Swedenborg says that to be “pure” in the Bible means – unsurprisingly – to be devoid of evil. Thus all the washing for purification prescribed in the Laws of Moses was not just a stab at public hygiene, but was symbolic of the state we should try to achieve when we approach the Lord, setting aside our evil desires and focusing on the good we want to attain. In some ways most of us still reflect this symbolism in the fact that we wash ourselves and wear nice, clean clothes to church, purity on the outside hopefully reflecting a degree of purity on the inside.
Other uses of “pure” in the Bible are closely connected with a specific material: “pure gold” is common; “pure frankincense” and “pure linen” are among other uses. In these cases Swedenborg says that “pure” indicates that the spiritual quality being described – the quality symbolized by the gold, or the frankincense, or the linen, etc. – is genuine and authentic.
Passages from Swedenborg
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 10301
10301. ‘Pure’ means devoid of evil. This is clear from the meaning of ‘pure’ as devoid of evil. Because all evil is impure, and all good is pure, the expression ‘being purified’ from sins and from iniquities is used. And it has regard to the heart, that is, the will; for the will is meant in the Word by ‘the heart’, 2930, 7542, 8910, 9300, 9495, since love is meant by it, 3883-3896, 9050.
AC 10296
[3] The expression ‘pure frankincense’ is used because ‘pure’ means that which has been purged of the falsities of evil; and the word in the original language means inwardly pure, while another word is used to mean outwardly pure or clean. The fact that what is inwardly pure is meant by that word is clear in Isaiah,
Wash yourselves, render yourselves pure; remove the wickedness of your doings from before My eyes. Isa. 1:16.
In David,
In vain have I rendered my heart pure, and washed my hands in innocence. Ps. 73:13.
‘Rendering the heart pure’ means being purified inwardly, and ‘washing the hands in innocence ‘ being purified outwardly. In the same author,
By what will a young man render his way pure? By guarding himself according to Your Word. Ps. 119:9.
And in the same author,
… You may be pure in Your judging. Ps. 51:4.
For the other word that is used to mean outwardly pure or clean, see Lev. 11:32; 12:7, 8; 13:6, 13, 17, 23, 28, 34, 37, 58; 14:7-9, 20, 48, 53; 15:13, 28; 16:19, 30; 22:7; Jer. 13:27; Ezek. 24:13; 39:12; and elsewhere.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 9781
9781. ‘Pure, beaten’ means what is [therefore] authentic and perceptible. This is clear from the meaning of ‘pure’ – when it refers to the good meant by ‘oil’ – as what is authentic, for the more heavenly and so more authentic the good is, the purer it is; and from the meaning of ‘beaten’ – when it refers to the good meant by ‘oil’ – as what is perceptible.
Apocalypse Explained (Tansley) n. 950
950. Clothed in linen pure and glistening white. That this signifies by means of Divine truth, or the Word from the spiritual sense, is evident from the signification of linen, as denoting truth; and when said of the Lord or of the Word, as denoting Divine truth. This is called pure because of its being genuine; and glistening white from the light in heaven, which light is glistening; for all things that are there are glistening white from it.
Arcana Coelestia (Elliott) n. 9852
9852. ‘And two small chains of pure gold’ means coherence with the good of the whole kingdom. This is clear from the meaning of ‘small chains’ as coherence (the reason why ‘small chains’ has this meaning is that such chains serve to join things together, and when joined together those things cohere, coherence with the spiritual kingdom being meant here because the small chains were fabricated to make [the shoulder-pieces] cohere with the ephod, which represented the spiritual kingdom in general, 9824); and from the meaning of ‘gold’ as the good of love, dealt with in 113, 1551, 1552, 5658, 6914, 6917, 9490. The words ‘pure gold’ are used because good from the Divine is meant; for this good is pure, and it holds all things in heaven in connection and in an outward form.