2017-04-15 17:23:27 +00:00
|
|
|
# defile, be defiled
|
2017-04-15 17:22:54 +00:00
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
## Definition
|
|
|
|
|
2017-04-15 17:23:27 +00:00
|
|
|
The terms "defile" and "be defiled" refer to becoming polluted or dirty. Something can be defiled in a physical, moral, or ritual sense.
|
2017-04-15 17:22:54 +00:00
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
* God warned the Israelites to not defile themselves by eating or touching things that he had declared as "unclean" and "unholy."
|
2017-04-15 17:23:27 +00:00
|
|
|
* 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.
|
2017-04-15 17:22:54 +00:00
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
## Translation Suggestions
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
2017-04-15 17:23:27 +00:00
|
|
|
* 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
|