Numbers 8:7

The verse explicitly describes physical actions (sprinkling water, shaving, washing clothes) for a physical cleansing ritual. While such rituals often carry symbolic meaning, the primary and immediate context is a literal, physical purification required for the Levites to perform their duties. The "cleanse them" refers to making them ritually pure, not necessarily spiritually pure in the sense of moral holiness, though the two were often intertwined in Israelite thought. The verse itself does no

The book of Numbers, including chapter 8, describes events that occur *after* the giving of the Law at Sinai. The Israelites had already received the Mosaic Law, including detailed clean/unclean distinctions, by the time the events of Numbers took place. Therefore, this verse cannot be used to demonstrate the existence of clean/unclean distinctions *before* the Mosaic Law.