Dictionaries :: Defile, Defilement

Vine's Expository Dictionary of New Testament Words

Defile, Defilement:

denotes

(a) "to make common;" hence, in a ceremonial sense, "to render unholy, unclean, to defile," Mat 15:11, 18, 20; Mar 7:15, 18, 20, 23; Act 21:28 (RV, "defiled;" AV, "polluted"); Hbr 9:13 (RV, "them that have been defiled," AV, "the unclean");

(b) "to count unclean," Act 10:15; 11:9. In Rev 21:27, some mss. have this verb, "defileth;" the most authentic have the adjective, koinos, "unclean."
See CALL, COMMON.

Defile, Defilement:

primarily, "to stain, to tinge or dye with another color," as in the staining of a glass, hence, "to pollute, contaminate, soil, defile," is used

(a) of "ceremonial defilement," Jhn 18:28; so in the Sept., in Lev 22:5, 8; Num 19:13, 20 etc.;

(b) of "moral defilement," Tts 1:15 (twice); Hbr 12:15, "of moral and physical defilement," Jud 1:8. See B, Nos. 1 and 2.

Defile, Defilement:

properly denotes "to besmear," as with mud or filth, "to befoul." It is used in the figurative sense, of a conscience "defiled" by sin, 1Cr 8:7; of believers who have kept themselves (their "garments") from "defilement," Rev 3:4, and those who have not "soiled" themselves by adultery or fornication, Rev 14:4.

Note: The difference between miaino and moluno is that the latter is not used in a ritual or ceremonial sense, as miaino is (Trench, Syn. xxxi).

Defile, Defilement:

"to make a stain or spot," and so "to defile," is used in Jam 3:6 of the "defiling" effects of an evil use of the tongue; in Jud 1:23, "spotted," with reference to moral "defilement."
See SPOT.

Note: (1) Cp. spilos, "a spot, a moral blemish," Eph 5:27; 2Pe 2:13; aspilos, "without spot, spotless," 1Ti 6:14; Jam 1:27; 1Pe 1:19; 2Pe 3:14; spilas, Jud 1:12, "hidden rocks," RV (AV "spots," a late meaning, equivalent to spilos).

Defile, Defilement:

See CORRUPT, A, No. 2.

Defile, Defilement:

whence the Eng. word, denotes "defilement" (akin to A, No. 2), and is found in 2Pe 2:20, AV, "pollutions," RV, "defilements," the vices of the ungodly which contaminate a person in his intercourse with the world.

Defile, Defilement:

also akin to A, No. 2, primarily denotes "the act of defiling," the process, in contrast to the "defiling" thing (No. 1). It is found in 2Pe 2:10 (AV, "uncleanness," RV, "defilement.")

Defile, Defilement:

akin to A, No. 3, denotes "defilement," in the sense of an action by which anything is "defiled," 2Cr 7:1. Cp. the synonymous word spilos, A, No. 4, Note.

Defile, Defilement:

akin to A, No. 1, common, and, from the idea of coming into contact with everything, "defiled," is used in the ceremonial sense in Mar 7:2; in ver. 5, RV, "defiled," for AV, "unwashen" (the verb is used in Mar 7:15).
See COMMON, UNCLEAN.