Word study
Defile
6 Hebrew and 4 Greek words behind this English word
The original-language words that the Berean Standard Bible translates with one of these: defiled, defile, defiles, defiling. English often uses one word where Hebrew or Greek has several, each with its own shade of meaning. Under each word are verses where it is translated this way; choose the word itself for its full study: every verse, how else it is translated, the forms it takes and what the dictionaries say.
At a glance
How often each original word is translated “defile” or one of its forms.
Compare the Hebrew words side by side Compare the Greek words side by side
Hebrew and Aramaic words (Old Testament)
- טָמֵא ṭâmêbe or become uncleantranslated this way 75 times of its 158 uses · Strong’s H2930Verb · Translated: unclean 47, defiled 38, defile 23, pronounce him unclean 10Full study and all 141 verses →
Genesis 34:5 Jacob heard that Shechem had defiled his daughter Dinah, but since his sons were with his livestock in the field, he remained silent about it until they returned.
Leviticus 11:43 Do not defile yourselves by any crawling creature; do not become unclean or defiled by them.
- חָלַל châlalbore, piercetranslated this way 18 times of its 138 uses · Strong’s H2490Verb · Translated: began 24, profaned 24, profane 14, defile 10Full study and all 129 verses →
Genesis 49:4 Uncontrolled as the waters, you will no longer excel, because you went up to your father’s bed, onto my couch, and defiled it.
Exodus 20:25 Now if you make an altar of stones for Me, you must not build it with stones shaped by tools; for if you use a chisel on it, you will defile it.
- גָּאַל gâaldefiletranslated this way 7 times of its 11 uses · Strong’s H1351Verb · Translated: defiled 5, excluded 2, stained 2, defile 2Full study and all 9 verses →
Lamentations 4:14 They wandered blind in the streets, defiled by this blood, so that no one dared to touch their garments.
Daniel 1:8 But Daniel made up his mind that he would not defile himself with the king’s food or wine. So he asked the chief official for permission not to defile himself.
- טָמֵא ṭâmêuncleantranslated this way 6 times of its 85 uses · Strong’s H2931Adjective · Translated: unclean 67, defiled 6, unclean person 2, ceremonially unclean 2Full study and all 78 verses →
Leviticus 22:4 If a descendant of Aaron has a skin disease or a discharge, he may not eat the sacred offerings until he is clean. Whoever touches anything defiled by a corpse or by a man who has an emission of semen,
Numbers 5:2 “Command the Israelites to send away from the camp anyone with a skin disease, anyone who has a bodily discharge, and anyone who is defiled by a dead body.
- חָנֵף chânêphpolluted, profanetranslated this way 5 times of its 10 uses · Strong’s H2610Verb · Translated: defiled 4Full study and all 9 verses →
Isaiah 24:5 The earth is defiled by its people; they have transgressed the laws; they have overstepped the decrees and broken the everlasting covenant.
Jeremiah 3:1 “If a man divorces his wife and she leaves him to marry another, can he ever return to her? Would not such a land be completely defiled? But you have played the harlot with many lovers — and you would return to Me?” declares the LORD.
- חָלָל châlâlpiercedtranslated this way 2 times of its 93 uses · Strong’s H2491Noun · Translated: slain 53, dead 6, killed 6, wounded 5Full study and all 84 verses →
Leviticus 21:7 A priest must not marry a woman defiled by prostitution or divorced by her husband, for the priest is holy to his God.
Leviticus 21:14 He is not to marry a widow, a divorced woman, or one defiled by prostitution. He is to marry a virgin from his own people,
Greek words (New Testament)
- κοινόω koinóōI make unclean, regard as uncleantranslated this way 10 times of its 13 uses · Strong’s G2840Verb · Translated: defile 7, defiled 2, call anything impure 2, defiles 1Full study and all 11 verses →
Matthew 15:11 A man is not defiled by what enters his mouth, but by what comes out of it.”
Mark 7:15 Nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him; but the things that come out of a man, these are what defile him.”
- μιαίνω miaínōI stain, pollute, defiletranslated this way 5 times of its 5 uses · Strong’s G3392Verb · Translated: defiled 3, defile 2Full study and all 4 verses →
John 18:28 Then they led Jesus away from Caiaphas into the Praetorium. By now it was early morning, and the Jews did not enter the Praetorium, to avoid being defiled and unable to eat the Passover.
Titus 1:15 To the pure, all things are pure; but to the defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure. Indeed, both their minds and their consciences are defiled.
- κοινός koinóscommon, shared, uncleantranslated this way 2 times of its 13 uses · Strong’s G2839Adjective · Translated: unclean 4, impure 3, defiled 2, common 2Full study and all 11 verses →
Mark 7:2 and they saw some of His disciples eating with hands that were defiled— that is, unwashed.
Mark 7:5 So the Pharisees and scribes questioned Jesus: “Why do Your disciples not walk according to the tradition of the elders? Instead, they eat with defiled hands.”
- μολύνω molýnōI soil, stain, pollute, defiletranslated this way 2 times of its 3 uses · Strong’s G3435Verb · Translated: defiled 2, soiled 1Full study and all 3 verses →
1 Corinthians 8:7 But not everyone has this knowledge. Some people are still so accustomed to idols that they eat such food as if it were sacrificed to an idol. And since their conscience is weak, it is defiled.
Revelation 14:4 These are the ones who have not been defiled with women, for they are virgins. They follow the Lamb wherever He goes. They have been redeemed from among men as firstfruits to God and to the Lamb.
How to study a word well
- Start from the verse, not the dictionary. Find which Hebrew or Greek word stands in the verse you are studying. One English word often translates several different original words.
- Read every place the word is used. A word means what its writers used it to mean. The list of verses and the count by book show its range, and who uses it most.
- Look at how it is translated. A word rendered five different ways has a wider meaning than any one English word can carry.
- Notice the form. A command is not a statement, and a passive verb is something done to the subject. The form in your verse is part of the meaning.
- See what it keeps company with. The words that appear beside it again and again show how the Bible itself connects ideas.
- Then read the dictionaries. They give the considered view of scholars, with their evidence.
- Come back to the verse. Context decides. A word does not carry every one of its meanings into every verse, and where a word came from does not settle what it means in a sentence written centuries later.
Scripture text and translation counts: Berean Standard Bible. Full entry: Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906, public domain), in the digital edition Brown-Driver-Briggs Enhanced by unfoldingWord (Joel Ruark, J. de Joode), based on data by Eliran Wong and Stephen Ku; its additions are used under CC BY 4.0. Strong’s Hebrew Dictionary: Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible Project, CC BY 4.0. Hebrew-to-English verse numbering: original work of the Open Scriptures Hebrew Bible available at https://github.com/openscriptures/morphhb, CC BY 4.0. We reformatted the data, linked the references to this site’s Bible text and left out words in other scripts that the source holds only as images. These are historical reference works; an entry gives its authors’ view, and a word’s meaning in any verse depends on how it is used there.