μιαίνω
miaínō · G3392 · Greek · 5 occurrences
Meanings
-
to defile, to contaminate, to cause to be morally filthy
To cause someone to be morally tainted or defiled
ExamplesTitus 1:15 To the pure, all things are pure; but to those who are defiled and unbelieving, nothing is pure, but both their mind and their conscience are defiled.
Hebrews 12:15 See to it that no one comes short of the grace of God; that no root of bitterness springing up causes trouble, and by it many become defiled;
Jude 1:8 Yet in the same way these people also, dreaming, defile the flesh, reject authority, and speak abusively of angelic majesties.
-
to defile, to stain
To cause something to be ceremonially impure, with the implication of serious defilement
ExamplesJohn 18:28 Then they brought Jesus from Caiaphas into the Praetorium, and it was early; and they themselves did not enter the Praetorium, so that they would not be defiled, but might eat the Passover.
How it’s used In 4 roles
Every occurrence, grouped by the words it is grammatically related to.
the word studied the word it goes with
Who or what does itSubject
5 occurrences in 6 groups
- Not stated: they 2
- ἐνυπνιάζομαιto dream 1
- νοῦςmind 1
- πολύςmany 1
- συνείδησιςconscience 1
- Not stated (participle) 1
What it acts on, or what is saidObject
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- σάρξflesh, body, physical body 1
With prepositionsPrepositional phrases
1 occurrences in 1 groups
- διάthrough+ αὐτόςhe, she, it, same 1
With adverbsAdverbs
2 occurrences in 2 groups
- μήnot 1
- ὁμοίωςlikewise, in the same way 1
When two words share a role, as in “Paul and Barnabas said”, the verse appears under each, so a section’s counts can add up to more than the number of occurrences.
MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Near synonyms 2 words
- μολύνω molýnō · G3435 · to soil, to make dirty, to defile
- Both verbs denote figurative or moral contamination rather than literal physical soiling, sharing this same core sense of defiling or staining. These are two Greek verbs expressing the same core concept of defilement, overlapping in their application to spiritual and moral contexts.
- κοινόω koinóō · G2840 · to make unclean, to defile, to profane
- Both verbs describe defiling or contaminating actions. κοινόω focuses on making something ritually impure or profane, treating it as common rather than sacred within Jewish purity categories. μιαίνω emphasizes the sullying or staining aspect of contamination, applicable to both ceremonial and moral defilement with connotations of physical or ethical corruption.
In the other Testament 1 word
- טָמֵא ṭâmêʼ · H2930 · to become unclean, to defile oneself
- טָמֵא (ṭâmêʼ, H2930) is the primary Hebrew term for ritual and moral defilement that μιαίνω (miaínō, G3392) translates in LXX contexts, sharing the core semantic range of ceremonial contamination and moral pollution.
Semantic domains 2 entries
- To defile, to stain53.34
- This sense denotes becoming ceremonially unclean through contact with something regarded as impure. John 18:28 notes that the Jewish leaders did not enter the Praetorium themselves, “so that they would not be defiled, but might eat the Passover.”
- To defile, to contaminate, to cause to be morally filthy88.260
- This sense denotes becoming morally corrupted rather than ceremonially unclean. Titus 1:15 states that for the corrupt and unbelieving, “both their mind and their conscience are defiled.”
Word family 4 words
Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon passive, 1 aorist subjunctive 3 person plural μιανθῶσιν; perfect 3 person singular…
1. to dye with another color, to stain: ἐλέφαντα φοίνικι, Homer Iliad 4, 141.
2. to defile, pollute, sully, contaminate, soil (the Sept. often for טִמֵּא): in a physical and a moral sense, σάρκα (of licentiousness), Jude 1:8; in a moral sense, τόν συνείδησιν, τόν νοῦν, passive Tit 1:15; absolutely, to defile with sin, passive ibid. and in Heb 12:15; for הֶחֱטִיא, Deut 24:6(4); in a ritual sense, of men, passive Jn 18:28 (Lev 22:5, Lev 22:8; Num 19:13, Num 19:20; Tobit 2:9).
Thayer's Greek-English Lexicon of the New Testament (1889), public domain
Topical studies with this word 2 entries
Meanings adapted from the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament, © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0 and the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew (from the Semantic Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew), © United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0; MACULA Greek Linguistic Datasets, available at https://github.com/Clear-Bible/macula-greek/, licensed CC BY 4.0; MACULA Hebrew Linguistic Datasets © 2022-2024 by Biblica, Inc., CC BY 4.0. Westminster Leningrad Codex (tanach.us). OpenScriptures Hebrew Bible morphology (hb.openscriptures.org), CC BY 4.0.
Sources
eRhema lexical overview, based on the UBS Dictionary of Biblical Hebrew and the UBS Dictionary of the Greek New Testament (© United Bible Societies, CC BY-SA 4.0) and Macula Hebrew and Greek (Clear Bible, CC BY 4.0); released under CC BY-SA 4.0
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