# defile, be defiled

## Definition

The terms "defile" and "be defiled" refer to becoming polluted or dirty. Something can be defiled in a physical, moral, or ritual sense.

* God warned the Israelites to not defile themselves by eating or touching things that he had declared as "unclean" and "unholy."
* Certain things such as dead bodies and contagious diseases were declared by God to be unclean and would defile a person if they touched them.
* God commanded the Israelites to avoid sexual sins. These would defile them and make them unacceptable to God.
* There were also certain kinds of bodily processes that defiled a person temporarily until he could become ritually pure again.
* In the New Testament, Jesus taught that sinful thoughts and actions are what truly defile a person.


## Translation Suggestions



* The term "defile" can also be translated as "cause to be unclean" or "cause to be unrighteous" or "cause to be ritually unacceptable."
* To "be defiled" could be translated as "become unclean" or "be caused to be morally unacceptable