1. (v. i.) To march off in a line, file by file; to file off.

2. (v. t.) Same as Defilade.

3. (n.) Any narrow passage or gorge in which troops can march only in a file, or with a narrow front; a long, narrow pass between hills, rocks, etc.

4. (n.) The act of defilading a fortress, or of raising the exterior works in order to protect the interior. See Defilade.

5. (v. t.) To make foul or impure; to make filthy; to dirty; to befoul; to pollute.

6. (v. t.) To soil or sully; to tarnish, as reputation; to taint.

7. (v. t.) To injure in purity of character; to corrupt.

8. (v. t.) To corrupt the chastity of; to debauch; to violate.

9. (v. t.) To make ceremonially unclean; to pollute.

DEFILE; DEFILEMENT

de-fil', de-fil'-ment (Anglo-Saxon, afylau, etc.; Middle English, defoulen, "make foul," "pollute," render (the King James Version) 9 Hebrew roots (the Revised Version (British and American) six): ga`al, "defile"; chalal, "defile" (from "untie, loosen, open," i.e. "make common," hence, "profane"); chaneph, "incline away" (from right or religion), hence, "profane," "defile" (Jeremiah 3:9, the American Standard Revised Version "pollute"); Tame', the principal root, over 250 times translated "defile" 74 times "to become, or render, unclean"; Tanaph, "to soil" (Songs 5:3); `alal, "deal severely, or decidedly, with," "roll" (Job 16:15, the King James Version, the American Revised Version, margin); `anah, "humble" (Genesis 34:2 the King James Version, the American Standard Revised Version "humble"); qadhash, "separate," "sanctify," "devote to religious use," hence, "forfeit" (Deuteronomy 22:9 the King James Version, the American Standard Revised Version "forfeit," margin "consecrated"). They also render 6 (the King James Version) Greek roots (American Revised Version, 4): koinos, etc., "common" or "unclean," because appertaining to the outside world and not to the people of God, opposite of katharos, "clean," used 13 times; miaino, miasma, miasmos, "stain," "tinge," "dye": "In their dreamings defile the flesh," Jude 1:8; moluno, "stain," "contaminate": "not defile their garments" (Revelation 3:4); spiloo, "spot," "stain": "defile the whole body" (James 3:6); phtheiro, "corrupt," "destroy": the temple of God (1 Corinthians 3:17 the King James Version, the American Standard Revised Version "destroyeth"); arsenokoites: "defile themselves with men" (1 Timothy 1:10 the King James Version, the American Standard Revised Version "abusers of")):

1. Defilement in the Old Testament:

Defilement in the Old Testament was physical, sexual, ethical, ceremonial, religious, the last four, especially, overlapping.

(1) Physical: "I have washed my feet; how shall I defile them?" (Songs 5:3).

(2) Sexual: which might be ceremonial or moral; of individuals by illicit intercourse (Leviticus 18:20), or by intercourse at forbidden times (Leviticus 15:24 1 Samuel 21:5); of the land by adultery: "Shall not that land be greatly defiled?" (Jeremiah 3:1 the American Standard Revised Version "polluted," usually substituted where the moral or religious predominates over the ceremonial).

(3) Ethical: "Your hands are defiled with blood" (Isaiah 59:3); "Neither shall they defile themselves any more with. any of their transgressions" (Ezekiel 37:23).

(4) Ceremonial: to render ceremonially unclean, i.e. disqualified for religious service or worship, and capable of communicating the disqualification.

(a) Persons were defiled by contact with carcasses of unclean animals (Leviticus 11:24); or with any carcass (Leviticus 17:15); by eating a carcass (Leviticus 22:8); by contact with issues from the body, one's own or another's, e.g. abnormal issues from the genitals, male or female (Leviticus 15:2, 25); menstruation (Leviticus 15:19); by contact with anyone thus unclean (Leviticus 15:24); copulation (Leviticus 15:16-18); uncleanness after childbirth (Leviticus 12:2-5); by contact with unclean persons (Leviticus 5:3), or unclean things (Leviticus 22:6), or with leprosy (especially defiling; Leviticus 13:14), or with the dead (Numbers 6:12), or with one unclean by such contact (Numbers 19:22), or by funeral rites (Leviticus 21:1); by contact with creeping things (Leviticus 22:5), or with unclean animals (Leviticus 11:26).

(b) Holy objects were ceremonially defiled by the contact, entrance or approach of the defiled (Leviticus 15:31 Numbers 19:13); by the presence of dead bodies, or any remains of the dead (Ezekiel 9:7 2 Kings 23:16: Josiah's defilement of heathen altars by the ashes of the priests); by the entrance of foreigners (Psalm 79:1; see Acts 21:28); by forbidden treatment, as the altar by being tooled (Exodus 20:25); objects in general by contact with the unclean. Ceremonial defilement, strictly considered, implied, not sin, but ritual unfitness.

(5) Religious: not always easily distinguished or entirely distinguishable from the ceremonial, still less from the ethical, but in which the central attitude and relationship to Yahweh as covenant God and God of righteousness, was more fully in question. The land might be defiled by bloodshed (Numbers 35:33), especially of the just or innocent; by adultery (Jeremiah 3:1); by idolatry and idolatrous practices, like sacrificing children to idols, etc. (Leviticus 20:3 Psalm 106:39); the temple or altar by disrespect (Malachi 1:7, 12); by offering the unclean (Haggai 2:14); by any sort of unrighteousness (Ezekiel 36:17); by the presence of idols or idolatrous paraphernalia (Jeremiah 7:30).

2. Defilement in New Testament:

The scope of defilement in its various degrees (direct, or primary, as from the person or thing defiled; indirect, or secondary, tertiary, or even further, by contact with the defiled) had been greatly widened by rabbinism into a complex and immensely burdensome system whose shadow falls over the whole New Testament life. Specific mentions are comparatively few. Physical defilement is not mentioned. Sexual defilement appears, in a figurative sense: "These are they that were not defiled with women" (Revelation 14:4). Ceremonial defilement is found in, but not approved by, the New Testament. Examples are: by eating with unwashed, "common," not ceremonially cleansed, hands (Mark 7:2); by eating unclean, "common," food (Acts 10:14; Peter's vision); by intimate association with Gentiles, such as eating with them (not expressly forbidden in Mosaic law; Acts 11:3), or entering into their houses (John 18:28; the Pharisees refusing to enter the Pretorium); by the presence of Gentiles in the Temple (Acts 21:28).

But with Christ's decisive and revolutionary dictum (Mark 7:19): "This he said, making all meats clean," etc., and with the command in Peter's vision: "What God hath cleansed, make not thou common" (Acts 10:15), and with Paul's bold and consistent teaching: "All things indeed are clean" (Romans 14:20, etc.), the idea of ceremonial or ritual defilement, having accomplished its educative purpose, passed. Defilement in the New Testament teaching, therefore, is uniformly ethical or spiritual, the two constantly merging. The ethical is found more predominantly in: "The things which proceed out of the mouth come forth out of the heart; and they defile the man" (Matthew 15:18); "that did not defile their garments" (Revelation 3:4); "defileth the whole body" (James 3:6). The spiritual seems to predominate in: "defiled and unbelieving" (Titus 1:15); "conscience being weak is defiled" (by concession to idolatry.) (1 Corinthians 8:7); "lest any root of bitterness springing up trouble you, and thereby the many be defiled" (Hebrews 12:15). For the supposed origins of the idea and details of defilement, as from hygienic or aesthetic causes, "natural aversions," "taboo," "totemism," associations with ideas of death, or evil life, religious symbolism, etc., see POLLUTION; PURIFICATION; UNCLEANNESS. Whatever use God may have made of ideas and feelings common among many nations in some form, the Divine purpose was clearly to impress deeply and indelibly on the Israelites the ideas of holiness and sacredness in general, and of Yahweh's holiness, and their own required holiness and separateness in particular, thus preparing for the deep New Testament teachings of sin, and of spiritual consecration and sanctification.

Philip Wendell Crannell

3392. miaino -- to stain, defile
... to stain, defile. Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: miaino Phonetic Spelling:
(me-ah'-ee-no) Short Definition: I stain, pollute, defile Definition: I stain ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3392.htm - 7k

4695. spiloo -- to stain, defile
... to stain, defile. Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: spiloo Phonetic Spelling:
(spee-lo'-o) Short Definition: I defile, spot Definition: I defile, spot, stain ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4695.htm - 6k

3435. moluno -- to stain, defile
... to stain, defile. Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: moluno Phonetic Spelling:
(mol-oo'-no) Short Definition: I soil, stain, pollute, defile Definition: I ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3435.htm - 7k

4510. rhupoo -- pollute, defile
... pollute, defile. Part of Speech: Verb Transliteration: rhupoo Phonetic Spelling:
(rhoo-po'-o) Short Definition: I am filthy Definition: I am filthy; hence ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/4510.htm - 6k

2840. koinoo -- to make common
... Cognate: 2840 -- defile, by treating what is sacred as common or ordinary
(ie "not special"). See 2839 (). ... call common, defile, pollute. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/2840.htm - 7k

5351. phtheiro -- to destroy, corrupt, spoil
... corrupt, defile, destroy. Probably strengthened from phthio (to pine or
waste); properly, to shrivel or wither, ie To spoil (by ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/5351.htm - 7k

733. arsenokoites -- a sodomite
... homosexual From arrhen and koite; a sodomite -- abuser of (that defile) self with
mankind. see GREEK arrhen. see GREEK koite. (arsenokoitai) -- 1 Occurrence. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/733.htm - 6k

3075. lumainomai -- to outrage, to corrupt
... lumainomai Phonetic Spelling: (loo-mah'-ee-nom-ahee) Short Definition: I ravage,
harry, devastate Definition: I outrage, maltreat, corrupt, defile. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/3075.htm - 6k

283. amiantos -- undefiled
... 283 (an adjective, derived from 1 "not" and 3392 , "to stain, defile") -- properly,
untinted (unstained); (figuratively) undefiled because unstained. ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/283.htm - 7k

1311. diaphtheiro -- to destroy utterly, to spoil, corrupt
... 1311 (from 1223 , "thoroughly," which intensifies 5351 , "defile, corrupt") -- properly,
corrupt, degenerate (disintegrate); waste away by the decaying ...
//strongsnumbers.com/greek2/1311.htm - 8k

1351. gaal -- to defile
... 1350, 1351. gaal. 1352 . to defile. Transliteration: gaal Phonetic Spelling:
(gaw-al') Short Definition: defiled. Word Origin a prim. ... defile, pollute, stain ...
/hebrew/1351.htm - 6k

2936. tanaph -- to soil, defile
... to soil, defile. Transliteration: tanaph Phonetic Spelling: (taw-naf') Short Definition:
dirty. ... root Definition to soil, defile NASB Word Usage dirty (1). defile ...
/hebrew/2936.htm - 5k

2490c. chalal -- to pollute, defile, profane
... 2490b, 2490c. chalal. 2491 . to pollute, defile, profane. Transliteration:
chalal Short Definition: began. Word Origin a prim. root ...
/hebrew/2490c.htm - 6k

2490. chalal -- to bore, pierce
... to bore, pierce. Transliteration: chalal Phonetic Spelling: (khaw-lal') Short
Definition: pierce. begin men began, defile, break, defile, eat as common things ...
/hebrew/2490.htm - 6k

6031. anah -- to be bowed down or afflicted
... 6030b, 6031. anah. 6031a . to be bowed down or afflicted. Transliteration:
anah Phonetic Spelling: (aw-naw') Short Definition: defile. abase self, defile ...
/hebrew/6031.htm - 6k

2930. tame -- to be or become unclean
... NASB Word Usage became unclean (1), become defiled (3), become unclean (6), becomes
unclean (13), becoming unclean (1), been defiled (2), defile (25), defiled ...
/hebrew/2930.htm - 6k

2610. chaneph -- to be polluted or profane
... corrupt, defile, greatly, pollute, profane. A primitive root; to soil, especially
in a moral sense -- corrupt, defile, X greatly, pollute, profane. ...
/hebrew/2610.htm - 6k

1352. goel -- defiling, defilement
... Word Origin from gaal Definition defiling, defilement NASB Word Usage defiled (1).
defile. From ga'al; profanation -- defile. see HEBREW ga'al. 1351, 1352. ...
/hebrew/1352.htm - 6k

6942. qadash -- to be set apart or consecrated
... appoint, bid, consecrate, dedicate, defile, hallow, be holy,. A primitive
root; to be (causatively, make, pronounce or observe as ...
/hebrew/6942.htm - 6k

5953. alal -- to act severely
... to act severely. Transliteration: alal Phonetic Spelling: (aw-lal') Short Definition:
abuse. abuse, affect, child, defile, do, glean, mock, practice, ...
/hebrew/5953.htm - 5k

Things which Defile
... Strong Meat for Hungry Souls: The Gospel of St. Mark CHAPTER 7:14-23 THINGS
WHICH DEFILE. "And He called to Him the multitude again ...
/.../chadwick/the gospel of st mark/chapter 7 14-23 things which defile.htm

I have Put Off My Coat; How Shall I Put it On? I have Washed My ...
... CHAPTER V. 3. I have put off my coat; how shall I put it on? I have washed
my feet; how shall I defile them? The Spouse perceiving ...
//christianbookshelf.org/guyon/song of songs of solomon/3 i have put off.htm

Eating with Unwashed Heart Defiles the Man.
... Next to this let us see how the things which proceed out and defile the man do not
defile the man because of their proceeding out of the mouth, but have the ...
/.../origens commentary on the gospel of matthew/15 eating with unwashed heart.htm

Never a Man Like Him
... "Hearken unto me every one of you, and understand: there is nothing from without
a man, that entering into him can defile him: but the things which come out of ...
/.../mark/jesus of nazareth a biography/chapter vii never a man.htm

For which Cause Our Lord Himself Also with his Own Mouth Saith...
... For neither doth vomit defile him, whom food defileth not. Forsooth food entereth
into the mouth, vomit proceedeth forth out of the mouth. ...
//christianbookshelf.org/augustine/on continence/section 4 for which cause.htm

John Chapter xiii. 10-Jun (Continued), and Song of Sol. v. 2, 3
... V. 2, 3. Chapter XIII.6-10 (continued), and Song of Sol. V.2, 3 In what way the
Church should fear to defile her feet, while proceeding on her way to Christ. ...
/.../augustine/homilies on the gospel of john/tractate lvii john chapter xiii.htm

Rejection of the Tradition of the Elders.
... the multitude again, and said unto them, "Hear me all of you, and understand: there
is nothing from without the man, that going into him can defile him; but ...
//christianbookshelf.org/barton/his life/rejection of the tradition of.htm

Youthful Confessors
... THE BOOK OF DANIEL YOUTHFUL CONFESSORS. 'But Daniel purposed in his heart that he
would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the ...
/.../maclaren/expositions of holy scripture a/youthful confessors.htm

A Caution to Stir up to Watch against Sin
... SIN is that beastly thing that will defile Soul, body, name, and fame in little
while; 'Twill make him, who some time God's image was, Look like the devil, love ...
/.../bunyan/the works of john bunyan volumes 1-3/a caution to stir up.htm

Jesus Fails to Attend the Third Passover.
... b 15 there is nothing from without a man, that going into him can defile him: but
the things which proceed out of the man are those that defile the man.17 And ...
/.../mcgarvey/the four-fold gospel/lxv jesus fails to attend.htm

Defile (63 Occurrences)
... 9. (vt) To make ceremonially unclean; to pollute. Int. Standard Bible
Encyclopedia. DEFILE; DEFILEMENT. de-fil', de-fil'-ment (Anglo ...
/d/defile.htm - 38k

Defilement (12 Occurrences)
... Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia. DEFILE; DEFILEMENT. de-fil', de-fil'-ment
(Anglo-Saxon, afylau, etc.; Middle English, defoulen, "make ...
/d/defilement.htm - 21k

Defiling (10 Occurrences)
... (p. pr. & vb. n.) of Defile. ... Matthew 15:20 these are the things defiling the man;
but to eat with unwashen hands doth not defile the man.' (YLT). ...
/d/defiling.htm - 9k

Proceed (47 Occurrences)
... (WEY). Matthew 15:18 But the things which proceed out of the mouth come out of the
heart, and they defile the man. (WEB KJV WEY ASV WBS NAS RSV). ...
/p/proceed.htm - 21k

Pollute (42 Occurrences)
... Noah Webster's Dictionary 1. (vt) To make foul, impure, or unclean; to defile; to
contaminate; to soil; to desecrate; -- used of physical or moral defilement. ...
/p/pollute.htm - 19k

Entering (124 Occurrences)
... Mark 7:15 There is nothing from without a man, that entering into him can defile
him: but the things which come out of him, those are they that defile the man. ...
/e/entering.htm - 37k

Doesn't (300 Occurrences)
... (WEB). Matthew 15:11 That which enters into the mouth doesn't defile the man; but
that which proceeds out of the mouth, this defiles the man." (WEB). ...
/d/doesn't.htm - 34k

Outside (215 Occurrences)
... Mark 7:15 There is nothing from outside of the man, that going into him can defile
him; but the things which proceed out of the man are those that defile the ...
/o/outside.htm - 36k

Goes (472 Occurrences)
... Mark 7:15 There is nothing from outside of the man, that going into him can defile
him; but the things which proceed out of the man are those that defile the ...
/g/goes.htm - 35k

Profane (69 Occurrences)
... 6. (v.) To put to a wrong or unworthy use; to make a base employment of; to debase;
to abuse; to defile. Int. Standard Bible Encyclopedia. PROFANE. ...
/p/profane.htm - 30k

What does the Bible say about defilement? | GotQuestions.org

What does it mean that the marriage bed is undefiled (Hebrews 13:4)? | GotQuestions.org

What is the Queen James Bible? | GotQuestions.org

Defile: Dictionary and Thesaurus | Clyx.com

Bible Concordance • Bible Dictionary • Bible Encyclopedia • Topical Bible • Bible Thesuarus