The Greek adjective aniptos (ἄνιπτος) means unwashed, from the privative a- and nipto (to wash). It appears twice in the New Testament (Matthew 15:2; Mark 7:2–5) in the context of the Pharisees' accusation that Jesus's disciples ate with "unwashed hands" — violating the tradition of the elders.
The "unwashed hands" controversy is a pivotal moment in Jesus's ministry. The issue was not hygiene but ritual purity — a human tradition added to the Torah. Jesus's response is searingly direct: "You hypocrites! Isaiah was right when he prophesied about you: these people honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me" (Matthew 15:7–8). The tradition of washing hands had become a marker of righteousness that displaced the heart. Jesus teaches that what enters a person cannot defile them; what comes out of the heart is what defiles (Mark 7:15). Aniptos thus marks a turning point: external ritual is not equivalent to inner holiness.