To defile
גָּאַלStrong’s H1351gaal (ga-al)
Appears in 9 verses of the Old Testament
In short
Gaal is the Hebrew word usually translated “were defiled”, “defiled” and “are defiled”. It appears in 9 verses of the Old Testament.
“But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.”
Meaning
- To defile, pollute, desecrate(Niphal) to be defiled, be polluted · (Piel) to pollute, desecrate · (Pual) to be desecrated (of removal from priesthood) · (Hiphil) to pollute, stain · (Hithpael) to defile oneself
How it's translated
- and they were defiled 2
- defiled 2
- they are defiled 1
- i have defiled 1
- they were defiled 1
- he defiled himself 1
- he will defile himself 1
- and defiled 1
Word-by-word English from the STEPBible tagged text.
Where it's used most
- Isaiah 2
- Malachi 2
- Ezra 1
- Nehemiah 1
- Lamentations 1
- Daniel 1
7 books in all.
Explore in Scripture
- Ezra 2:62These sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy, but they were not found: therefore were they, as polluted, put from the priesthood.
- Nehemiah 7:64These sought their register among those that were reckoned by genealogy, but it was not found: therefore were they, as polluted, put from the priesthood.
- Isaiah 59:3For your hands are defiled with blood, and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies, your tongue hath muttered perverseness.
- Isaiah 63:3I have trodden the winepress alone; and of the people there was none with me: for I will tread them in mine anger, and trample them in my fury; and their blood shall be sprinkled upon my garments, and I will stain all my raiment.
- Lamentations 4:14They have wandered as blind men in the streets, they have polluted themselves with blood, so that men could not touch their garments.
- Zephaniah 3:1Woe to her that is filthy and polluted, to the oppressing city!
Hebrew dictionary
גָּאַל gaal · to defile
1) to defile, pollute, desecrate 1a) (Niphal) to be defiled, be polluted 1b) (Piel) to pollute, desecrate 1c)(Pual) to be desecrated (of removal from priesthood) 1d) (Hiphil) to pollute, stain 1e) (Hithpael) to defile oneself
From STEPBible’s Hebrew lexicon (based on Brown-Driver-Briggs).
Webster's 1828 Dictionary
How the English word “defile” was understood when the King James Version was still the common Bible of English readers.
DEFILE, verb transitive
- To make unclean; to render foul or dirty; in a general sense.
- To make impure; to render turbid; as, the water or liquor is defiled.
- To soil or sully; to tarnish; as reputation, etc.“They shall defile thy brightness” Ezekiel 28:7
- To pollute; to make ceremonially unclean.“That which dieth of itself, he shall not eat, to defile himself therewith” Leviticus 22:8
All definitions and other forms of “defile”
- To corrupt chastity; to debauch; to violate; to tarnish the purity of character by lewdness.
- To taint, in a moral sense; to corrupt; to vitiate; to render impure with sin.“DEFILE not yourselves with the idols of Egypt” Ezekiel 20:7“He hath defiled the sanctuary of the Lord” Numbers 19:20
DEFILE, verb intransitive
[Latin A thread.]
To march off in a line, or file by file; to file off.
DEFILE, noun
A narrow passage or way, in which troops may march only in a file, or with a narrow front; a long narrow pass, as between hills, etc.
Noah Webster, An American Dictionary of the English Language (1828). Verse references are checked against the KJV. Read the full entry.
Verses are from the King James Version. Word meanings come from the original Hebrew, not from any one translation.