I wash my hands: the meaning of a phraseological unit and its origin, examples. What does the phrase "I wash my hands" mean? Wash your hands meaning of phraseological unit

) - to withdraw (withdraw) from something, relieve (relinquish) responsibility for something (Explanatory Dictionary, 1935-1940).

The expression has its roots in the Bible. So, in the Gospel of Matthew, the Roman procurator Pontius Pilate, during the trial of Christ, performed ritual washing of his hands as a sign of innocence to what was being done (chapter 27, p. 24):

"Pilate, seeing that nothing was helping, but the confusion was increasing, took water and washed my hands before the people, and said: I am innocent of the blood of this Righteous One; you look. "

Other sections of the Bible also tell about the ritual washing of hands, which serves as evidence of the person's innocence to something (for example, Deuteronomy, ch. 21, pp. 6-7):

"6. and all the elders of that city who are closest to the slain, let wash your hands over the head of a heifer slaughtered in the valley,

7. and will declare and say: "Our hands did not shed this blood, and our eyes did not see ..."

The expression is also used in English - wash one "s hands of. It is indicated in the American Heritage Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer (by Christine Ammer), 1992.

Examples of

(1892 - 1968)

"Story of Life" "Throw South" (1959-1960):

"- I warned you! I wash hands! Can you hear me?"

(1891 - 1940)

(1924), VII - Persikov was ordered to give his equipment to the state farm:

“Something croaked and tapped in the receiver, and even from a distance it was clear that the voice in the receiver, condescending, was talking to a small child. It ended with the crimson Persikov hanging up the receiver with a thunder and said past her into the wall:

— I wash hands."

(1749 - 1832)

"Faust" (translation by B. Pasternak), ch. "Forest Cave", Mephistopheles says to Faust:

"And you yourself have calmed down cowardly

AND ready to wash your hands!"

(1883 - 1923)

"The Adventures of the Gallant Soldier Schweik" (1923, translated by P.G. Bogatyrev (1893 - 1971)), Part 1, Ch. 3:

"The arrested were taken out and put before the court of the Pilates of 1914 downstairs in the basement, and the investigators, modern Pilates, instead of honestly wash your hands, sent to 'Tessig' for hot paprika sauce and Pilsner beer and sent more and more indictments to the state prosecutor's office. "

(1860 - 1904)

"Father of the Family" (1885):

"I don't interfere with your upbringing anymore. Wash my hands!"

"To hate and despise a microbe is stupid, but to consider as your neighbors, at all costs, everyone you meet without distinction is, I humbly thank you, it means not to reason, to refuse a fair attitude towards people, to wash your hands, in one word."

Expressions with the word Hand

The expression "wash your hands" is often used in our speech. By saying this, we mean elimination and disclaimer of responsibility for anything. It is worth noting that this phrase, which also came to us from the Bible, has a rather curious story. According to the gospel legend, these words were uttered by Pontius Pilate. The Roman governor tried to save Jesus from execution, in whose guilt he did not believe. The crowd demanded his death and was ready to riot. Pontius Pilate, leaving the decision on the fate of Jesus at the mercy of the enemies, washed his hands in front of the crowd and said: “I am not guilty of the blood of the righteous” (Gospel of Matthew).

Washing hands at that time was a kind of ritual. Such a ritual testified to a person's innocence to some unseemly event and unwillingness to take part in it. Pilate called on the people to have mercy on Jesus. But when he saw that all his pleas were useless, he washed his hands. Thus, he showed his innocence to the further fate of the Messiah.

Pilate makes a decision

In the Creed, which we read constantly, in addition to Jesus Christ and the Virgin Mary,only one historical figure is mentioned - the procurator of Judea Pontius Pilate. On the one hand, the name of the ruler allows you to accurately tie the Gospel events to a certain point in time and space, and on the other, it was he who made the final decision on the crucifixion of Jesus. Yes, completely different people wanted His death - but it was not in their power. The decision was made by Pilate, and so he went down in history.

In evangelical times, Palestine was ruled by Rome, and in 26 C.E. Pontius Pilate was appointed a procurator in Judea, that is, a Roman governor. We know from many ancient sources that he was arrogant towards the Jews, was a cruel ruler and shed a lot of blood. In fact, he was accountable only to the emperor.

Actually, the main thing for Pilate was to preserve the disposition of the authorities, first of all, the emperor. The worst thing that could happen was a riot, which would have to be suppressed by the power of the Roman legions. While everything is calm, only good news reaches Rome, but if the blood of the legionnaires is shed, Pilate will be punished. Therefore, he was interested in maintaining "stability" no less than the Jewish elite.

The Sanhedrin, the supreme council of the Jews, pronounced a death sentence on Jesus, but only Pilate could approve and execute it - the right to approve the death sentences remained with him. Therefore, immediately after the trial, Jesus was taken to the Roman governor. But he still had to be convinced, because for the Sanhedrin the main charge was the accusation of blasphemy, and for the pagan Pilate, all this theology did not matter. To convince him of the need for execution, it was necessary to prove: Jesus is dangerous to Rome as a troublemaker and rebel. And here the words about the Kingdom, about which He spoke literally in every sermon, somehow came in very handy ... If He wants to establish His Kingdom, so he dreams of overthrowing the power of the Roman emperor! So Jesus was credited with exactly what many dreamed of in Judea of that time, possibly including Jude.

Pilate was in no hurry to make a decision; first he had to interrogate the Prisoner. John describes this interrogation as follows: “Pilate entered the Praetorium again, and called Jesus, and said to Him:
- Are you the King of the Jews?
Jesus answered him:
- Are you saying this on your own, or did others tell you about Me?
Pilate replied:
- Am I a Jew? Your people and high priests have delivered You to me; what did you do?
Jesus answered:
- My kingdom is not of this world; if my kingdom were of this world, then my servants would strive for me, so that I would not be delivered to the Jews; but now my kingdom is not from here.
Pilate said to Him:
- So You are the King?
Jesus answered:
“You say that I am the King. For this I was born and for this I came into the world, to bear witness to the truth; everyone who is of the truth hears My voice.
Pilate said to Him:
- What is truth?
And having said this, he again went out to the Jews and said to them:
"I find no fault in Him."

In this conversation, it is extremely important for Pilate to establish the truth - he is an honest judge and does not want to pass an unjust judgment. Is Jesus a contender for the royal throne? From His answers, Pilate concludes: no, he is not, therefore it does not pose any danger and can be released. But Jesus is talking about something else ... Anyone can recognize Him as King, and this is a voluntary choice of man - perhaps Pilate will also make it? For Pilate, truth is an established fact, but for Jesus it is that which is born in personal communication. He Himself stands before Pilate, he is the Way, Truth and Life - and Pilate can accept or reject this. But Pilate simply does not notice this, he thinks in other categories.

And then everything was simple. Pilate is trying to negotiate with the Jewish leaders in order to still release Jesus. Since it was not possible to recognize Him as innocent, then perhaps it will be possible to amnesty for the sake of the holiday according to custom? But the crowd (now the whole crowd, and not just the leaders) demand that the robber Barabbas be released. Then Pilate goes for one more trick: he subjects Jesus to a cruel flogging, after which the man remained barely alive ... but still alive. Perhaps the crowd, seeing Him bloody and exhausted, will be satisfied with this? You could just let him go, and the scourge wounds, well, they'll heal in a few weeks or months. But that didn't help either.

Pilate first found the Innocent Guilty in words, then subjected Him to punishment - and now he must sentence Him to death. Matthew describes the scene where Pilate washes his hands and says: “I am innocent in the blood of this Righteous One; you look. " He makes a decision, but puts responsibility for it on the crowd, which prompted this decision. The crowd, however, does not mind. The expression "wash your hands" has since become winged and means "to relieve oneself of responsibility for what is happening." But does this mean that Pilate's conscience is clear? You can commit a terrible sin of your own ardent desire, like the high priests, from the calculation, like Judas, according to your mood, like a crowd. Or under the pressure of circumstances. This is exactly what happened in the case of Pilate, and he is no better than the others.

Matthew tells how immediately after the crucifixion the high priests and Pharisees came to Pilate and asked him to put up a guard at the tomb of Jesus, "so that His disciples, coming at night, would not steal Him and tell the people: He rose from the dead." They, in fact, had a presentiment that events would turn out this way - apparently, they also remembered the prophecies of Jesus. Pilate replied: “You have a guard; go guard as you know. " He had had enough, he didn’t want to have anything to do with this story anymore.

The historian Flavius Josephus tells how Pilate's governorship in Judea ended. Religious disputes and indignations could take place not only in Jerusalem: once a crowd of Samaritans, for some reason, gathered on the sacred Mount Gerizim for them, and many were with weapons. All this looked extremely suspicious. Pilate sent soldiers against them, who killed some and dispersed others. After that, Pilate ordered the execution of the "ringleaders". Familiar style ...

The Samaritan community did not tolerate such violence, complained about Pilate to his boss, the legate of Syria Vitellius, who in 36 removed Pilate from his post, sending him to Rome to the Emperor Tiberius for trial. Further, the sources diverge. There is an apocrypha which states that Tiberius condemned Pilate to death, but this is unlikely. According to other sources, Tiberius died while Pilate was getting to Rome, but we do not know exactly how the new emperor, Caligula, treated him. Church historian Eusebius of Caesarea writes that he was sent into exile, where he committed suicide. There is also a version that he was later executed by the emperor Nero ... In any case, it was a rather ordinary fate of a cruel and cynical Roman administrator, whose life depended on the whims of even more cruel and cynical emperors.

True, there are also apocrypha, which tell of Pilate's conversion to Christianity, in the Ethiopian Church he was even canonized - but this is most likely fiction. Unfortunately, we do not even know anything about the fate of his wife, who, even during the trial, persuaded her husband not to harm Jesus, as Matthew tells us. In the apocrypha there are more detailed stories about her intercession before her husband, it is said about her conversion to Christianity and her name is called: Claudia Procula. Some identify her with the Roman Claudia, mentioned in 2 Timothy, but this is not entirely reliable.

And in history he has remained the author of a single verdict, which he did not want to pass - and nevertheless passed it.

When a person says: “I wash my hands,” the meaning of the phraseological unit suggests that he is relinquishing some kind of authority. It may be that he admits his inability to correct the situation. We will understand the intricacies of the meaning of the expression and consider its history.

and Christ (origin)

Like many other phraseological units, the one we are considering comes from the Bible. The Gospel of Matthew contains the following words: "Pilate, seeing that nothing was helping, but the confusion was increasing, took water and washed his hands in front of the people." Then the procurator said: "I am innocent in the blood of this righteous man." This gesture serves as a symbol of the fact that in this situation nothing more can be done and the person relinquishes all responsibility for the consequences.

In Bortko's film The Master and Margarita and Mel Gibson's The Passion of the Christ, there is an episode with Pontius Pilate. The directors love him, apparently, for the drama.

This is the story of the expression "wash your hands." The origin is now not a mystery to the reader.

When do people prefer to wash their hands?

The origin is clear, but the nuances of meaning still remain a mystery. Does a person wash his hands and thereby relieve himself of responsibility, runs away from it? Not really. Let's take an example to illustrate.

An unlucky motorist comes to the mechanic with an eternal complaint: "Knocks." He replies: "We'll see." And this continues several times. After the next visit, the mechanic honestly says: “You know, I wash my hands. The meaning of a phraseological unit comes to my mind as soon as I see your car. And I also remember all the passions of Christ at once. This is the tenth time you come to me. I don't know what to think anymore. "

The image of a mechanic exhausted by an unlucky motorist tells us: a craftsman does not run away from responsibility at all, but on the contrary, he does everything he can. But human strength and knowledge in any area is limited. And when the specialist was exhausted, he honestly told the client: "I wash my hands." The meaning of the phraseological unit was considered a little earlier.

Is it good to give up further struggle? The moral of the phraseological unit

There may be different answers here, it all depends on the situation. We offer an example of when it is advisable to wash your hands.

A person has been fighting for several years with a serious illness. All this time he is accompanied by one attending physician, and then the moment comes when the physician tells his family that there is no more hope. If they have other clinics in mind, then it is better for them to go there. He doesn't know what else to do.

The relatives, of course, have grief. It seems that the doctor did something cruel to them, taking away hope. Or maybe the other way around? Figuratively speaking, he told them: “I wash my hands” (the meaning of phraseological units is known to many) - and did not begin to draw money out of them and take time from people. They can dispose of the hours, months, years of the patient's life as they want. Maybe he will be assigned to a more expensive clinic, or maybe they will travel with the whole family and spend the time allotted to a loved one with benefit.

It also happens that you can't wash your hands.

The schoolboy brought home for the first time a "two" in mathematics. And the parents (of course, this cannot be, but still) surrendered without a fight and said: "We wash our hands, live as you want." Is it cruel? Oh yeah. It is gratifying that this cannot happen in reality. A grade, even a “two”, is not so scary, so people do not back down and turn (with due diligence and diligence of the student) an ugly “two” into an excellent “five”.

Expression tonality

In rare cases, stable, catchy expressions can be used during more or less serious meetings. Please note that the doctor in the example with a seriously ill patient did not tell the relatives directly: “So, I wash my hands” (the meaning of phraseological units, as well as its morality and shades of meaning, have already been considered by us). Why didn't he do it? Because if such a phrase had sounded at a tragic moment from the lips of a medical worker, it would have exposed the heartlessness of the Aesculapius.

The expression "wash my hands" is suitable for use in a circle of people who know each other well (in a family). The father put a lot of effort into ensuring that the child studied at the university, but the child does not want to receive a higher education. And then the parent says to his son: “Would you like to? Do not! I wash hands".

Pontius Pilate and Christ (origin)