Defile

Defile (denoted by several Heb. and Gr. words, especially טָמֵא, tame', μιαίνω, denoting filthiness, but spoken chiefly in a figurative or ceremonial sense). Many were the blemishes of person and conduct which, under the Mosaic law, were esteemed defilements; some were voluntary, others involuntary; some originated with the party, others were received by him; some were inevitable and the effect of nature, others the consequences of personal transgression. Under the Gospel, defilements are those of the heart, of the mind, the temper, and the conduct. Moral defilements are as numerous, and as thoroughly prohibited under the Gospel as ever; but ceremonial defilements are superseded as requiring any religious rites, though many of them claim attention as usages of health, decency, and civility (Mt 15:18; Ge 49:4; Romans 1, 24; Jas 3:6; Eze 43:8). SEE POLLUTION.