In biblical terms, the concept of being "contaminated" often refers to a state of ritual impurity or defilement, which can be both physical and spiritual. The Bible addresses contamination in various contexts, including dietary laws, moral conduct, and religious practices.

Old Testament Context

In the Old Testament, the Law of Moses provides detailed instructions on what constitutes contamination and how it can be remedied. Leviticus 11 outlines dietary laws, specifying clean and unclean animals. Consuming or touching unclean animals would render a person ceremonially unclean. Leviticus 11:24-25 states, "These will make you unclean. Whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean until evening, and whoever picks up one of their carcasses must wash his clothes, and he will be unclean until evening."

Leviticus 13-15 addresses various forms of physical contamination, such as skin diseases and bodily discharges, which required isolation and purification rituals. The emphasis on cleanliness underscores the importance of holiness and separation from anything that defiles.

Moral and Spiritual Contamination

Beyond physical impurity, the Old Testament also speaks to moral and spiritual contamination. Idolatry, sexual immorality, and injustice are seen as defiling acts that separate individuals and communities from God. In Ezekiel 20:7 , God commands the Israelites, "And I said to them: ‘Each of you must throw away the abominations before his eyes, and not defile yourselves with the idols of Egypt. I am the LORD your God.’"

New Testament Perspective

The New Testament shifts the focus from external to internal purity. Jesus challenges the Pharisees' emphasis on ritual cleanliness, teaching that true defilement comes from within. In Mark 7:15 , Jesus declares, "Nothing that enters a man from the outside can defile him, but what comes out of a man, that is what defiles him."

The Apostle Paul continues this theme, urging believers to avoid moral contamination. In 2 Corinthians 7:1 , he writes, "Therefore, beloved, since we have these promises, let us cleanse ourselves from everything that defiles body and spirit, perfecting holiness in the fear of God."

Contamination and the Church

The early church grappled with issues of contamination, particularly concerning Gentile converts. The Jerusalem Council in Acts 15 addressed whether Gentile believers needed to adhere to Jewish purity laws. The council concluded that they should abstain from certain practices associated with idolatry and immorality, emphasizing spiritual purity over ritual observance.

Symbolism and Eschatology

In eschatological terms, the Book of Revelation uses imagery of contamination to describe the corrupting influence of sin and evil in the world. Revelation 18:2 depicts the fall of Babylon, a symbol of worldly corruption: "Fallen, fallen is Babylon the great! She has become a dwelling for demons, a haunt for every unclean spirit, every unclean bird, and every detestable beast."

Throughout Scripture, the theme of contamination serves as a reminder of the call to holiness and the need for divine cleansing. The sacrificial system in the Old Testament and the atoning work of Christ in the New Testament both highlight God's provision for purification and restoration.(imp. & p. p.) of Contaminate.234. alisgema -- pollution
... of food). Word Origin from alisgeo (to pollute) Definition pollution NASB
Word Usage things contaminated (1). pollution. From alisgeo ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/234.htm - 6k2930. tame -- to be or become unclean
... A primitive root; to be foul, especially in a ceremial or moral sense (contaminated) --
defile (self), pollute (self), be (make, make self, pronounce) unclean ...
/hebrew/2930.htm - 6k

Whether it is Reasonable in the Platonists to Determine that the ...
... true, "that no god holds intercourse with men." [352] And this, he says, is the
chief evidence of their exaltation, that they are never contaminated by contact ...
/.../augustine/city of god/chapter 16 whether it is reasonable.htm

Epistle Lxvii. To the Clergy and People Abiding in Spain ...
... Argument."Basilides and Martial, Bishops, Having Lapsed and Become Contaminated
by the Certificates of Idolatry, Cyprian with His Fellow-Bishops Praises the ...
/.../cyprian/the epistles of cyprian/epistle lxvii to the clergy.htm

Theater-Going.
... As a class, the performers are licentious. How can one be in their company, be
moved to laughter and to tears and not be contaminated by them? ...
/.../judy/questionable amusements and worthy substitutes/v theater-going.htm

That the Deceitful Demons, While Promising to Conduct Men to God ...
... Thus they believe that the demons are contaminated by men rather than men cleansed
by the demons, and that the gods themselves should be polluted unless their ...
/.../augustine/city of god/chapter 18 that the deceitful demons.htm

When He had Left the Manich??ans, He Retained his Depraved ...
... of the Virgin Mary without being mingled with the flesh; and how that which I had
thus figured to myself could be mingled without being contaminated, I saw not ...
/.../augustine/the confessions and letters of st/chapter x when he had left.htm

Jesus' Last Public Discourse. Denunciation of Scribes and ...
... See p.313. There men were contaminated by the touch of a grave because
there was nothing outside to notify them of its presence. ...
/.../mcgarvey/the four-fold gospel/cx jesus last public discourse.htm

City of God
... and Other Christian Virgins, to Which They Were Subjected in Captivity and to Which
Their Own Will Gave No Consent; And Whether This Contaminated Their Souls. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/augustine/city of god/

The Nations of the North-East
... king. Towards the end of the Eighteenth dynasty the sacred blood of the
Pharaohs became contaminated by these foreign alliances. ...
/.../sayce/early israel and the surrounding nations/chapter iv the nations of.htm

Rome and Ephesus
... Corinth as portrayed in the Epistles of Paul gives us our simplest and least
contaminated picture of the Hellenic Christianity which regarded itself as the ...
/.../lake/landmarks in the history of early christianity/v rome and ephesus.htm

Extracts No. vii.
... treated as heresy by all the bishops to be imbibed by Constantine, while the bishops
themselves, on the other hand, had been too long contaminated with the ...
/.../ballou/a series of letters in defence of divine revelation/extracts no vii.htm

Contaminated (5 Occurrences)
... Noah Webster's Dictionary (imp. & pp) of Contaminate. Multi-Version
Concordance Contaminated (5 Occurrences). Acts 15:20 but that ...
/c/contaminated.htm - 7k

Contains (17 Occurrences)

/c/contains.htm - 10k

Nostrils (22 Occurrences)
... of dates, pomegranates or tamarisks was held to the nose by the worshipper, probably
as an attempt to keep the Holy One (sun) from being contaminated by sinful ...
/n/nostrils.htm - 17k

Wool (34 Occurrences)
... 34:3 Hosea 2:5, 9). Syrian wool is found on the world's markets today, but it is
not rated as first quality, partly because it is so contaminated with thorns ...
/w/wool.htm - 21k

Contaminates (1 Occurrence)

/c/contaminates.htm - 6k

Adra
... They contaminated the religion of Yahweh by introducing Canaanitish usages into
it, and they are likely to have done the same with the ancestral religions ...
/a/adra.htm - 9k

Air (74 Occurrences)
... 5. (n.) Air in motion; a light breeze; a gentle wind. 6. (n.) Odoriferous or
contaminated air. 7. (n.) That which surrounds and influences. ...
/a/air.htm - 34k

Nose (23 Occurrences)
... of dates, pomegranates or tamarisks was held to the nose by the worshipper, probably
as an attempt to keep the Holy One (sun) from being contaminated by sinful ...
/n/nose.htm - 19k

Eschatology
... In doing this, however, it discards the impure motives and elements by which even
this relatively higher type of Jewish eschatology was contaminated. ...
/e/eschatology.htm - 70k

Psychology
... If the impure, sin-stained body contaminates the pure, unstained soul by contact,
why cannot the stainless soul disinfect the contaminated body? ...
/p/psychology.htm - 38k

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