to defile
ta.me describes becoming ritually unclean and making persons, places, or objects polluted through contact or wrongful acts.
The verb most often marks a state of ritual uncleanness arising from contact, bodily conditions, or priestly assessment. It also describes acts that pollute land, sanctuaries, altars, and cultic objects, and it is used of persons becoming polluted through idols, sexual conduct, and other wrongful behavior.
Senses in use
-
Become or be declared ritually unclean · dominant
In Leviticus 11:32, the Qal imperfect forms occur in rules about a dead creature falling on an object; the APB renders the resulting condition “shall be unclean.” Leviticus 12:2 applies Qal forms to a woman after childbirth, while Leviticus 13:11 uses a Piel form in the priest's assessment of a skin condition; the APB renders the latter clause “pronounce him unclean.”
-
Pollute a land, sanctuary, altar, or cult site · common
Piel forms describe an action directed against sacred or communal places: in 2 Kings 23:16, bones are burned on an altar and the APB renders the following clause “defiled it.” In Jeremiah 7:30, a Piel infinitive follows the placement of abominations in the house called by the LORD's name, and Ezekiel 23:38 says that the sanctuary was polluted on the same day.
-
Become polluted through wrongful conduct · common
The self-directed Hithpael in Ezekiel 20:18 occurs in the command not to become polluted with idols, while Niphal forms describe people as having become polluted in connection with idols or sexual conduct. In Ezekiel 18:11, a Piel perfect is used in the clause about violating a neighbor's wife; the APB renders it “defiles his neighbor's wife.”
In the Anselm Project Bible: Across these verses the APB commonly uses “unclean,” “defiled,” and “become defiled,” including “pronounce him unclean” in priestly assessment. Those renderings fit the clauses' outcomes and actions.