Washing of Hands, a Token of Innocence

Then all the elders of the city nearest the victim shall wash their hands by the stream over the heifer whose neck has been broken,

I wash my hands in innocence that I may go about Your altar, O LORD,

Surely in vain I have kept my heart pure; in innocence I have washed my hands.

When Pilate saw that he was accomplishing nothing, but that instead a riot was breaking out, he took water and washed his hands before the crowd. “I am innocent of this man’s blood,” he said. “You bear the responsibility.”