tame · be unclean, defile

What it means

tame (טָמֵא) is a Hebrew word of the Bible that means “be unclean, defile”.

Make unclean, defile; be unclean. Said of a woman, dishonor her.

How to say it

Approximate pronunciation. Vowels sound as in Spanish (a as in father, e as in bed, i as in machine, o as in note, u as in rule); the syllable in bold is stressed. The voice is your device's.

Its senses in the Bible

1. To become unclean, for example by touching the dead.
2. To make someone or something unclean.
3. To pronounce someone unclean, and so keep him away from what is holy.

From Brown-Driver-Briggs (1906)

Word study

To be or become unclean; in the causative forms, to make unclean or declare unclean. BDB: to be foul, especially in a ceremonial or moral sense (contaminated). From the same root come טָמֵא, “unclean” (H2931), and טֻמְאָה, “uncleanness”. Its opposite is טָהֵר, “to be clean” (H2891), with טָהוֹר, “clean” (H2889).

• Becoming unclean by touching an animal's carcass Leviticus 11:24
• The priest declares unclean Leviticus 13:8
• Making a person unclean: Dinah Genesis 34:5
• The land made unclean by the practices of the nations Leviticus 18:24Ezekiel 36:17
• Making a foreign place of worship unclean 2 Kings 23:10

Historical and cultural background

Leviticus 11 to 15 and Numbers 19 regulate uncleanness: touching certain dead animals, a corpse or some diseases makes one unclean “until the evening” or for days, and the text says how one is cleansed.

How we translate it

“Be unclean” 56 times, “unclean” 38, “defiled” 21, “defile” 12, “become unclean” 11, “shall declare him unclean” 8… This edition's glossary sets the pair “unclean / clean” (טָמֵא / טָהוֹר) and “uncleanness” for the noun; “defile” appears where a people or a land is spoken of (Ezekiel 36:17).

How it is translated

The words this translation uses for it, most frequent first.

• be unclean ×56
• unclean ×38
• defiled ×21
• defile ×12
• become unclean ×11
• shall declare him unclean ×8
• make unclean ×4
• make yourselves unclean ×4
• he becomes unclean ×3
• defiles ×2
• others ×3

Related words

Words of the same family, by Strong’s numbering.

Where it appears

• Genesis×3
• Leviticus×85
• Numbers×24
• Deuteronomy×2
• 2 Kings×4
• 2 Chronicles×1
• Psalms×2
• Isaiah×1
• Jeremiah×4
• Ezekiel×30
• Hosea×3
• Micah×1
• Haggai×2

• Genesis 34:5

  Jacob heard that he had made Dinah his daughter unclean; but his sons were with his livestock in the field, so Jacob kept silent until they came.

• Genesis 34:13

  The sons of Jacob answered Shechem and Hamor his father with deceit and spoke, because he had made Dinah their sister unclean.

• Genesis 34:27

  The sons of Jacob came upon the slain and plundered the city, because they had made their sister unclean.

• Leviticus 5:3

  Or if he touches human uncleanness, any uncleanness of his by which one becomes unclean, and it is hidden from him, when he comes to know it he will be guilty.

• Leviticus 11:24

  And by these you will become unclean; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean until the evening.

• Leviticus 11:25

  And whoever carries any of their carcasses shall wash his garments and be unclean until the evening.

• Leviticus 11:26

  Every beast that divides the hoof but is not split with a cleft, and does not chew the cud, they shall be unclean for you; whoever touches them will be unclean.

• Leviticus 11:27

  And all that walk on their paws, among all the animals that walk on all fours, they shall be unclean for you; whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean until the evening.

• Leviticus 11:28

  And whoever carries their carcasses shall wash his garments and be unclean until the evening; they shall be unclean for you.

• Leviticus 11:31

  These are unclean for you among all the swarming things; whoever touches them when they are dead will be unclean until the evening.

• Leviticus 11:32

  And anything on which any of them falls when they are dead will be unclean, whether any article of wood or garment or skin or sack, any article with which work is done; it shall be put into water, and it will be unclean until the evening; then it will be clean.

• Leviticus 11:33

  And any earthen vessel into which any of them falls, whatever is in it will be unclean, and it you shall break.

• Leviticus 11:34

  Any food that may be eaten, on which water comes, will be unclean; and any drink that may be drunk from any such vessel will be unclean.

• Leviticus 11:35

  And anything on which any of their carcasses falls will be unclean; an oven or a stove shall be broken down; they are unclean, and they shall be unclean for you.

• Leviticus 11:36

  But a spring or a cistern holding a collection of water shall be clean, but whoever touches their carcasses will be unclean.

• Leviticus 11:39

  And if one of the beasts that you may have for food dies, whoever touches its carcass will be unclean until the evening.

• Leviticus 11:40

  And whoever eats of its carcass shall wash his garments and be unclean until the evening; and whoever carries its carcass shall wash his garments and be unclean until the evening.

• Leviticus 11:43

  Do not make yourselves detestable with any swarming thing that swarms, and do not make yourselves unclean with them so that you become unclean by them.

• Leviticus 11:44

  For I am YHWH your Elohim; sanctify yourselves and be holy, for I am holy. And do not make yourselves unclean with any swarming thing that creeps on the earth.

• Leviticus 12:2

  “Speak to the sons of Israel, saying: When a woman conceives and gives birth to a male, she shall be unclean seven days; as in the days of the menstruation of her infirmity she shall be unclean.

• Leviticus 12:5

  But if she gives birth to a female, she shall be unclean two weeks, as in her menstruation; and she shall remain sixty days and six days in the blood of purification.

• Leviticus 13:3

  The priest shall examine the sore on the skin of the body; and if the hair in the sore has turned white and the appearance of the sore is deeper than the skin of his body, it is a leprous sore; when the priest has examined him he shall declare him unclean.

• Leviticus 13:8

  The priest shall examine him, and if the eruption has spread in the skin, the priest shall declare him unclean; it is leprosy.

• Leviticus 13:11

  it is a chronic leprosy in the skin of his body, and the priest shall declare him unclean; he shall not isolate him, for he is unclean.

• Leviticus 13:14

  But on the day raw flesh appears on him, he will be unclean.

• Leviticus 13:15

  The priest shall examine the raw flesh and declare him unclean; the raw flesh is unclean; it is leprosy.

• Leviticus 13:20

  The priest shall examine it, and if its appearance is lower than the skin and its hair has turned white, the priest shall declare him unclean; it is a leprous sore; it has broken out in the ulcer.

• Leviticus 13:22

  And if it spreads widely in the skin, the priest shall declare him unclean; it is a sore.

• Leviticus 13:25

  the priest shall examine it, and if the hair in the bright spot has turned white and its appearance is deeper than the skin, it is leprosy; it has broken out in the burn, and the priest shall declare him unclean; it is a leprous sore.

• Leviticus 13:27

  The priest shall examine him on the seventh day; if it has spread widely in the skin, the priest shall declare him unclean; it is a leprous sore.

• Leviticus 13:30

  the priest shall examine the sore, and if its appearance is deeper than the skin and there is in it yellowish thin hair, the priest shall declare him unclean; it is ringworm; it is leprosy of the head or of the beard.

• Leviticus 13:44

  he is a leprous man; he is unclean; the priest shall surely declare him unclean; his sore is on his head.

• Leviticus 13:46

  All the days that the sore is on him he shall be unclean; he is unclean; he shall live alone; his dwelling shall be outside the camp.

• Leviticus 13:59

  This is the instruction for a mark of leprosy in a garment of wool or of linen, or in the woven material or in the knitted material, or in any article of skin, for declaring it clean or for declaring it unclean.”

• Leviticus 14:36

  The priest shall command that they empty the house before the priest comes to examine the mark, so that everything that is in the house does not become unclean; and afterward the priest shall come to examine the house.

• Leviticus 14:46

  And whoever enters the house during all the days that he has isolated it will be unclean until the evening.

• Leviticus 15:4

  Every bed on which the man with the discharge lies shall be unclean, and every object on which he sits shall be unclean.

• Leviticus 15:5

  And anyone who touches his bed shall wash his garments and bathe in water and be unclean until the evening.

• Leviticus 15:6

  And whoever sits on the object on which the man with the discharge sat shall wash his garments and bathe in water and be unclean until the evening.

• Leviticus 15:7

  And whoever touches the body of the man with the discharge shall wash his garments and bathe in water and be unclean until the evening.

And 122 more times.