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Word

טָמֵא

ṭâmêʼ · H2930 · Hebrew · 162 occurrences

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Meanings

  1. to become unclean

    A process by which humans or objects become contaminated through contagious diseases or conditions, unlawful activities, or contact with what is contaminated, often leaving them unable to be used or to take part in social and religious activities until the state is reversed through prescribed rituals and procedures

    Examples

    Leviticus 5:3 ‘Or if he touches human uncleanness, of whatever sort his uncleanness may be with which he becomes unclean, and it is hidden from him, and then he comes to know it, he will be guilty.

    Leviticus 11:24 ‘By these, moreover, you will be made unclean; whoever touches their carcasses becomes unclean until evening,

    Leviticus 11:25 and whoever picks up any of their carcasses shall wash his clothes and be unclean until evening.

  2. to defile oneself

    An action by which humans cause themselves to become contaminated through unlawful activities or contact with what is contaminated, often leaving them unable to take part in social and religious activities until the state is reversed through prescribed rituals and procedures

    Examples

    Leviticus 11:24 ‘By these, moreover, you will be made unclean; whoever touches their carcasses becomes unclean until evening,

    Leviticus 11:43 ‘Do not make yourselves detestable through any of the swarming things that swarm; and you shall not make yourselves unclean with them so that you become unclean.

    Leviticus 11:44 ‘For I am the LORD your God. Consecrate yourselves therefore, and be holy, because I am holy. And you shall not make yourselves unclean with any of the swarming things that swarm on the earth.

  3. to defile

    An action by which humans cause others to become contaminated as a result of unlawful activities, often leaving them unable to take part in social and religious activities until the state is reversed through prescribed rituals and procedures

    Examples

    Genesis 34:5 Now Jacob heard that he had defiled his daughter Dinah; but his sons were with his livestock in the field, so Jacob said nothing until they came in.

    Genesis 34:13 But Jacob’s sons answered Shechem and his father Hamor with deceit, because he had defiled their sister Dinah.

    Genesis 34:27 Jacob’s sons came upon those killed and looted the city, because they had defiled their sister.

  4. to pronounce unclean

    An action by which a priest declares humans and objects contaminated because of contagious diseases or conditions, often leaving them unable to be used or to take part in social and religious activities until the state is reversed through prescribed rituals and procedures

    Examples

    Leviticus 13:3 “The priest shall look at the infected area on the skin of the body, and if the hair in the infection has turned white and the infection appears to be deeper than the skin of his body, it is an infection of leprosy; when the priest has looked at him, he shall pronounce him unclean.

    Leviticus 13:8 “And the priest shall look, and if the rash has spread on the skin, then the priest shall pronounce him unclean; it is leprosy.

    Leviticus 13:11 it is a chronic leprosy on the skin of his body, and the priest shall pronounce him unclean; he shall not isolate him, for he is unclean.

  5. Literally: to defile (someone's) name; hence: action by which humans show utter disrespect to a deity by breaking his laws intentionally (to defile (someone's) name)

    Examples

    Ezekiel 43:7 And He said to me, “Son of man, this is the place of My throne and the place of the soles of My feet, where I will dwell among the sons of Israel forever. And the house of Israel will not again defile My holy name, neither they nor their kings, by their prostitution and by the corpses of their kings when they die,

    Ezekiel 43:8 by putting their threshold by My threshold, and their door post beside My door post, with only the wall between Me and them. And they have defiled My holy name by their abominations which they have committed. So I have consumed them in My anger.

  6. to treat as unclean

    State in which humans are unwilling to have anything to do with things that have been contaminated

    Examples

    Leviticus 20:25 ‘You are therefore to make a distinction between the clean animal and the unclean, and between the unclean bird and the clean; and you shall not make yourselves detestable by animal or by bird, or by anything that crawls on the ground, which I have distinguished for you as unclean.

How it’s used In 6 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

159 occurrences in 31 groups

What it acts on, or what is saidObject

48 occurrences in 22 groups

With prepositionsPrepositional phrases

75 occurrences in 37 groups

With adverbsAdverbs

23 occurrences in 3 groups

What is done to itIt is the object

5 occurrences in 3 groups

After prepositionsPrepositional phrases

12 occurrences in 3 groups

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 1 word
שָׁקַץ shâqats · H8262 · to contaminate oneself, to make oneself abominable, to regard as detestable
Both words denote making or being ritually or morally unclean or abominable, often in cultic or purity contexts; טָמֵא (ṭâmêʼ, H2930) is the standard technical term for ritual defilement, while שָׁקַץ (shâqats, H8262) emphasizes the abhorrent or detestable aspect of uncleanness.
In the other Testament 1 word
μιαίνω miaínō · G3392 · to defile, to contaminate, to cause to be morally filthy
Greek μιαίνω (miaínō, G3392) serves as the standard LXX rendering of Hebrew טָמֵא (ṭâmêʼ, H2930) for ritual and moral defilement, maintaining the full semantic range of ceremonial uncleanness and contamination across both testaments.
Semantic domains 3 entries
Unclean002001001066
טָמֵא (verbal form) describes becoming or making ritually or morally unclean, as Shechem's defiling of Dinah (Genesis 34:5, 13, 27).
Despise002001002005
The defilement this verb describes can carry a sense of disgrace or degradation, an act that brings contempt on the one defiled or on the one who defiles.
Unwilling002001002031
In some legal contexts the verb describes a refusal or resistance associated with the state of defilement, an unwillingness bound up with the act.
Word family 3 words

Words formed from the same root. They share a form, not always a meaning.

טָמֵאṭâmêʼ · H2930טָמֵא ṭâmêʼ · H2931 · unclean, impure · 88×טֻמְאָה ṭumʼâh · H2932 · uncleanness · 36×
Brown-Driver-Briggs Hebrew Lexicon H2930. tame I. טָמֵא verb be or become unclean (Late Hebrew Pi`el pollute (ceremonially);…
H2930. tame
I. טָמֵא verb be or become unclean (Late Hebrew Pi`el pollute (ceremonially); Aramaic טְמָא and especially derivatives, Pa`el pollute; see RSK 307 ff.) —
Qal Perfect3masculine singular ׳ט Lev 11:25 Lev 11:22t.; 3 feminine singular טָֽמְאָה Lev 12:2 Lev 12:2t.; 2 feminine singular טָמֵאת Eze 22:4; plural טָֽמְאוּ Lev 15:18; Imperfect יִטְמָא Lev 5:3 34t.; 3 feminine singular תִּטְמָא Lev 12:2 Lev 12:4t.; plural יִטְמְאוּ Psa 106:39; Infinitive טָמְאָה Lev 15:32 Lev 15:6t.; — be or become unclean:
1 sexually, with בְּ Lev 18:20, Lev 18:23 (H), Eze 23:17; the land Lev 18:25, Lev 18:27 (H).
2 religiously, with idols Eze 22:3; with בְ Eze 22:4; with necromancers Lev 19:31 (H); by sacrificing children to idols Psa 106:39.
3 ceremonially, by contact with carcasses of unclean animals Lev 11:24, Lev 11:27, Lev 11:28, Lev 11:31, Lev 11:32, Lev 11:33, Lev 11:34 (twice in verse); Lev 11:35-36, Lev 11:40 (P); any carcass Lev 17:15 (H); eating of a carcass Lev 22:8 (H); by issues Lev 15:4, Lev 15:9, Lev 15:20 (twice in verse); Lev 15:24, Lev 15:27, Lev 15:32 (P); by contact with an unclean man Lev 5:3; Lev 15:4 (P), Lev 22:5 (H), or thing Lev 22:6 (H); by leprosy Lev 13:14, Lev 13:46; Lev 14:36, Lev 14:46 (P); by contact with the dead Num 6:12; Num 19:20 (P), Eze 44:25, or with one unclean by such contact Num 19:22 (P), Hag 2:13 (twice in verse); by contact with creeping things Lev 22:5 (H); certain animals were always unclean Lev 11:26-27, (P). In ordinary cases of uncleanness הערב עד טמא unclean till even Lev 11:24-25, Lev 11:27, Lev 11:28, Lev 11:31, Lev 11:32, Lev 11:39, Lev 11:40 (twice in verse); Lev 14:46; Lev 15:5; Lev 15:6; Lev 15:7; Lev 15:8; Lev 15:10 (twice in verse); Lev 15:11, Lev 15:16, Lev 15:17, Lev 15:18, Lev 15:19, Lev 15:21, Lev 15:22, Lev 15:23, Lev 15:27; Num 19:7; Num 19:8; Num 19:10; Num 19:21; Num 19:22 (all P), Lev 17:15; Lev 22:6 (H); but uncleanness lasted 7 days for woman bearings a son Lev 12:2 (twice in verse) (P), for lying with woman having an issue Lev 15:24 (P), or one coming in contact with the dead Num 19:11, Num 19:14, Num 19:16 (P); it lasted 14 days for a woman bearing a daughter Lev 12:5 (P).
Niph`al Perfect3masculine singular נִטְמָא Hos 5:3; Hos 6:10; Hos 6:3feminine singular נִטְמְאָה Num 5:27-28, נִטְמָ֑אָה Num 5:13 Num 5:5t.; 1 singular נִטְמֵאתִי Jer 2:23; Jer 2:2masculine plural נִטְמֵתֶם Lev 11:43 (א omitted by scribal error; but Ges and others derive from טמה), etc. + 4 t. perfect; Participle plural נִטְמְאִים Eze 20:30-31, — defile oneself, be defiled:
1 sexually, Lev 18:24 (H), Num 5:13-14, (twice in verse); Num 5:20, Num 5:27, Num 5:28, Num 5:29 (P).
2 by idolatry conceived as whoredom Hos 5:3; Hos 6:10; Jer 2:23; Eze 20:30-31, Eze 20:43; Eze 23:7, Eze 23:13, Eze 23:30.
3 ceremonially, by eating creeping things Lev 11:43.
4 be regarded as unclean (compare Pi`el 4), probably נִטְמִינִוּ Job 18:3 we are accounted as unclean; metal. from; on another view see טמה.
Pi`el Perfect טִמֵּא Gen 34:5 Gen 34:15t.; suffix טִמְּאוֺ Lev 13:8 Lev 13:3t.; 2 feminine singular טִמֵּאת Eze 5:11, etc. + 7 t. Perfect; Imperfect יְטַמֵּא 2Ki 23:8, etc. + 12 t. Imperfect; Imperative plural טַמְּאוּ Eze 9:7; Infinitive טַמֵּא Lev 13:44 Lev 13:2t.; suffix טַמְּאָם Lev 15:31, etc. + 4 t. Infinitive; — defile:
1 sexually Gen 34:5, Gen 34:13, Gen 34:27 (R), Eze 18:6, Eze 18:11, Eze 18:15; Eze 22:11; Eze 33:26; the land by sexual impurities of the people Lev 18:28 (H); Israel by spiritual whoredom Eze 23:17.
2 religiously: the land by bloodshed Num 35:34 (P); by allowing the dead body of the murderer to hang on the tree over night Deu 21:23; by idolatry Jer 2:7; Eze 36:17-18, Israel defiled the sacred places by the sacrifice of children Lev 20:3 (H), Eze 23:38, and God defiled him thereby Eze 20:26; he defileth the sacred places by idolatry 2Ch 36:14; Jer 7:30 = Jer 32:34, Eze 5:11; the holy name of ׳י Eze 43:7-8, Josiah defiled the idolatrous places of worship by destroying them and making them unfit for use 2Ki 23:8, 2Ki 23:10, 2Ki 23:13, 2Ki 23:16; of Israel defiling idolatrous images Isa 30:22, and the nations the temple of God Psa 79:1.
3 ceremonially: by ceremonial uncleanness, the sacred places Lev 15:31; Num 19:13, Num 19:20 (P); the camp Num 5:3 (P); the temple by dead bodies Eze 9:7; the Nazirite's head of separation by a death occurring in his presence Num 6:9 (P); the people defile themselves (נפשׁתיכם) by creeping things Lev 11:44 (P).
4 pronounce or declare ceremonially unclean: the leper Lev 13:3, Lev 13:8, Lev 13:11, Lev 13:15, Lev 13:20, Lev 13:22, Lev 13:25, Lev 13:27, Lev 13:30, Lev 13:44 (twice in verse); Lev 13:59 (P); unclean animals Lev 20:25 (H).
Pu`al Participle מְטֻמָּאָה לֹא נַפְשִׁי Eze 4:14 myself is not polluted.
Hithpa`el Imperfect יִטַּמָּא Lev 21:1 Lev 21:4t.; plural יִטַּמְּאוּ Eze 14:11; Eze 37:23; יִטַּמָּ֑אוּ Hos 9:4; Eze 44:25, etc. + 6 t. Imperfect — reflexive, defile oneself: by eating of an unaccepted peace-offering Hos 9:4; with בְּ Lev 18:24, Lev 18:30 (H), Lev 11:43 (P), Eze 14:11; Eze 20:7, Eze 20:18; Eze 37:23; with לְ for a dead person Lev 21:1, Lev 21:3, Lev 21:11 (H), Num 6:7 (P); by Lev 11:24 (P); without preposition Lev 21:4 (H), Eze 44:25.
Hothpa`al Perfect חֻטַּמָּ֑אָה אֲשֶׁר אַחֲרֵי Deu 24:4 after that she has been defiled (sexually); on form see Ges§ 54. 3.
טָמְאָה noun feminine uncleanness (טָֽמְאָה, Bear, seems to rest upon a misinterpretation of the form) Mic 2:10 (so Thes MV SS); of ethical uncleanness, from wrong-doing.

Brown, Driver and Briggs, A Hebrew and English Lexicon of the Old Testament (1906), public domain

Topical studies with this word 3 entries
Unclean159 occurrencesDespise2 occurrencesUnwilling1 occurrence

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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