The Greek verb for bathing the entire body, the full immersion. In John 13:10 it stands opposite nipto, and the whole theology of once-for-all washing hangs on the switch.
The full definition
Louo is the whole-body verb. Greek keeps its washings sorted: louo bathes the entire person, nipto rinses a part, pluno launders cloth. When the Septuagint's translators reached the ordination of the priests, where Moshe washes Aharon and his sons head to foot, they chose louo (Leviticus 8:6). The full bath, once, at the threshold of service.
The KJV, ESV, NASB, and NIV render both louo and nipto as "wash" in John 13:10, and the verse goes flat in English: "he that is washed needs only to wash his feet." One word, twice, meaning two different things. The reader cannot see that the Master switched verbs mid-sentence, and the entire point rides on the switch.
Hear it with the verbs restored: the one who has been bathed, leloumenos, the whole self, once, does not need bathing again; he needs his feet rinsed, nipto, from the day's road. Hebrews says it of the believer plainly: hearts sprinkled, "bodies bathed, lelousmenoi, with pure water" (Hebrews 10:22). The immersion is finished. Only the feet still meet the dust.
Key passages
- John 13:10
- Hebrews 10:22
- Leviticus 8:6 (LXX)