Changed from a sound to a putrid state; spoiled; tainted; vitiated; unsound. ...
9. (vi) To become putrid or tainted; to putrefy; to rot. 10. ...
/c/corrupt.htm - 25k

Putrefy (1 Occurrence)
... 1. (vt) To render putrid; to cause to decay offensively; to cause to be decomposed;
to cause to rot. ... 4. (vi) To become putrid; to decay offensively; to rot. ...
/p/putrefy.htm - 7k

Corruption (37 Occurrences)
... 2. (n.) The act of corrupting or making putrid, or state of being corrupt or putrid;
decomposition or disorganization, in the process of putrefaction ...
/c/corruption.htm - 21k

Vulture (16 Occurrences)
... They fed on carcasses of animals that killed each other, ate putrid fish under the
nests of pelican and cormorant, followed caravans across the desert, and ...
/v/vulture.htm - 14k

Outweighs (3 Occurrences)
... Ecclesiastes 10:1 Dead flies make the ointment of the perfumer fetid and putrid;
so doth a little folly outweigh wisdom and honour. (See RSV NIV). ...
/o/outweighs.htm - 7k

Fuller (5 Occurrences)
... Among them were white clay, putrid urine, and the ashes of certain desert plants
(Arabic qali, Biblical "soap"; Malachi 3:2). The fuller's shop was usually ...
/f/fuller.htm - 10k

Taint (1 Occurrence)
... with something extraneous, especially with something odious, noxious, or poisonous;
hence, to corrupt; to infect; to poison; as, putrid substance taint the air ...
/t/taint.htm - 7k

Rot (15 Occurrences)
... corrupt. 3. (vt) To make putrid; to cause to be wholly or partially decomposed
by natural processes; as, to rot vegetable fiber. 4 ...
/r/rot.htm - 13k

Rotten (9 Occurrences)
... Noah Webster's Dictionary 1. (a.) Having rotted; putrid; decayed; as, a rotten apple;
rotten meat. 2. (a.) Offensive to the smell; fetid; disgusting. ...
/r/rotten.htm - 9k

What are unclean spirits? Are unclean spirits demons? | GotQuestions.org

Putrid: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.com

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